Bentonville's current Zillow ZHVI, a typical city home value, is $496,895, while Zillow ZORI, a typical observed market rent, is $1,640 per month. Their relationship produces a 4.0% gross yield before every operating cost. ZHVI rose 3.3% year over year and ZORI rose 3.6%. At 4.4x median household income, the price-to-income measure is a broad purchase-affordability screen; annual ZORI equals 17.4% of city median household income, an income comparison rather than property-level underwriting.
Renters represent 49.6% of occupied city units, and the citywide vacancy rate is 9.3%. Single-family homes account for 66.8% of all units, versus 8.2% in large multifamily buildings, framing a stock with a substantial renter base but predominantly detached structures. ACS reports a $1,344 median gross rent, including contract rent and selected utilities. The ACS median home-value and gross-rent measures describe surveyed occupied housing; they differ in method and period from Zillow's typical-value and observed-market-rent measures and should not be averaged or substituted.
Against that predominantly single-family structure, 39.4% of the city's 2,328 vacant units are classified for rent; for-rent, for-sale and seasonal labels are housing-stock reasons rather than evidence that a particular rental will lease quickly. The ACS reports 27.6% of renters pay at least 30% of income for rent. Population is 58,249, up 17.8% when comparing the two overlapping ACS five-year vintages; this is not an annual growth rate and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $112,792, while poverty is 5.2% and unemployment is 3.1%. The poverty and unemployment figures are descriptive demand constraints, not proof of tenant performance. ACS survey context cannot show a property's condition, turnover, or available investment inventory.
In Benton County, the FHFA house-price index increased 76.7% over five years, a county price-history context rather than a Bentonville measure. In the broader Fayetteville metro, employment grew 2.6% year over year and months of supply were 3.4, metro-level conditions that need not match the city. The national 30-year mortgage rate was 6.7%, a national financing reference rather than a local borrowing quote.
Main underwriting gaps are property-specific: taxes, insurance, financing terms, repairs, utilities, management, lease terms and realized vacancy are absent. Verify the address's zoning and permitted use, physical condition and age, comparable rents, leasing history, operating statements, flood and other hazard exposure, insurance quote, tax bill, and any applicable association rules. Recalculate net cash flow and debt service only after those checks; the stated gross yield excludes every operating cost.