Polk County, IA: 13 findings, 1 at a watch level and 12 noted

13 findings fired for Polk County, IA this run, against a typical home value of $279,097 in September 2026 and covered employment of 312,929 in 2026 Q1. 1 further finding is not listed here.

This is the explorer lens: Everyone else: the spy-satellite view of the planet It keeps the findings whose subject matches that interest and drops the rest, so it is a subset of the full brief and never a different set of numbers. The full brief is the canonical version of this page.

12 findings #

currentretrieved 2026-10-19

  1. watchPolk County, IA's typical asking rent of $1,220 scores 23 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 67 across Iowa counties, a gap of 44 points.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 44 = |23 across US counties - 67 across Iowa counties|

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  2. notePolk County, IA's average weekly wage was 2.9% 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
    • +2.9 % = 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

  3. notePolk County, IA's covered employment was 0.9% 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
    • +0.9 % = 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

  4. notePolk County, IA's covered employment of 312,929 ranks 1st of 6 counties in the Des Moines-West Des Moines metro, against a median of 12,053.

    Period 2026 Q1.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 100 on the 0-to-100 scale across 6 counties in the Des Moines-West Des Moines metro that published jobs.emp

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  5. notePolk County, IA's covered employment of 312,929 ranks 1st of 99 Iowa counties, against a median of 5,685.

    Period 2026 Q1.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 100 on the 0-to-100 scale across 99 Iowa counties that published jobs.emp

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  6. notePolk County, IA's years of wages of 3.3 ranks 6th of 6 counties in the Des Moines-West Des Moines metro, against a median of 4.4.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 0 on the 0-to-100 scale across 6 counties in the Des Moines-West Des Moines metro that published yearsOfWages
    • typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  7. notePolk County, IA's average weekly wage of $1,604 ranks 2nd of 99 Iowa counties, against a median of $1,057.

    Period 2026 Q1.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 99 on the 0-to-100 scale across 99 Iowa counties that published jobs.avgWeeklyWage

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  8. notePolk County, IA's covered employment of 312,929 ranks 98th of 3,221 US counties, against a median of 8,232.

    Period 2026 Q1.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 97 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3221 US counties that published jobs.emp

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  9. notePolk County, IA's average weekly wage of $1,604 ranks 171st of 3,221 US counties, against a median of $1,039.

    Period 2026 Q1.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 95 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3221 US counties that published jobs.avgWeeklyWage

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  10. notePolk County, IA's typical home value of +0.2% ranks 92nd of 99 Iowa counties, against a median of +4.2%.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 7 on the 0-to-100 scale across 99 Iowa counties that published home.yoyPct

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  11. noteThe next Unemployment rate (BLS Employment Situation, monthly) covering Polk County, IA 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

  12. noteThe next Zillow ZHVI typical home value (monthly) covering Polk County, IA is due between 2026-11-14 and 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

    Show the arithmetic
    • window = 2026-11-14 to 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

    estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

A lens narrows which numbers are shown, not which holes are admitted to: a withheld figure or a pending release survives every lens, because a gap is a fact about the place rather than about one reader's subject.

Subscribe to this lens #

currentretrieved 2026-10-19

The same narrowed findings as a feed.

Sources #

  • publishedZillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv · period 2026-09 · retrieved 2026-10-19
  • publishedQuarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsopen the source
    area 19153, all ownerships, all industries · period 2026-Q1 · retrieved 2026-10-19
  • estimateQuarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
  • publishedZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv · period 2026-09 · retrieved 2026-10-19
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%)
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
  • estimateZillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns

Citations

  • Zillow Research. Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). series County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv. period 2026-09. https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zori/County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv. accessed 2026-10-19.
  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. series area 19153, all ownerships, all industries. period 2026-Q1. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2026/1/area/19153.csv. accessed 2026-10-19.
  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. https://www.bls.gov/cew/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). series County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv. period 2026-09. https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zhvi/County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv. accessed 2026-10-19.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%).
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns.

What these numbers are not

  • The newest BLS QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, only the over-the-year percent change BLS publishes itself. Every employment and wage comparison here states that published change; none of them is a move from one level to another, because the two levels are not both in the file.
  • A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank across the entities that published the metric this period: the smallest published value scores 0 and the largest scores 100. It is not the share of entities below the value, and entities that did not publish the metric are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
  • The named indicators shown beside this brief are national or basin-level series, not measurements of Polk County, IA; 30-year fixed mortgage rate (watch), Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual (watch), Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate (watch) and WTI crude oil, spot (watch) are at a watch or alert level. They are context.
  • The occupation mix is the 19780 metro area's, from the bundled BLS OEWS release: OEWS does not publish a county table.
  • Water rows are everything within 75 km of this place's internal point (150 km for reservoirs), not everything inside its boundary: lib/water searches discs, and every row prints its own distance.
  • Server report: satellite turbidity is only computed in a browser, so that term is absent here.
  • USGS gauges did not answer.
  • USGS wells did not answer.
  • Stress uses 1 of 4 terms (drought); missing terms are left out, not assumed.
  • Groundwater has no trend term: one latest level cannot say whether an aquifer is being drawn down.
  • Obligations are what agencies committed in FY2026 by place of performance: not outlays, and not the recipient's own location.
  • FY2026 closed 19 days ago; agencies report with up to a 45-day lag, so totals are still filling in.
  • The indicator block is the NATIONAL set, filtered only by lens. None of these series is keyed to this place: they are United States, gauge, single-state or port series and they are shown as context, not as this place's own readings.

Page assembled 2026-10-19T21:20:41.070Z. Place identity tables pulled 2026-10-01.