Houghton County, MI: 11 findings, 2 at a watch level and 9 noted

11 findings fired for Houghton County, MI this run, against a typical home value of $196,480 in September 2026 and covered employment of 12,551 in 2026 Q1.

This is the civic & planning lens: Planners, local government, journalists, civic technologists, students It keeps the findings whose subject matches that interest and drops the rest, so it is a subset of the full brief and never a different set of numbers. The full brief is the canonical version of this page.

11 findings #

currentretrieved 2026-10-19

  1. watchHoughton County, MI's average weekly wage is -0.4% against a year earlier, a watch level here: average weekly wage below the same quarter a year earlier, before inflation (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; 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 Q1.
    Show the arithmetic
    • test: jobs.yoy.avgWeeklyWage = -0.4 < 0

    BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level

  2. watchHoughton County, MI's momentum index of 0.48 scores 81 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 51 across Michigan counties, a gap of 30 points.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 30 = |81 across US counties - 51 across Michigan counties|
    • 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

  3. noteHoughton County, MI's covered employment was 2.0% 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
    • +2 % = 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

  4. noteHoughton County, MI's average weekly wage was 0.4% lower 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
    • -0.4 % = 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

  5. notetypical asking rent (rent.latest) and typical asking rent (rent.momPct) for Houghton County, MI could not be lined up against the previous published period this run, so no change is printed for them.

    Show the arithmetic
    • not comparable this run: rent.latest, rent.momPct

    the two newest month columns in the published file are not the two this table carries

  6. noteHoughton County, MI's price-to-rent ratio of 10.3 ranks 40th of 40 Michigan counties, against a median of 16.6.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 0 on the 0-to-100 scale across 40 Michigan counties that published priceToRent
    • typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  7. noteHoughton County, MI's price-to-rent ratio of 10.3 ranks 1,328th of 1,358 US counties, against a median of 17.0.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 2 on the 0-to-100 scale across 1358 US counties that published priceToRent
    • typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  8. noteHoughton County, MI's typical home value of +7.6% ranks 307th of 3,062 US counties, against a median of +2.9%.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 90 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3062 US counties that published home.yoyPct

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  9. noteThe next Unemployment rate (BLS Employment Situation, monthly) covering Houghton County, MI is due between 2026-10-30 and 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

    Show the arithmetic
    • window = 2026-10-30 to 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

    estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

  10. noteThe next Zillow ZHVI typical home value (monthly) covering Houghton County, MI is due between 2026-11-14 and 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

    Show the arithmetic
    • window = 2026-11-14 to 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

    estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

  11. noteThe next Zillow ZORI typical rent (monthly) covering Houghton County, MI is due between 2026-11-14 and 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

    Show the arithmetic
    • window = 2026-11-14 to 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

    estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

A lens narrows which numbers are shown, not which holes are admitted to: a withheld figure or a pending release survives every lens, because a gap is a fact about the place rather than about one reader's subject.

Subscribe to this lens #

currentretrieved 2026-10-19

The same narrowed findings as a feed.

Sources #

  • publishedQuarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsopen the source
    area 26061, all ownerships, all industries · period 2026-Q1 · retrieved 2026-10-19
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · 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%)
  • publishedZillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv · period 2026-09 · retrieved 2026-10-19
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
  • publishedZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv · period 2026-09 · retrieved 2026-10-19
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
  • estimateQuarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household

Citations

  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. series area 26061, all ownerships, all industries. period 2026-Q1. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2026/1/area/26061.csv. accessed 2026-10-19.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: 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%).
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). series County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv. period 2026-09. https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zori/County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv. accessed 2026-10-19.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). series County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv. period 2026-09. https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zhvi/County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv. accessed 2026-10-19.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns.
  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. https://www.bls.gov/cew/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household.

What these numbers are not

  • The newest BLS QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, only the over-the-year percent change BLS publishes itself. Every employment and wage comparison here states that published change; none of them is a move from one level to another, because the two levels are not both in the file.
  • A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank across the entities that published the metric this period: the smallest published value scores 0 and the largest scores 100. It is not the share of entities below the value, and entities that did not publish the metric are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
  • The named indicators shown beside this brief are national or basin-level series, not measurements of Houghton County, MI; 30-year fixed mortgage rate (watch), Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual (watch), Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate (watch) and WTI crude oil, spot (watch) are at a watch or alert level. They are context.
  • Water rows are everything within 75 km of this place's internal point (150 km for reservoirs), not everything inside its boundary: lib/water searches discs, and every row prints its own distance.
  • Server report: satellite turbidity is only computed in a browser, so that term is absent here.
  • USGS gauges did not answer.
  • USGS wells did not answer.
  • Stress uses 1 of 4 terms (drought); missing terms are left out, not assumed.
  • Groundwater has no trend term: one latest level cannot say whether an aquifer is being drawn down.
  • Obligations are what agencies committed in FY2026 by place of performance: not outlays, and not the recipient's own location.
  • FY2026 closed 19 days ago; agencies report with up to a 45-day lag, so totals are still filling in.
  • The indicator block is the NATIONAL set, filtered only by lens. None of these series is keyed to this place: they are United States, gauge, single-state or port series and they are shown as context, not as this place's own readings.

Page assembled 2026-10-19T23:00:22.105Z. Place identity tables pulled 2026-10-01.