Lee County, IA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 40.65, -91.48.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 8th pct · 2,803rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 2nd pct · 97th of 99 Iowa counties · median $192,339
- 38th pct · 1,882nd of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 18th pct · 81st of 99 Iowa counties · median +4.2%
- US counties: not published this period
- Iowa counties: not published this period
- 63rd pct · 1,184th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 80th pct · 20th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
- 74th pct · 807th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 84th pct · 16th of 99 Iowa counties · median $1,057
- 4th pct · 2,924th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 1st pct · 98th of 99 Iowa counties · median 3.5
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 $124,938 (Sep 2026), +1.9% over one year, +14.5% over five
- 8th pct · 2,803rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 2nd pct · 97th of 99 Iowa counties · median $192,339
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lee County, IA | $124,938 · +1.9% 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 #
Zillow publishes no rent index for this area (ZORI covers about 1,400 counties)
- US counties: not published this period
- Iowa counties: not published this period
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 $692 a month on $124,938 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,152 a month: 13.4% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $124,938 × 80% = $99,950, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $692/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,189 × 52 / 12 = $5,152) = 13% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $124,938 / ($1,189 × 52) = 2.0
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 #
14,163 jobs at 1,017 employers (2026 Q1); +4.4% jobs and +5.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 63rd pct · 1,184th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 80th pct · 20th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lee County, IA | 14,163 jobs · $1,189/wk · +4.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 3,606 | $1,693 | 3.16 | -3.0% |
| Construction | 1,704 | $1,612 | 2.29 | +104.1% |
| Retail trade | 1,550 | $663 | 1.12 | -2.2% |
| Accommodation and food services | 919 | $322 | 0.72 | -2.5% |
| Wholesale trade | 400 | $1,353 | 0.74 | -6.8% |
| Administrative and waste services | 357 | $688 | 0.44 | -15.4% |
| Other services | 338 | $925 | 0.80 | +9.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 319 | $1,267 | 0.55 | -6.7% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 265 | $1,437 | 0.44 | -2.6% |
| Professional and technical services | 206 | $1,502 | 0.21 | -3.3% |
| Management of companies | 116 | $2,183 | 0.49 | -3.3% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 110 | $265 | 0.47 | -6.8% |
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 #
No drought class at this point (USDM covers the United States only)
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 #
low (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$1.4 bn in deposits at 22 offices of 6 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,431, highly concentrated. $235.4 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $223.4 m, grants $11.0 m), $16,621 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot Grove Savings Bank | $678.1 m · 49.0% share · 9 offices | |
| Connection Bank | $384.6 m · 27.8% share · 4 offices | |
| First Mid Bank & Trust, National Association | $208.6 m · 15.1% share · 5 offices | |
| Lee, IA | $235.4 m FY2026 · $16,621/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $219.5 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot Grove Savings Bank | $678,062,000 | 49.0% | 9 |
| Connection Bank | $384,614,000 | 27.8% | 4 |
| First Mid Bank & Trust, National Association | $208,585,000 | 15.1% | 5 |
| Farmers Savings Bank | $67,321,000 | 4.9% | 2 |
| Nicolet National Bank | $29,045,000 | 2.1% | 1 |
| State Central Bank | $15,912,000 | 1.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,431 across 6 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 6 banks with deposits in the county = 49.0² + 27.8² + 15.1² + … (3 more) = 3,431
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 #
USAspending place-of-performance obligations for FY2026, by awarding agency.
| Awarding agency | Obligations |
|---|---|
| Social Security Administration | $191,168,485 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $18,853,048 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $10,195,001 |
| Department of Transportation | $9,836,162 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $2,789,996 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,315,408 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $161,812 |
| Department of the Interior | $76,500 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $31,015 |
| Department of Defense | $0 |
| Department of Justice | -$4,394 |
| Small Business Administration | -$20,076 |
That is $16,621 per covered job, against 14,163 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $235.4 m / 14,163 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $16,621
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 #
Lee County, IA: 12 findings, 12 noted
noteLee County, IA's average weekly wage was 5.1% 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
- +5.1 % = 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
noteLee County, IA's covered employment was 4.4% 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
- +4.4 % = 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
noteLee County, IA's years of wages of 2.0 ranks 98th of 99 Iowa counties, against a median of 3.5.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 1 on the 0-to-100 scale across 99 Iowa counties that published yearsOfWages
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteLee County, IA's typical home value of $124,938 ranks 97th of 99 Iowa counties, against a median of $192,339.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 2 on the 0-to-100 scale across 99 Iowa counties that published home.latest
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteLee County, IA's years of wages of 2.0 ranks 2,924th of 3,063 US counties, against a median of 4.2.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 5 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3063 US counties that published yearsOfWages
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 12 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.