At a Zillow ZHVI of $438,893 and ZORI of $2,293 monthly, the city screens at a 6.3% gross yield. That yield is annual observed rent divided by typical value, before vacancy, repairs, management, insurance, taxes, financing, and utilities. The value equals 6.44x ACS median household income, while annual ZORI equals 40.4% of that income. Those are broad affordability warnings, not a property cash-flow result or a borrower payment test.
ACS reports 79,423 city housing units; 58.6% of occupied units are renter-occupied, and citywide housing vacancy is 10.0%. These shares describe tenure and all-status vacancy, not rental availability or leasing speed. ACS also reports a $362,200 owner-reported median home value and $1,408 median gross rent, comprising contract rent and selected utilities. These occupied-housing survey measures differ in concept and period from Zillow’s typical value and observed market rent, so they must not be averaged or used interchangeably.
Direct city depth is mixed. Among city renters with burden measured, 48.0% spend 30% or more of income on gross rent. Single-family homes are 30.1% of units and large multifamily buildings are 15.1%. Of vacant units, 34.6% are categorized for rent, but survey categories do not equal investable inventory. Population was 6.8% higher between overlapping ACS vintages; this is not annualized and may reflect boundary change. Median household income is $68,119; poverty is 20.7% and unemployment is 8.2%, descriptive demand constraints that cannot establish causes, lease performance, or tenant quality.
At the county scope, Providence County’s Realtor median marketing time is 29 days and the county effective property-tax rate is 1.253%; these frame liquidity and carrying costs, not city outcomes or a parcel. In the broader Providence metro, supply is 2.5 months, payroll jobs declined 0.3% over the reported annual window, and metro permits total 3,086 in the reported period; these metro measures describe balance, labor direction, and construction rather than city inventory. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.58%, a national financing benchmark rather than a Providence quote.
Underwriting is limited by city averages, survey sampling, differing periods and definitions, and missing parcel condition, expenses, legal status, and lease terms. Before acting, verify price against comparable sales, achievable rent against like-unit leases, taxes, insurance and hazard quotes, utilities, vacancy and collections, deferred maintenance, capital needs, code and permit status, and lease obligations. Rebuild cash flow with actual financing and reserves; gross yield, citywide vacancy, and wider-market liquidity are not net return.