Polk County, FL
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 27.95, -81.69.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 69th pct · 935th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 43rd pct · 38th of 67 Florida counties · median $306,116
- counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 9th pct · 2,785th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 15th pct · 57th of 67 Florida counties · median -0.3%
- counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 73rd pct · 358th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 36th pct · 29th of 45 Florida counties · median $1,881
- counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 96th pct · 123rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 87th pct · 9th of 67 Florida counties · median 43,443
- counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 69th pct · 995th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 59th pct · 28th of 67 Florida counties · median $1,084
- counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 65th pct · 1,058th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 37th pct · 42nd of 67 Florida counties · median 5.4
- counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
Typical home value divided by the average annual wage of one covered job.
A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank: the smallest published value in the cohort is 0 and the largest is 100, and tied values share the average of the ranks they span. It is not the share of entities below the value, so 0 means smallest, not none below. Entities that did not publish the metric are outside the cohort entirely and are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
Home values #
Typical home $295,509 (Sep 2026), -2.2% over one year, +15.7% over five
- 69th pct · 935th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 43rd pct · 38th of 67 Florida counties · median $306,116
- counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Polk County, FL | $295,509 · -2.2% 1-yr |
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), typical value of homes in the 35th to 65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted; a model estimate of value, not a sale price. Data through Zillow Research.
Rents #
Typical rent $1,814/mo (Sep 2026), +0.9% over one year; price-to-rent 13.6
- 73rd pct · 358th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 36th pct · 29th of 45 Florida counties · median $1,881
- counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Polk County, FL | $1,814/mo · +0.9% 1-yr |
Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), smoothed, all homes and multifamily; price-to-rent = typical home / (typical rent × 12).
What the typical home costs to carry #
Principal and interest of $1,637 a month on $295,509 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,949 a month: 33.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $295,509 × 80% = $236,408, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,637/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,142 × 52 / 12 = $4,949) = 33% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $295,509 / ($1,142 × 52) = 5.0
- price-to-rent = $295,509 / ($1,814 × 12) = 13.6
The wage is one covered job’s average, not a household’s income, so this is the share of a single paycheque and not a mortgage underwriting ratio.
Estimate. Principal and interest on the typical home with 20% down over 30 years at this week's Freddie Mac average rate; compared with the average weekly wage of all jobs covered by unemployment insurance in the area (BLS QCEW), which is pay per job, not household income.
Jobs & wages #
265,000 jobs at 17,911 employers (2026 Q1); -0.1% jobs and +2.8% average weekly wage over the year
- 96th pct · 123rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 87th pct · 9th of 67 Florida counties · median 43,443
- counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Polk County, FL | 265,000 jobs · $1,142/wk · -0.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 36,557 | $1,197 | 0.92 | +2.7% |
| Retail trade | 32,528 | $780 | 1.26 | +1.7% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 28,280 | $1,125 | 2.53 | -2.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 22,623 | $531 | 0.95 | +0.0% |
| Manufacturing | 19,334 | $1,552 | 0.91 | -1.3% |
| Administrative and waste services | 17,813 | $886 | 1.18 | -6.1% |
| Construction | 15,139 | $1,273 | 1.09 | -4.6% |
| Wholesale trade | 10,898 | $1,596 | 1.07 | +1.4% |
| Finance and insurance | 10,408 | $1,968 | 0.96 | +3.8% |
| Professional and technical services | 8,613 | $1,479 | 0.47 | +3.6% |
| Management of companies | 6,585 | $1,999 | 1.48 | +0.1% |
| Other services | 6,415 | $977 | 0.81 | +3.4% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, all ownerships, total covered employment in the quarter's third month; over-the-year changes as published. Suppressed cells stay blank.
Drought #
D1 moderate drought
Sites found: 5, searched within 0 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 0 km away are not.
US Drought Monitor current week; the highest class of any polygon containing the point.
Reservoirs #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 150 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 150 km away are not.
Σ(capacity × percent full) / Σ capacity over TWDB reservoirs within 150 km. Texas only; elsewhere USGS reservoir elevation/storage is listed without a capacity to normalise by.
Stream gauges #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest readings screened against EPA freshwater criteria (DO ≥ 5 mg/L, pH 6.5–9, conductance, turbidity, temperature); NWS flood categories where a NWPS gauge is co-located.
Groundwater #
No USGS monitoring wells within 75 km (or above 1,500 km)
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest daily water levels. A single latest reading says where the table is, not which way it is moving; select a well for its 365-day trace.
Water stress #
moderate (0.25)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$16.5 bn in deposits at 79 offices of 16 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,681, highly concentrated. $5.3 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $5.1 bn, grants $163.1 m), $19,941 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| SouthState Bank, National Association | $7.9 bn · 48.0% share · 10 offices | |
| Truist Bank | $1.7 bn · 10.5% share · 12 offices | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $1.5 bn · 9.4% share · 12 offices | |
| Polk, FL | $5.3 bn FY2026 · $19,941/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| SouthState Bank, National Association | $7,904,658,000 | 48.0% | 10 |
| Truist Bank | $1,725,771,000 | 10.5% | 12 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $1,544,669,000 | 9.4% | 12 |
| Citizens Bank and Trust | $1,299,680,000 | 7.9% | 13 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $1,295,736,000 | 7.9% | 6 |
| Bank of Central Florida | $1,022,713,000 | 6.2% | 3 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $633,066,000 | 3.8% | 5 |
| TD Bank, National Association | $246,572,000 | 1.5% | 2 |
| Regions Bank | $241,325,000 | 1.5% | 3 |
| Fifth Third Bank, National Association | $212,932,000 | 1.3% | 4 |
Deposit concentration is 2,681 across 16 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 16 banks with deposits in the county = 48.0² + 10.5² + 9.4² + … (13 more) = 2,681
FDIC Summary of Deposits: deposits at every insured office as of June 30, annual; HHI is the sum of squared county deposit shares (DOJ 1995 bank merger screen: 1000 / 1800). USAspending: obligations by place of performance for the latest complete federal fiscal year (Oct 1 to Sep 30), what agencies committed, not what they paid out; recipients are legal entities. Per-job divides obligations by BLS QCEW covered employment.
Federal obligations #
That is $19,941 per covered job, against 265,000 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $5.3 bn / 265,000 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $19,941
USAspending obligations are recorded where the work is performed, so a prime award performed here is counted here even when the recipient is headquartered elsewhere. Recipients are legal entities, never people.
National context, not this county #
These are United States, single-gauge, single-state and port series. None of them is keyed to this county.
| Series | Latest | As of | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi River at Memphis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Mississippi River at St. Louis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Ohio River at Louisville, stage · ft | 17.95 | 2026-10-18 | -2.6% |
| Missouri River at St. Joseph, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Colorado River below Hoover Dam, flow (Hoover releases) · ft³/s | 5,170.00 | 2026-02-05 | -25.3% |
| Texas reservoirs, statewide percent full · % | 72.20 | 2026-10-19 | +0.0% |
| Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks | 258,700.00 | 2026-08-01 | -0.4% |
| Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual · TEU | 10,513,167.00 | 2023-01-01 | -13.5% |
| Containerships waiting for a berth, all US ports · ships | 7.00 | 2026-10-13 | +133.3% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 7,848.00 | 2026-09-01 | +14.9% |
| US diesel retail price · $ per gallon | unavailable | not published | |
| WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel | 101.91 | 2026-10-14 | +1.0% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.40 | 2026-10-15 | +0.0% |
| Housing starts, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,275.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.6% |
| Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,403.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.1% |
| Case-Shiller US home price index · index, Jan 2000 = 100 | 337.31 | 2026-07-01 | +0.1% |
| Unemployment rate · % | 4.20 | 2026-09-01 | +2.4% |
| US goods and services trade balance, monthly · $ millions | -105,572.00 | 2026-08-01 | -13.7% |
| Retail sales excluding food services, monthly · $ millions | 652,115.00 | 2026-09-01 | +0.7% |
The indicator registry has no county-keyed series and no geographic selection: every entry is national, a named gauge, a single state or a port. They are here as the backdrop the county's own numbers move against, and they are never this county's readings.
What changed #
Polk County, FL: 11 findings, 3 at a watch level and 8 noted
watchPolk County, FL's typical home value is -2.2% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical home value below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.yoyPct = -2.2296762949751665 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchPolk County, FL's covered employment is -0.1% against a year earlier, a watch level here: covered employment below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- test: jobs.yoy.emp = -0.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchPolk County, FL's typical asking rent of $1,814 scores 74 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 36 across Florida counties, a gap of 37 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 37 = |74 across US counties - 36 across Florida counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
notePolk County, FL's average weekly wage was 2.8% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- +2.8 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
notePolk County, FL's typical asking rent fell 0.3% from $1,820 in August 2026 to $1,814 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- -0.3% = (1814.2061615973296 - 1820.440338164867) / 1820.440338164867 × 100
- 1814.2061615973296 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 1820.440338164867 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
Read all 11 findings in the full brief
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.