Bozeman’s current Zillow ZHVI is $733,959, while Zillow ZORI is $2,227 per month. Their implied gross yield is 3.6% before every operating cost. ZHVI declined 0.9% year over year, while ZORI rose 1.9%, modestly improving the entry yield without establishing property-level cash flow. The ZHVI is 8.6x ACS city median household income, and annualized ZORI equals 31.2% of that income, signaling substantial ownership and rental affordability pressure.
The city has 25,908 housing units, with a 7.5% vacancy rate; renters occupy 55.3% of occupied units. These are citywide stock and tenure measures, not evidence that a specific unit will lease quickly. ACS reports a $687,900 median home value and $1,717 median gross rent, including selected utilities, for surveyed occupied housing. Those ACS measures differ in concept and period from Zillow’s typical city home value and observed market rent; they should not be averaged or treated as interchangeable.
Among city renters, 50.9% are cost-burdened. Single-family structures are 56.9% of all units, while large multifamily structures are 8.7%; this mix describes the stock, not purchasable inventory. Units listed for rent account for 36.2% of vacant units, but vacancy reasons do not measure current investment availability. Population rose 20.0% between overlapping ACS vintages; that is not an annual rate, and boundary changes may affect it. Median household income is $85,747, while poverty is 13.7% and unemployment is 3.0%. These citywide indicators describe demand depth and constraints, but cannot establish tenant quality, rent durability or future appreciation.
Gallatin County context shows a county median listing exposure of 53 days and price reductions on 14.3% of active listings; those county measures indicate some listing friction, not city pricing. The Bozeman metro has 4.7 months of supply, while metro jobs declined 0.2%; these metro figures frame supply and employment conditions but do not measure city performance. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.66%, a national financing constraint whose effect depends on the borrower and deal structure.
The central limitation is that citywide values, rents and survey shares omit a property’s condition, legal use, unit mix, lease terms and expense load. Before making a decision, verify current property-level comparable sales and leases, inspect the building, confirm title and zoning, and obtain actual taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, management and association costs. Test vacancy, concessions and financing against the specific rent roll and loan quote. Treat the Zillow gross yield only as an initial screen, not a net return or forecast.