Canton’s current Zillow ZHVI typical home value is $176,363, and its Zillow ZORI typical observed monthly market rent is $1,054. Their implied gross yield is 7.17% before every operating cost; annualized ZORI equals 29.29% of ACS median household income, while ZHVI is 4.08x that income. Zillow home value rose 5.09% and market rent rose 2.43% from a year earlier, providing citywide affordability and revenue context, not a property’s achievable rent.
ACS surveyed occupied housing gives a $97,800 median owner-reported home value and $850 median monthly gross rent, which includes selected utilities. Those ACS measures differ in definition and period from Zillow and should not be averaged with it. Renters occupy 51.32% of occupied units, while the citywide housing-stock vacancy rate is 13.40%. Single-family homes constitute 71.62% of all units and large multifamily properties 7.78%; the median unit was built in 1947. This describes stock and tenure, not listings, quality or deal availability.
Direct city depth is mixed: 47.82% of renter households are rent-burdened. Population was 69,755, down 2.09% between the overlapping ACS five-year vintages; the change is not annualized, may reflect boundary changes and is not an event count. Median household income is $43,188, with poverty at 27.36% and unemployment at 7.79%, descriptive demand constraints rather than causes. Of 4,534 vacant units, 502 were listed as for rent. Rent burden, vacancy reasons, structure shares and citywide vacancy cannot identify available investment inventory or prove a particular unit will lease quickly.
In county context, Stark County’s median market time was 32 days, useful sales-liquidity context but not a Canton city measure. The Canton, OH metro recorded a 0.27% job decline, a broader metro demand signal that does not replace the city unemployment reading. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate was 6.58%, so the national financing backdrop can materially alter debt service versus the unlevered city gross yield. County marketing time, metro employment and the national rate use different populations and denominators and should not be blended.
Underwrite from the address upward. Obtain property-level rent comps with lease dates, concessions and utility responsibilities; inspect roof, structure, systems and deferred maintenance; and price insurance, parcel taxes, management, turnover, repairs and capital reserves. Confirm zoning, rental-registration requirements, title, flood or hazard exposure and financing terms. Reconcile actual unit mix and occupancy with leases and payment history. The city Zillow yield is unlevered and cost-free, while ACS evidence is surveyed context, so neither substitutes for a property cash-flow model, physical inspection or legal review.