Lake County, OH
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 41.78, -81.20.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 56th pct · 1,329th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 66th pct · 30th of 88 Ohio counties · median $218,478
- 40th pct · 4th of 6 counties in the Cleveland metro · median $255,286
- 56th pct · 1,325th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 34th pct · 58th of 88 Ohio counties · median +3.9%
- 20th pct · 5th of 6 counties in the Cleveland metro · median +4.4%
- 42nd pct · 780th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 61st pct · 22nd of 55 Ohio counties · median $1,340
- 40th pct · 4th of 6 counties in the Cleveland metro · median $1,461
- 90th pct · 304th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 88th pct · 11th of 88 Ohio counties · median 20,657
- 80th pct · 2nd of 6 counties in the Cleveland metro · median 79,942
- 76th pct · 742nd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 75th pct · 22nd of 88 Ohio counties · median $1,081
- 60th pct · 3rd of 6 counties in the Cleveland metro · median $1,186
- 45th pct · 1,676th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 62nd pct · 34th of 88 Ohio counties · median 3.7
- 40th pct · 4th of 6 counties in the Cleveland metro · median 4.2
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 $249,918 (Sep 2026), +3.4% over one year, +29.6% over five
- 56th pct · 1,329th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 66th pct · 30th of 88 Ohio counties · median $218,478
- 40th pct · 4th of 6 counties in the Cleveland metro · median $255,286
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lake County, OH | $249,918 · +3.4% 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 $1,422/mo (Sep 2026), +2.5% over one year; price-to-rent 14.6
- 42nd pct · 780th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 61st pct · 22nd of 55 Ohio counties · median $1,340
- 40th pct · 4th of 6 counties in the Cleveland metro · median $1,461
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lake County, OH | $1,422/mo · +2.5% 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 $1,384 a month on $249,918 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,226 a month: 26.5% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $249,918 × 80% = $199,934, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,384/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,206 × 52 / 12 = $5,226) = 26% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $249,918 / ($1,206 × 52) = 4.0
- price-to-rent = $249,918 / ($1,422 × 12) = 14.6
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 #
98,198 jobs at 6,713 employers (2026 Q1); -0.1% jobs and +1.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 90th pct · 304th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 88th pct · 11th of 88 Ohio counties · median 20,657
- 80th pct · 2nd of 6 counties in the Cleveland metro · median 79,942
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lake County, OH | 98,198 jobs · $1,206/wk · -0.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 21,060 | $1,600 | 2.67 | -0.2% |
| Retail trade | 12,103 | $754 | 1.26 | -1.4% |
| Health care and social assistance | 12,101 | $1,009 | 0.82 | -2.5% |
| Accommodation and food services | 9,833 | $431 | 1.11 | -0.6% |
| Finance and insurance | 5,314 | $2,077 | 1.33 | +1.7% |
| Administrative and waste services | 5,260 | $807 | 0.94 | +5.6% |
| Wholesale trade | 3,380 | $1,684 | 0.90 | -3.4% |
| Professional and technical services | 3,209 | $1,525 | 0.47 | -4.2% |
| Other services | 2,967 | $856 | 1.01 | +5.3% |
| Management of companies | 1,979 | $2,039 | 1.20 | +6.8% |
| Educational services | 1,617 | $680 | 0.77 | -2.8% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 1,089 | $942 | 0.26 | +6.8% |
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 #
2 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
Sites found: 2, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Pymatuning Reservoir at Pymatuning Dam, PA | 1,008 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 69 km |
| Lake Arthur at Moraine State Park, PA | 1,190 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 128 km |
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 #
64 gauges · 0 flooding · 14 with quality panels averaging 99 % · 16 stale
Sites found: 64, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Grand River near Painesville OH | flow 28.0 ft³/s · quality 80 % (5) · no flooding | 7 km |
| Lake Erie near Fairport Harbor | no readings | 7 km |
| Grand River at Harpersfield OH | flow 4.70 ft³/s · STALE | 21 km |
| Chagrin River at Willoughby OH | flow 101.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 24 km |
| Unnamed trib to Chagrin R at Mayfield Village OH | stage 0.77 ft · observation not current | 33 km |
| East Branch Euclid Creek at Richmond Heights OH | stage 1.36 ft · observation not current | 34 km |
| Euclid Creek near Euclid OH | flow 13.0 ft³/s · STALE | 37 km |
| Euclid Creek at Cleveland OH | flow 8.59 ft³/s | 37 km |
| Euclid Creek at South Euclid OH | stage 0.22 ft | 39 km |
| Unnamed tributary to Chagrin R at Pepper Pike OH | stage 6.33 ft | 40 km |
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 #
47 wells in 3 named aquifers: Mississippian aquifers, Sand and gravel aquifers (glaciated regions), Pennsylvanian aquifers
Sites found: 47, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-414125081031500 | depth 1.87 ft · 2002-05-20 | 15 km |
| USGS-413445081131300 | depth 42.1 ft · 1981-01-28 | 22 km |
| USGS-413247081103300 | depth 27.6 ft · 2017-10-30 | 26 km |
| USGS-413119081213200 | depth 58.6 ft · 2019-05-15 | 31 km |
| USGS-412851081045200 | depth 77.0 ft · 2020-03-04 | 34 km |
| USGS-412748081172000 | depth 90.0 ft · 2019-06-24 | 36 km |
| USGS-412718081102400 | depth 7.63 ft · 1981-12-24 | 36 km |
| USGS-412555081095000 | depth 16.7 ft · 1982-08-09 | 39 km |
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 (0.01)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.01 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$6.9 bn in deposits at 50 offices of 16 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,245, moderately concentrated. $1.7 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $1.6 bn, contracts $55.9 m), $16,814 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| The Huntington National Bank | $1.5 bn · 22.2% share · 7 offices | |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $1.3 bn · 18.8% share · 8 offices | |
| KeyBank National Association | $697.9 m · 10.2% share · 6 offices | |
| Lake, OH | $1.7 bn FY2026 · $16,814/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $1.5 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Huntington National Bank | $1,526,181,000 | 22.2% | 7 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $1,291,810,000 | 18.8% | 8 |
| KeyBank National Association | $697,908,000 | 10.2% | 6 |
| Fifth Third Bank, National Association | $579,921,000 | 8.4% | 4 |
| Citizens Bank, National Association | $545,884,000 | 8.0% | 4 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $515,510,000 | 7.5% | 3 |
| Third Federal Savings and Loan Association of Cleveland | $427,750,000 | 6.2% | 1 |
| Flagstar Bank, National Association | $353,084,000 | 5.1% | 3 |
| Dollar Bank, Federal Savings Bank | $280,967,000 | 4.1% | 4 |
| CNB Bank | $204,587,000 | 3.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,245 across 16 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 16 banks with deposits in the county = 22.2² + 18.8² + 10.2² + … (13 more) = 1,245
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 | $1,388,886,982 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $134,099,645 |
| Department of Defense | $43,550,462 |
| Department of Transportation | $30,939,419 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $14,646,706 |
| Department of Education | $12,022,352 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $9,775,084 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $9,463,960 |
| Department of Agriculture | $4,797,065 |
| Department of Commerce | $1,750,000 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $392,820 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $194,303 |
That is $16,814 per covered job, against 98,198 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $1.7 bn / 98,198 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $16,814
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 #
Lake County, OH: 11 findings, 2 at a watch level and 9 noted
watchLake County, OH's covered employment is -0.1% 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 = -0.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchLake County, OH's typical asking rent is -1.0% against the previous month, a watch level here: typical asking rent at least 1 percent below the previous month (arithmetic on the Zillow ZORI 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: rent.momPct = -1.0208483117607077 <= -1
- month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
arithmetic on the Zillow ZORI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
noteLake County, OH's average weekly wage was 1.1% 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
- +1.1 % = 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
noteLake County, OH's typical asking rent fell 1.0% from $1,437 in August 2026 to $1,422 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- -1.0% = (1422.2265512265512 - 1436.8950702934144) / 1436.8950702934144 × 100
- 1422.2265512265512 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 1436.8950702934144 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
noteLake County, OH's typical home value rose 0.4% from $248,863 in August 2026 to $249,918 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.4% = (249917.9678347437 - 248863.45694071156) / 248863.45694071156 × 100
- 249917.9678347437 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 248863.45694071156 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
Read all 11 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.