Madison’s current Zillow ZHVI indicates a typical city home value of $435,430, while ZORI indicates typical observed market rent of $1,656 per month. Their implied gross yield is 4.56% before maintenance, management, taxes, insurance, vacancy, financing and capital work. The home value equals 5.58x median household income, and annualized ZORI equals 25.47% of that income. This frames acquisition economics and renter affordability, but neither ratio is property-level cash flow.
Citywide, ACS reports 133,530 housing units, a 3.95% vacancy rate, and renter occupancy of 53.99% of occupied units. Its surveyed owner-reported median home value is $372,900 and median gross rent is $1,413, with gross rent including contract rent plus selected utilities. Those ACS occupied-housing measures are not interchangeable with Zillow’s current typical value and observed market rent; they use different concepts and periods. The vacancy and tenure figures describe the citywide stock, not leasing speed for a property.
ACS shows 50.25% of renter households are rent-burdened, while single-family structures represent 44.85% and large multifamily structures 28.71% of all housing units. Among vacant units, 45.11% were classified as for rent. These structure and vacancy-reason shares do not identify purchasable inventory or prove absorption. City population was 9.03% higher than in the overlapping earlier ACS vintage, a comparison that should not be annualized and may reflect boundary change. Median household income is $78,050, with poverty at 16.37% and unemployment at 2.65%. These last measures describe demand capacity and labor conditions, but do not establish tenant quality, rent collection, or causes.
In Dane County, the property-tax rate is 1.626%, while Realtor listings had a median 41 days on market and 946 active listings. In the broader Madison metro, annual payroll job change was -0.38%, and market supply was 2.5 months. The broader Madison metro issued 5,074 housing permits year to date, indicating a regional supply pipeline rather than city inventory. Nationally, the Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate was 6.58%, a financing benchmark rather than a Madison borrowing quote.
These aggregates leave the main underwriting variables unresolved: exact purchase basis, legally achievable rent, operating costs, taxes, insurance, physical condition, lease terms, turnover and financing. For any candidate property, verify closed-sale and rent comparables, current leases and arrears, utility responsibility, tax bill and reassessment treatment, insurance and hazard terms, inspection findings, deferred maintenance, capital plan, and local legal constraints. Rebuild net operating income and debt coverage from documented property inputs, then test vacancy, repairs, rent concessions, refinancing and resale assumptions rather than treating citywide yield as a return estimate.