Silver Bow County, MT
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 45.90, -112.66.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 67th pct · 1,009th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 49th pct · 29th of 56 Montana counties · median $286,409
- 52nd pct · 1,440th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 38th pct · 35th of 56 Montana counties · median +3.9%
- 44th pct · 753rd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 22nd pct · 8th of 10 Montana counties · median $1,628
- 66th pct · 1,084th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 89th pct · 7th of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
- 68th pct · 1,012th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 76th pct · 14th of 56 Montana counties · median $996
- 62nd pct · 1,137th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 38th pct · 35th 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 $286,274 (Sep 2026), +3.1% over one year, +36.7% over five
- 67th pct · 1,009th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 49th pct · 29th of 56 Montana counties · median $286,409
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Silver Bow County, MT | $286,274 · +3.1% 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 $1,443/mo (Sep 2026), +5.4% over one year; price-to-rent 16.5
- 44th pct · 753rd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 22nd pct · 8th of 10 Montana counties · median $1,628
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Silver Bow County, MT | $1,443/mo · +5.4% 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 $1,586 a month on $286,274 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,927 a month: 32.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $286,274 × 80% = $229,019, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,586/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,137 × 52 / 12 = $4,927) = 32% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $286,274 / ($1,137 × 52) = 4.8
- price-to-rent = $286,274 / ($1,443 × 12) = 16.5
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 #
16,020 jobs at 1,474 employers (2026 Q1); -1.5% jobs and +3.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 66th pct · 1,084th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 89th pct · 7th of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Silver Bow County, MT | 16,020 jobs · $1,137/wk · -1.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 2,903 | $1,119 | 1.20 | -1.4% |
| Accommodation and food services | 2,193 | $428 | 1.52 | -1.6% |
| Retail trade | 1,908 | $818 | 1.22 | -2.4% |
| Professional and technical services | 784 | $1,541 | 0.71 | +10.0% |
| Manufacturing | 628 | $1,498 | 0.49 | -5.0% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 611 | $1,383 | 0.90 | -3.5% |
| Construction | 554 | $1,141 | 0.66 | -1.2% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 515 | $2,185 | 9.03 | +0.0% |
| Other services | 509 | $710 | 1.06 | +6.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 417 | $397 | 1.58 | +9.2% |
| Finance and insurance | 303 | $1,956 | 0.46 | +3.4% |
| Real estate and rental | 230 | $1,058 | 0.94 | -4.6% |
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 #
$906.2 m in deposits at 9 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,879, highly concentrated. $262.0 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $236.4 m, grants $23.9 m), $16,353 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Glacier Bank | $243.6 m · 26.9% share · 3 offices | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $219.9 m · 24.3% share · 1 office | |
| Opportunity Bank of Montana | $125.5 m · 13.8% share · 1 office | |
| Silver Bow, MT | $262.0 m FY2026 · $16,353/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $220.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glacier Bank | $243,579,000 | 26.9% | 3 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $219,899,000 | 24.3% | 1 |
| Opportunity Bank of Montana | $125,480,000 | 13.8% | 1 |
| First Montana Bank, Inc. | $124,747,000 | 13.8% | 1 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $96,334,000 | 10.6% | 1 |
| Citizens Alliance Bank | $74,829,000 | 8.3% | 1 |
| Bank of Bridger, National Association | $21,355,000 | 2.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,879 across 7 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 7 banks with deposits in the county = 26.9² + 24.3² + 13.8² + … (4 more) = 1,879
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 | $193,119,140 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $33,141,365 |
| Department of Transportation | $11,283,090 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $8,220,828 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $5,300,783 |
| Department of Education | $4,116,200 |
| Department of Agriculture | $3,795,875 |
| National Science Foundation | $1,313,800 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $1,297,466 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $1,041,107 |
| Department of the Interior | $505,691 |
| Department of Defense | $330,179 |
That is $16,353 per covered job, against 16,020 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $262.0 m / 16,020 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $16,353
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 #
Silver Bow County, MT: 9 findings, 2 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchSilver Bow County, MT's covered employment is -1.5% against a year earlier, a watch level here: covered employment below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; 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.emp = -1.5 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchSilver Bow County, MT's price-to-rent ratio of 16.5 scores 46 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 0 across Montana counties, a gap of 46 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 46 = |46 across US counties - 0 across Montana counties|
- 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
noteSilver Bow County, MT's average weekly wage was 3.6% 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
- +3.6 % = 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
noteSilver Bow County, MT's typical asking rent rose 2.0% from $1,415 in August 2026 to $1,443 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +2.0% = (1443.2407407407409 - 1414.6304111743) / 1414.6304111743 × 100
- 1443.2407407407409 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 1414.6304111743 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
noteSilver Bow County, MT's covered employment was 1.5% 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
- -1.5 % = 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
Read all 9 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.