Clay County, SD
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 42.92, -96.98.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 66th pct · 1,035th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 61st pct · 20th of 50 South Dakota counties · median $251,658
- 49th pct · 1,539th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 44th pct · 28th of 50 South Dakota counties · median +3.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- South Dakota counties: not published this period
- 42nd pct · 1,849th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 80th pct · 14th of 66 South Dakota counties · median 1,825
- 45th pct · 1,764th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 63rd pct · 25th of 66 South Dakota counties · median $978
- 70th pct · 894th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 63rd pct · 19th of 50 South Dakota counties · median 4.8
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 $283,158 (Sep 2026), +2.8% over one year, +36.1% over five
- 66th pct · 1,035th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 61st pct · 20th of 50 South Dakota counties · median $251,658
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Clay County, SD | $283,158 · +2.8% 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
- South Dakota 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 $1,568 a month on $283,158 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,411 a month: 35.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $283,158 × 80% = $226,527, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,568/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,018 × 52 / 12 = $4,411) = 36% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $283,158 / ($1,018 × 52) = 5.3
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 #
6,112 jobs at 489 employers (2026 Q1); -0.1% jobs and +4.5% average weekly wage over the year
- 42nd pct · 1,849th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 80th pct · 14th of 66 South Dakota counties · median 1,825
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Clay County, SD | 6,112 jobs · $1,018/wk · -0.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 897 | $275 | 1.63 | -5.3% |
| Retail trade | 761 | $617 | 1.28 | +5.3% |
| Health care and social assistance | 623 | $914 | 0.68 | -9.7% |
| Manufacturing | 263 | $1,682 | 0.53 | +18.5% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 210 | $1,572 | 0.82 | +12.9% |
| Other services | 174 | $1,258 | 0.95 | +14.5% |
| Construction | 154 | $1,177 | 0.48 | -3.8% |
| Professional and technical services | 113 | $1,721 | 0.27 | -23.1% |
| Finance and insurance | 94 | $1,796 | 0.38 | -5.1% |
| Administrative and waste services | 92 | $1,089 | 0.26 | -2.1% |
| Wholesale trade | 85 | $2,072 | 0.36 | -4.5% |
| Utilities | 31 | $1,821 | 1.28 | +6.9% |
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 #
D1 moderate drought
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 #
moderate (0.25)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$426.3 m in deposits at 7 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,905, highly concentrated. $103.5 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $87.6 m, grants $15.5 m), $16,939 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First Dakota National Bank | $125.6 m · 29.5% share · 1 office | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $87.6 m · 20.5% share · 1 office | |
| First Bank & Trust | $67.8 m · 15.9% share · 1 office | |
| Clay, SD | $103.5 m FY2026 · $16,939/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $57.7 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Dakota National Bank | $125,600,000 | 29.5% | 1 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $87,576,000 | 20.5% | 1 |
| First Bank & Trust | $67,788,000 | 15.9% | 1 |
| CorTrust Bank National Association | $61,598,000 | 14.4% | 1 |
| BMO Bank National Association | $42,643,000 | 10.0% | 1 |
| First PREMIER Bank | $28,648,000 | 6.7% | 1 |
| Merchants State Bank | $12,471,000 | 2.9% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,905 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 = 29.5² + 20.5² + 15.9² + … (4 more) = 1,905
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 | $49,975,078 |
| Department of Agriculture | $19,636,966 |
| Department of Education | $11,966,193 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $7,587,869 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $5,132,303 |
| Department of Transportation | $4,155,894 |
| National Science Foundation | $2,185,522 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $1,831,580 |
| Department of Energy | $330,000 |
| Small Business Administration | $256,666 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $255,503 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $86,709 |
That is $16,939 per covered job, against 6,112 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $103.5 m / 6,112 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $16,939
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 #
Clay County, SD: 6 findings, 2 at a watch level and 4 noted
watchClay County, SD'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
watchClay County, SD's covered employment of 6,112 scores 43 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 80 across South Dakota counties, a gap of 37 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 37 = |43 across US counties - 80 across South Dakota counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteClay County, SD's average weekly wage was 4.5% 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
- +4.5 % = 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
noteClay County, SD's covered employment was 0.1% 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
- -0.1 % = 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
noteThe next Unemployment rate (BLS Employment Situation, monthly) covering Clay County, SD 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
Read all 6 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.