Pittsfield’s current Zillow ZHVI, a typical city home value, is $313,732, and Zillow ZORI, a typical observed monthly market rent, is $1,546. Before operating costs, their relationship produces a 5.9% gross yield. The ZHVI equals 4.4x city median household income, while annual ZORI equals 26.3% of that income. These are affordability screens, not estimates of a household’s payment or a property’s net return.
ACS records 21,054 city housing units. Renters occupy 37.2% of occupied units. Single-family structures account for 56.1% of all units, compared with 5.9% in large multifamily structures. ACS reports a $256,900 median home value and $1,134 median gross rent among surveyed occupied housing; gross rent includes contract rent and selected utilities. Those ACS measures are not the same measure or period as the Zillow value and observed market-rent series.
The city’s renter rent-burden share is 52.8% for households paying at least 30% of income toward rent. Its structure mix is citywide stock context, and ACS lists 121 vacant units for rent while separately recording for-sale and seasonal vacancies; these reasons do not identify investment inventory or predict lease-up for a particular rental. Population is 43,457, up 1.6% from 42,766 across overlapping ACS five-year vintages; the comparison is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $70,582, while poverty is 14.9% and unemployment is 7.0%; these are descriptive demand constraints, not causal findings.
In Berkshire County, the county property-tax rate is 1.32%, a county context figure that does not establish a Pittsfield tax bill. In the broader Pittsfield metro, Redfin reports 4 months of supply, a metro-level supply gauge rather than city inventory. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.69%, a national financing backdrop rather than a local borrower quote.
Underwriting remains limited by citywide averages, ACS sampling, and the absence of property-specific condition, operating, and financing terms. Before acting on any address, verify asking price and achievable rent; inspect age, condition, and configuration; obtain taxes, insurance, utilities, repairs, management, and lease data; and review title, zoning, permits, flood exposure, and tenant or occupancy restrictions. Compare the completed expense and financing case with the property’s actual income, not with citywide gross yield.