Bay County, MI
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 43.70, -83.98.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 32nd pct · 2,066th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 23rd pct · 64th of 83 Michigan counties · median $225,043
- counties in the Bay City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Bay City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 85th pct · 457th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 62nd pct · 32nd of 83 Michigan counties · median +5.3%
- counties in the Bay City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Bay City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 8th pct · 1,239th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 5th pct · 38th of 40 Michigan counties · median $1,387
- counties in the Bay City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Bay City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 78th pct · 681st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 74th pct · 22nd of 83 Michigan counties · median 12,414
- counties in the Bay City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Bay City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 66th pct · 1,078th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 68th pct · 27th of 83 Michigan counties · median $1,045
- counties in the Bay City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Bay City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 25th pct · 2,270th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 12th pct · 73rd of 83 Michigan counties · median 4.0
- counties in the Bay City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Bay City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $186,141 (Sep 2026), +6.5% over one year, +36.6% over five
- 32nd pct · 2,066th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 23rd pct · 64th of 83 Michigan counties · median $225,043
- counties in the Bay City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Bay City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bay County, MI | $186,141 · +6.5% 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 $1,018/mo (Sep 2026), +2.5% over one year; price-to-rent 15.2
- 8th pct · 1,239th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 5th pct · 38th of 40 Michigan counties · median $1,387
- counties in the Bay City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Bay City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bay County, MI | $1,018/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 $1,031 a month on $186,141 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,866 a month: 21.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $186,141 × 80% = $148,913, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,031/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,123 × 52 / 12 = $4,866) = 21% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $186,141 / ($1,123 × 52) = 3.2
- price-to-rent = $186,141 / ($1,018 × 12) = 15.2
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 #
33,647 jobs at 2,134 employers (2026 Q1); -0.1% jobs and +1.8% average weekly wage over the year
- 78th pct · 681st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 74th pct · 22nd of 83 Michigan counties · median 12,414
- counties in the Bay City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Bay City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bay County, MI | 33,647 jobs · $1,123/wk · -0.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 6,149 | $1,068 | 1.21 | +2.7% |
| Retail trade | 4,426 | $741 | 1.35 | -2.6% |
| Manufacturing | 4,352 | $1,624 | 1.61 | -3.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 3,766 | $418 | 1.25 | +1.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 1,468 | $1,793 | 0.63 | +1.8% |
| Construction | 1,427 | $1,226 | 0.81 | +6.2% |
| Wholesale trade | 1,299 | $1,390 | 1.01 | -0.4% |
| Other services | 1,237 | $614 | 1.23 | +0.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 1,007 | $756 | 0.53 | -1.9% |
| Finance and insurance | 587 | $1,738 | 0.43 | -2.2% |
| Information | 415 | $1,661 | 0.67 | +0.5% |
| Real estate and rental | 415 | $1,032 | 0.80 | +3.8% |
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 #
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 #
$1.3 bn in deposits at 19 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,668, highly concentrated. $818.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $798.3 m, grants $18.0 m), $24,331 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| The Huntington National Bank | $477.7 m · 36.9% share · 7 offices | |
| Independent Bank | $404.4 m · 31.2% share · 5 offices | |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $201.0 m · 15.5% share · 2 offices | |
| Bay, MI | $818.7 m FY2026 · $24,331/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Huntington National Bank | $477,749,000 | 36.9% | 7 |
| Independent Bank | $404,385,000 | 31.2% | 5 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $200,977,000 | 15.5% | 2 |
| Thumb Bank and Trust | $83,842,000 | 6.5% | 1 |
| 1st State Bank | $73,255,000 | 5.7% | 2 |
| Fifth Third Bank, National Association | $55,003,000 | 4.2% | 1 |
| Isabella Bank | $0 | 0.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,668 across 6 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 6 banks with deposits in the county = 36.9² + 31.2² + 15.5² + … (3 more) = 2,668
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 $24,331 per covered job, against 33,647 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $818.7 m / 33,647 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $24,331
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 #
Bay County, MI: 11 findings, 2 at a watch level and 9 noted
watchBay County, MI'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
watchBay County, MI's momentum index of 0.30 scores 60 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 29 across Michigan counties, a gap of 31 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 31 = |60 across US counties - 29 across Michigan counties|
- 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%)
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteBay County, MI's average weekly wage was 1.8% 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
- +1.8 % = 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
noteBay County, MI's typical asking rent rose 1.1% from $1,007 in August 2026 to $1,018 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +1.1% = (1017.9250000000001 - 1006.5855049634425) / 1006.5855049634425 × 100
- 1017.9250000000001 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 1006.5855049634425 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
noteBay County, MI's typical home value rose 0.3% from $185,576 in August 2026 to $186,141 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.3% = (186140.62517549095 - 185576.45868652943) / 185576.45868652943 × 100
- 186140.62517549095 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 185576.45868652943 = 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.