Missoula County, MT
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 47.03, -113.89.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 95th pct · 129th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 89th pct · 7th of 56 Montana counties · median $286,409
- counties in the Missoula metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Missoula metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 32nd pct · 2,059th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 10th pct · 50th of 56 Montana counties · median +3.9%
- counties in the Missoula metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Missoula metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 59th pct · 545th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 44th pct · 6th of 10 Montana counties · median $1,628
- counties in the Missoula metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Missoula metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 86th pct · 422nd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 96th pct · 3rd of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
- counties in the Missoula metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Missoula metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 81st pct · 587th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 89th pct · 7th of 56 Montana counties · median $996
- counties in the Missoula metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Missoula metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 95th pct · 149th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 80th pct · 12th of 56 Montana counties · median 5.5
- counties in the Missoula metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Missoula 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 $569,820 (Sep 2026), +1.3% over one year, +20.9% over five
- 95th pct · 129th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 89th pct · 7th of 56 Montana counties · median $286,409
- counties in the Missoula metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Missoula metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Missoula County, MT | $569,820 · +1.3% 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 $1,622/mo (Sep 2026), +2.7% over one year; price-to-rent 29.3
- 59th pct · 545th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 44th pct · 6th of 10 Montana counties · median $1,628
- counties in the Missoula metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Missoula metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Missoula County, MT | $1,622/mo · +2.7% 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 $3,156 a month on $569,820 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,460 a month: 57.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $569,820 × 80% = $455,856, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $3,156/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,260 × 52 / 12 = $5,460) = 58% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $569,820 / ($1,260 × 52) = 8.7
- price-to-rent = $569,820 / ($1,622 × 12) = 29.3
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 #
64,808 jobs at 6,928 employers (2026 Q1); +0.2% jobs and +7.3% average weekly wage over the year
- 86th pct · 422nd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 96th pct · 3rd of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
- counties in the Missoula metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Missoula metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Missoula County, MT | 64,808 jobs · $1,260/wk · +0.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 11,885 | $1,283 | 1.22 | +5.4% |
| Retail trade | 8,849 | $828 | 1.40 | -0.6% |
| Accommodation and food services | 6,955 | $524 | 1.19 | +4.9% |
| Professional and technical services | 4,856 | $2,603 | 1.09 | +5.5% |
| Construction | 3,924 | $1,330 | 1.15 | +1.2% |
| Other services | 2,674 | $865 | 1.38 | +1.6% |
| Finance and insurance | 2,382 | $2,340 | 0.90 | +1.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 2,289 | $1,057 | 0.62 | -6.1% |
| Manufacturing | 2,205 | $1,091 | 0.42 | -7.5% |
| Wholesale trade | 2,158 | $1,611 | 0.87 | -8.6% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 1,611 | $484 | 1.51 | +3.1% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 1,468 | $1,079 | 0.54 | -10.5% |
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 #
No drought class at this point (USDM covers the United States only)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Flathead Lake at Polson MT | 2,892 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 77 km |
| Lake Como near Darby, MT | 4,206 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 111 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 #
29 gauges · 0 flooding · 4 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 15 stale
Sites found: 29, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Big Knife Creek near Arlee MT | flow 9.10 ft³/s · STALE | 15 km |
| Clark Fork above Missoula MT | flow 1,440 ft³/s · quality 100 % (3) · no flooding | 17 km |
| Blackfoot River near Bonner MT | flow 593.0 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) · no flooding | 18 km |
| South Fork Jocko River near Arlee MT | flow 18.0 ft³/s | 19 km |
| Clark Fork at Turah Bridge nr Bonner MT | flow 835.0 ft³/s | 23 km |
| Bitterroot River near Missoula MT | flow 816.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 25 km |
| Clark Fork below Missoula MT | flow 2,240 ft³/s · no flooding | 25 km |
| Valley Creek near Arlee MT | flow 8.40 ft³/s · STALE | 30 km |
| Mission Creek ab reservoir nr St. Ignatius MT | flow 12.4 ft³/s | 33 km |
| Rock Creek near Clinton MT | flow 260.0 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) · no flooding | 37 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 #
10 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 10, 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-470946114013201 | depth 151.5 ft · 2010-10-20 | 18 km |
| 14N20W33DDCD02 | depth 1.19 ft · 2009-11-29 | 21 km |
| USGS-471729114052101 | depth 4.51 ft · 2024-09-17 | 33 km |
| USGS-471729114052201 | depth 6.48 ft · 2026-08-25 | 33 km |
| USGS-471735114052701 | depth 10.7 ft · 2024-09-17 | 33 km |
| USGS-471740114051301 | depth 2.49 ft · 2026-07-22 | 33 km |
| USGS-471736114052601 | depth 9.91 ft · 2026-08-25 | 33 km |
| USGS-470207114210901 | depth 5.21 ft · 2026-06-01 | 35 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 (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.00 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$3.9 bn in deposits at 32 offices of 11 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,476, moderately concentrated. $874.5 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $700.4 m, contracts $103.0 m), $13,494 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Glacier Bank | $888.6 m · 22.5% share · 6 offices | |
| First Interstate Bank | $824.9 m · 20.9% share · 3 offices | |
| Stockman Bank of Montana | $515.4 m · 13.1% share · 3 offices | |
| Missoula, MT | $874.5 m FY2026 · $13,494/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glacier Bank | $888,603,000 | 22.5% | 6 |
| First Interstate Bank | $824,882,000 | 20.9% | 3 |
| Stockman Bank of Montana | $515,366,000 | 13.1% | 3 |
| TrailWest Bank | $435,394,000 | 11.0% | 7 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $381,175,000 | 9.7% | 2 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $365,682,000 | 9.3% | 2 |
| Bank of Montana | $278,912,000 | 7.1% | 1 |
| Farmers State Bank | $70,974,000 | 1.8% | 3 |
| Opportunity Bank of Montana | $70,851,000 | 1.8% | 2 |
| First Montana Bank, Inc. | $60,110,000 | 1.5% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 1,476 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 = 22.5² + 20.9² + 13.1² + … (8 more) = 1,476
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 $13,494 per covered job, against 64,808 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $874.5 m / 64,808 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $13,494
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 #
Missoula County, MT: 11 findings, 4 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchMissoula County, MT's price-to-rent ratio of 29.3 ranks 27th 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 = 98.0840088430361 >= 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
watchMissoula County, MT's years of wages of 8.7 ranks 149th 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 = 95.16655780535598 >= 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
watchMissoula County, MT's price-to-rent ratio is 29.3, 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 = 29.26738020113091 >= 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
watchMissoula County, MT's price-to-rent ratio of 29.3 scores 98 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 67 across Montana counties, a gap of 31 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 31 = |98 across US counties - 67 across Montana counties|
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteMissoula County, MT's average weekly wage was 7.3% 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
- +7.3 % = 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 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.