Vilas County, WI
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 46.05, -89.50.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 87th pct · 393rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 91st pct · 7th of 72 Wisconsin counties · median $298,510
- 90th pct · 287th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 71st pct · 21st of 72 Wisconsin counties · median +6.0%
- 12th pct · 1,192nd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 13th pct · 33rd of 38 Wisconsin counties · median $1,275
- 48th pct · 1,669th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 32nd pct · 49th of 72 Wisconsin counties · median 15,405
- 19th pct · 2,604th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 9th pct · 65th of 72 Wisconsin counties · median $1,037
- 95th pct · 146th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 100th pct · 1st of 72 Wisconsin counties · median 5.4
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 $408,356 (Sep 2026), +7.8% over one year, +28.3% over five
- 87th pct · 393rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 91st pct · 7th of 72 Wisconsin counties · median $298,510
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Vilas County, WI | $408,356 · +7.8% 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 #
Typical rent $1,075/mo (Sep 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 31.7
- 12th pct · 1,192nd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 13th pct · 33rd of 38 Wisconsin counties · median $1,275
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Vilas County, WI | $1,075/mo · n/a 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 $2,262 a month on $408,356 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,900 a month: 58.0% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $408,356 × 80% = $326,685, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $2,262/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $900 × 52 / 12 = $3,900) = 58% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $408,356 / ($900 × 52) = 8.7
- price-to-rent = $408,356 / ($1,075 × 12) = 31.7
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 #
7,661 jobs at 1,057 employers (2026 Q1); -1.0% jobs and +1.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 48th pct · 1,669th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 32nd pct · 49th of 72 Wisconsin counties · median 15,405
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Vilas County, WI | 7,661 jobs · $900/wk · -1.0% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 1,353 | $509 | 1.97 | -2.6% |
| Retail trade | 1,036 | $692 | 1.39 | -1.0% |
| Construction | 601 | $1,115 | 1.50 | +3.1% |
| Health care and social assistance | 434 | $1,560 | 0.38 | -2.7% |
| Manufacturing | 380 | $866 | 0.62 | -8.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 247 | $877 | 0.57 | +7.4% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 228 | $785 | 0.71 | +0.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 197 | $1,124 | 0.67 | -11.3% |
| Finance and insurance | 166 | $1,440 | 0.53 | -2.4% |
| Other services | 123 | $904 | 0.54 | -3.1% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 120 | $634 | 0.95 | +0.0% |
| Information | 97 | $1,563 | 0.69 | +9.0% |
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 #
D3 extreme 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 #
high (0.75)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.75 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$874.4 m in deposits at 13 offices of 11 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,328, moderately concentrated. $265.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $248.3 m, grants $16.9 m), $34,671 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Nicolet National Bank | $172.9 m · 19.8% share · 1 office | |
| BMO Bank National Association | $157.5 m · 18.0% share · 1 office | |
| Associated Bank, National Association | $124.3 m · 14.2% share · 2 offices | |
| Vilas, WI | $265.6 m FY2026 · $34,671/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolet National Bank | $172,897,000 | 19.8% | 1 |
| BMO Bank National Association | $157,546,000 | 18.0% | 1 |
| Associated Bank, National Association | $124,349,000 | 14.2% | 2 |
| Headwaters State Bank | $102,883,000 | 11.8% | 2 |
| IncredibleBank | $85,867,000 | 9.8% | 1 |
| Chippewa Valley Bank | $80,323,000 | 9.2% | 1 |
| Peoples State Bank | $68,088,000 | 7.8% | 1 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $39,957,000 | 4.6% | 1 |
| Great North Bank | $23,314,000 | 2.7% | 1 |
| WOODTRUST BANK | $10,439,000 | 1.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,328 across 11 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 11 banks with deposits in the county = 19.8² + 18.0² + 14.2² + … (8 more) = 1,328
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 #
That is $34,671 per covered job, against 7,661 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $265.6 m / 7,661 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $34,671
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 #
Vilas County, WI: 14 findings, 4 at a watch level and 10 noted
watchVilas County, WI's price-to-rent ratio of 31.7 ranks 14th of 1,358 US counties, a watch level here: price-to-rent in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; 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: priceToRent percentile = 99.04200442151806 >= 90
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level
watchVilas County, WI's price-to-rent ratio is 31.7, a watch level here: typical home value worth 25 or more years of typical rent (typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; 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: priceToRent = 31.655478391174434 >= 25
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchVilas County, WI's years of wages of 8.7 ranks 146th of 3,063 US counties, a watch level here: years of wages in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; 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: yearsOfWages percentile = 95.26453298497714 >= 90
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level
watchVilas County, WI's covered employment is -1.0% 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 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteVilas County, WI's average weekly wage was 1.6% 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
- +1.6 % = 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
Read all 12 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.