Van Buren County, IA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 40.75, -91.95.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 32nd pct · 2,073rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 44th pct · 55th of 99 Iowa counties · median $192,339
- 67th pct · 984th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 54th pct · 46th of 99 Iowa counties · median +4.2%
- US counties: not published this period
- Iowa counties: not published this period
- 15th pct · 2,723rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 3rd pct · 96th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
- 38th pct · 1,970th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 22nd pct · 77th of 99 Iowa counties · median $1,057
- 36th pct · 1,958th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 59th pct · 41st 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 $185,789 (Sep 2026), +4.3% over one year, +35.4% over five
- 32nd pct · 2,073rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 44th pct · 55th of 99 Iowa counties · median $192,339
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Van Buren County, IA | $185,789 · +4.3% 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 $1,029 a month on $185,789 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,286 a month: 24.0% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $185,789 × 80% = $148,631, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,029/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $989 × 52 / 12 = $4,286) = 24% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $185,789 / ($989 × 52) = 3.6
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 #
1,930 jobs at 223 employers (2026 Q1); +1.8% jobs and +7.0% average weekly wage over the year
- 15th pct · 2,723rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 3rd pct · 96th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Van Buren County, IA | 1,930 jobs · $989/wk · +1.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 517 | $1,274 | 3.33 | +6.2% |
| Retail trade | 220 | $450 | 1.17 | +0.9% |
| Wholesale trade | 120 | $1,071 | 1.62 | +13.2% |
| Finance and insurance | 52 | $1,086 | 0.66 | +0.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 51 | $724 | 0.38 | +2.0% |
| Construction | 50 | $844 | 0.49 | +0.0% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 45 | $1,699 | 0.55 | -6.2% |
| Other services | 26 | $669 | 0.45 | +0.0% |
| Information | 18 | $1,332 | 0.51 | +0.0% |
| Real estate and rental | 5 | $349 | 0.17 | +0.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Mining, oil and gas | withheld |
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 #
$221.0 m in deposits at 9 offices of 5 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,480, highly concentrated. $48.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $47.5 m, grants $1.1 m), $25,186 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First Iowa State Bank | $112.5 m · 50.9% share · 2 offices | |
| The Libertyville Savings Bank | $53.5 m · 24.2% share · 2 offices | |
| State Central Bank | $34.7 m · 15.7% share · 3 offices | |
| Van Buren, IA | $48.6 m FY2026 · $25,186/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Iowa State Bank | $112,525,000 | 50.9% | 2 |
| The Libertyville Savings Bank | $53,525,000 | 24.2% | 2 |
| State Central Bank | $34,659,000 | 15.7% | 3 |
| Pilot Grove Savings Bank | $15,873,000 | 7.2% | 1 |
| Success Bank | $4,438,000 | 2.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,480 across 5 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 5 banks with deposits in the county = 50.9² + 24.2² + 15.7² + … (2 more) = 3,480
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 $25,186 per covered job, against 1,930 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $48.6 m / 1,930 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $25,186
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 · % | 73.84 | 2026-10-19 | not published |
| 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 #
Van Buren County, IA: 8 findings, 8 noted
noteVan Buren County, IA's average weekly wage was 7.0% 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 % = 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
noteVan Buren County, IA's covered employment was 1.8% 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
- +1.8 % = 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
noteVan Buren County, IA's typical home value rose 0.3% from $185,165 in August 2026 to $185,789 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.3% = (185788.80695633907 - 185164.6417567802) / 185164.6417567802 × 100
- 185788.80695633907 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 185164.6417567802 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
noteVan Buren County, IA's covered employment of 1,930 ranks 96th of 99 Iowa counties, against a median of 5,685.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 3 on the 0-to-100 scale across 99 Iowa counties that published jobs.emp
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteVan Buren County, IA's momentum index of 0.66 ranks 246th of 3,221 US counties, against a median of 0.23.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 92 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3221 US counties that published momentum
- momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%)
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 8 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.