Fergus County, MT
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 47.22, -109.23.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 67th pct · 1,003rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 50th pct · 28th of 56 Montana counties · median $286,409
- 76th pct · 735th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 58th pct · 24th of 56 Montana counties · median +3.9%
- US counties: not published this period
- Montana counties: not published this period
- 35th pct · 2,078th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 74th pct · 15th of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
- 31st pct · 2,214th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 37th pct · 35th of 56 Montana counties · median $996
- 76th pct · 714th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 52nd pct · 27th of 56 Montana counties · median 5.5
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 $286,543 (Sep 2026), +5.2% over one year, +41.2% over five
- 67th pct · 1,003rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 50th pct · 28th of 56 Montana counties · median $286,409
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Fergus County, MT | $286,543 · +5.2% 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 #
Zillow publishes no rent index for this area (ZORI covers about 1,400 counties)
- US counties: not published this period
- Montana 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 $1,587 a month on $286,543 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,147 a month: 38.3% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $286,543 × 80% = $229,234, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,587/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $957 × 52 / 12 = $4,147) = 38% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $286,543 / ($957 × 52) = 5.8
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 #
4,687 jobs at 562 employers (2026 Q1); +1.3% jobs and +5.0% average weekly wage over the year
- 35th pct · 2,078th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 74th pct · 15th of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Fergus County, MT | 4,687 jobs · $957/wk · +1.3% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 526 | $699 | 1.15 | +1.3% |
| Manufacturing | 487 | $1,110 | 1.29 | +3.4% |
| Accommodation and food services | 446 | $374 | 1.06 | +1.4% |
| Construction | 347 | $998 | 1.41 | -1.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 255 | $1,110 | 1.42 | -3.8% |
| Finance and insurance | 161 | $1,529 | 0.84 | +1.9% |
| Professional and technical services | 129 | $1,064 | 0.40 | -0.8% |
| Other services | 121 | $460 | 0.86 | -12.3% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 81 | $321 | 1.05 | +6.6% |
| Information | 70 | $628 | 0.81 | +22.8% |
| Real estate and rental | 25 | $551 | 0.35 | +0.0% |
| Unclassified | 9 | $1,190 | 0.90 | +12.5% |
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 #
D0 abnormally dry
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 #
$427.0 m in deposits at 7 offices of 5 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,004, highly concentrated. $121.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $86.4 m, grants $25.1 m), $25,971 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Glacier Bank | $183.1 m · 42.9% share · 2 offices | |
| Stockman Bank of Montana | $126.5 m · 29.6% share · 1 office | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $59.8 m · 14.0% share · 1 office | |
| Fergus, MT | $121.7 m FY2026 · $25,971/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $75.5 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glacier Bank | $183,109,000 | 42.9% | 2 |
| Stockman Bank of Montana | $126,473,000 | 29.6% | 1 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $59,773,000 | 14.0% | 1 |
| Bank of The Rockies | $31,611,000 | 7.4% | 1 |
| Opportunity Bank of Montana | $26,028,000 | 6.1% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 3,004 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 = 42.9² + 29.6² + 14.0² + … (2 more) = 3,004
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 | $66,504,581 |
| Department of Transportation | $31,677,843 |
| Department of Agriculture | $10,981,018 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $8,051,681 |
| Department of the Interior | $3,000,167 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $914,095 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $215,302 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $183,874 |
| Department of Education | $120,825 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $75,000 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $0 |
That is $25,971 per covered job, against 4,687 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $121.7 m / 4,687 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $25,971
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 #
Fergus County, MT: 7 findings, 2 at a watch level and 5 noted
watchFergus County, MT's typical home value is -1.1% against the previous month, a watch level here: typical home value at least 1 percent below the previous month (arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI month columns; 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: home.momPct = -1.0807245457578913 <= -1
- month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchFergus County, MT's covered employment of 4,687 scores 35 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 75 across Montana counties, a gap of 39 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 39 = |35 across US counties - 75 across Montana counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteFergus County, MT's average weekly wage was 5.0% 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
- +5 % = 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
noteFergus County, MT's covered employment was 1.3% 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
- +1.3 % = 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
noteFergus County, MT's typical home value fell 1.1% from $289,673 in August 2026 to $286,543 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- -1.1% = (286542.81117745535 - 289673.3825249294) / 289673.3825249294 × 100
- 286542.81117745535 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 289673.3825249294 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
Read all 7 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.