Powell County, MT
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 46.84, -112.93.
Assembled 2026-10-20. Read the brief.
- 76th pct · 707th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 61st pct · 22nd of 56 Montana counties · median $286,409
- 83rd pct · 515th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 65th pct · 20th of 56 Montana counties · median +3.9%
- US counties: not published this period
- Montana counties: not published this period
- 19th pct · 2,588th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 49th pct · 29th of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
- 60th pct · 1,259th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 63rd pct · 21st of 56 Montana counties · median $996
- 78th pct · 669th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 56th pct · 25th of 56 Montana counties · median 5.5
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 $333,071 (Sep 2026), +6.2% over one year, +44.1% over five
- 76th pct · 707th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 61st pct · 22nd of 56 Montana counties · median $286,409
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Powell County, MT | $333,071 · +6.2% 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
- Montana 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 $1,845 a month on $333,071 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,736 a month: 39.0% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $333,071 × 80% = $266,457, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,845/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,093 × 52 / 12 = $4,736) = 39% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $333,071 / ($1,093 × 52) = 5.9
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 #
2,403 jobs at 257 employers (2026 Q1); +3.4% jobs and -9.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 19th pct · 2,588th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 49th pct · 29th of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Powell County, MT | 2,403 jobs · $1,093/wk · +3.4% YoY |
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 #
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 #
$170.0 m in deposits at 3 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,469, highly concentrated. $66.3 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $44.0 m, grants $21.6 m), $27,607 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First Security Bank of Deer Lodge | $72.5 m · 42.6% share · 1 office | |
| Pioneer State Bank | $51.8 m · 30.4% share · 1 office | |
| Peoples Bank of Deer Lodge | $45.8 m · 26.9% share · 1 office | |
| Powell, MT | $66.3 m FY2026 · $27,607/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $43.4 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Security Bank of Deer Lodge | $72,486,000 | 42.6% | 1 |
| Pioneer State Bank | $51,760,000 | 30.4% | 1 |
| Peoples Bank of Deer Lodge | $45,773,000 | 26.9% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,469 across 3 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 3 banks with deposits in the county = 42.6² + 30.4² + 26.9² = 3,469
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 | $36,667,051 |
| Department of Transportation | $21,547,950 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $6,272,708 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $578,217 |
| Department of Agriculture | $532,368 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $505,079 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $88,360 |
| Department of the Interior | $76,550 |
| Department of Education | $59,725 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $10,981 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $27,607 per covered job, against 2,403 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $66.3 m / 2,403 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $27,607
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 | 17.40 | 2026-10-19 | -3.1% |
| 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 | 2026-10-20 | +0.0% |
| Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks | 255,129.00 | 2026-09-01 | -1.4% |
| 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 | 1,221.00 | 2026-09-01 | -5.2% |
| Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,400.00 | 2026-09-01 | -0.2% |
| 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 #
Powell County, MT: 6 findings, 1 at a watch level and 5 noted
watchPowell County, MT's average weekly wage is -9.6% against a year earlier, a watch level here: average weekly wage below the same quarter a year earlier, before inflation (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; 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 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- test: jobs.yoy.avgWeeklyWage = -9.6 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
notePowell County, MT's average weekly wage was 9.6% 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
- -9.6 % = 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
notePowell County, MT's covered employment was 3.4% 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
- +3.4 % = 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
notePowell County, MT's typical home value rose 0.4% from $331,874 in August 2026 to $333,071 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.4% = (333070.8809882712 - 331874.2042141924) / 331874.2042141924 × 100
- 333070.8809882712 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 331874.2042141924 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
noteThe next Unemployment rate (BLS Employment Situation, monthly) covering Powell County, MT 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.