Linn County, IA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 42.08, -91.60.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 54th pct · 1,405th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 77th pct · 23rd of 99 Iowa counties · median $192,339
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 52nd pct · 1,464th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 34th pct · 65th of 99 Iowa counties · median +4.2%
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 26th pct · 1,001st of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 80th pct · 5th of 22 Iowa counties · median $1,052
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 92nd pct · 253rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 98th pct · 2nd of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 93rd pct · 214th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 97th pct · 3rd of 99 Iowa counties · median $1,057
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 22nd pct · 2,359th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 28th pct · 71st of 99 Iowa counties · median 3.5
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids 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 $242,923 (Sep 2026), +3.0% over one year, +22.8% over five
- 54th pct · 1,405th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 77th pct · 23rd of 99 Iowa counties · median $192,339
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Linn County, IA | $242,923 · +3.0% 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 $1,262/mo (Sep 2026), +14.4% over one year; price-to-rent 16.0
- 26th pct · 1,001st of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 80th pct · 5th of 22 Iowa counties · median $1,052
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Linn County, IA | $1,262/mo · +14.4% 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 $1,346 a month on $242,923 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $6,595 a month: 20.4% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $242,923 × 80% = $194,338, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,346/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,522 × 52 / 12 = $6,595) = 20% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $242,923 / ($1,522 × 52) = 3.1
- price-to-rent = $242,923 / ($1,262 × 12) = 16.0
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 #
125,500 jobs at 7,825 employers (2026 Q1); +0.8% jobs and +7.3% average weekly wage over the year
- 92nd pct · 253rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 98th pct · 2nd of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Linn County, IA | 125,500 jobs · $1,522/wk · +0.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 18,111 | $1,254 | 0.96 | +1.8% |
| Manufacturing | 17,922 | $2,677 | 1.78 | -3.4% |
| Retail trade | 12,416 | $773 | 1.02 | -0.4% |
| Accommodation and food services | 9,631 | $432 | 0.85 | +3.5% |
| Construction | 9,233 | $1,645 | 1.40 | +24.8% |
| Finance and insurance | 7,056 | $2,593 | 1.38 | -3.5% |
| Administrative and waste services | 6,272 | $922 | 0.88 | -5.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 6,067 | $2,200 | 0.70 | +0.3% |
| Wholesale trade | 4,983 | $1,949 | 1.04 | -1.3% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 4,964 | $1,179 | 0.94 | -2.7% |
| Other services | 3,700 | $1,040 | 0.99 | +0.4% |
| Educational services | 3,097 | $1,022 | 1.15 | +0.0% |
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 #
$7.2 bn in deposits at 70 offices of 26 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,329, moderately concentrated. $2.4 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $1.3 bn, contracts $1.0 bn), $19,462 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust Company | $1.9 bn · 26.7% share · 6 offices | |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $981.8 m · 13.5% share · 4 offices | |
| Farmers State Bank | $907.2 m · 12.5% share · 8 offices | |
| Linn, IA | $2.4 bn FY2026 · $19,462/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $1.3 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust Company | $1,936,338,000 | 26.7% | 6 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $981,791,000 | 13.5% | 4 |
| Farmers State Bank | $907,202,000 | 12.5% | 8 |
| Hills Bank and Trust Company | $749,525,000 | 10.3% | 7 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $702,828,000 | 9.7% | 5 |
| Bankers Trust Company | $428,603,000 | 5.9% | 3 |
| Fairfax State Savings Bank | $205,855,000 | 2.8% | 2 |
| Mount Vernon Bank and Trust Company | $165,669,000 | 2.3% | 1 |
| Community Savings Bank | $158,441,000 | 2.2% | 5 |
| Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank | $149,742,000 | 2.1% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 1,329 across 26 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 26 banks with deposits in the county = 26.7² + 13.5² + 12.5² + … (23 more) = 1,329
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 | $1,156,859,161 |
| Department of Defense | $840,079,901 |
| Department of the Treasury | $137,206,561 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $104,522,246 |
| Department of Transportation | $103,665,396 |
| Department of Education | $34,461,078 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $24,069,701 |
| Department of Agriculture | $18,614,150 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $11,317,375 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $7,373,775 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $1,608,825 |
| Department of Justice | $924,957 |
That is $19,462 per covered job, against 125,500 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $2.4 bn / 125,500 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $19,462
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 #
Linn County, IA: 13 findings, 2 at a watch level and 11 noted
watchLinn County, IA's typical asking rent is +14.4% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical asking rent at least 8 percent above a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZORI; convention chosen for this dashboard, 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: rent.yoyPct = 14.432023306956532 >= 8
arithmetic on Zillow ZORI; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchLinn County, IA's typical asking rent of $1,262 scores 26 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 81 across Iowa counties, a gap of 55 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 55 = |26 across US counties - 81 across Iowa counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteLinn County, IA's average weekly wage was 7.3% 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
- +7.3 % = 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
noteLinn County, IA's typical asking rent rose 1.3% from $1,247 in August 2026 to $1,262 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +1.3% = (1262.4241828824554 - 1246.74444612633) / 1246.74444612633 × 100
- 1262.4241828824554 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 1246.74444612633 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
noteLinn County, IA's covered employment was 0.8% 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
- +0.8 % = 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
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.