Salina’s current Zillow measures frame a screening case, not a return conclusion. ZHVI puts the typical city home value at $180,810, while ZORI puts typical observed monthly market rent at $1,026. Those measures imply a 6.8% gross yield before vacancy, maintenance, management, insurance, taxes, financing and capital work. ZHVI equals 2.9x ACS median household income, and annual ZORI equals 19.9% of that income. These are affordability reference points, not a borrower qualification test or a property cash-flow estimate.
The city has 20,864 housing units, with a 6.7% citywide vacancy rate and a 35.9% renter share among occupied units. Those shares describe the stock; they do not show the availability or lease-up of a particular rental. ACS reports a $173,200 median value for surveyed owner-occupied housing and $959 median gross rent for surveyed renter-occupied housing, including selected utilities. Those ACS measures cover occupied housing and differ in concept and period from Zillow’s typical market value and observed market rent, so they should not be averaged or substituted.
Direct city survey context shows that 41.6% of renters are rent-burdened. Single-family homes make up 80.1% of housing units, versus 4.1% in large multifamily structures. Of vacant units, 8.6% were classified as for rent; the for-sale and seasonal categories were larger. None of these ACS shares measures investable inventory. The city population estimate declined 1.5% between overlapping ACS five-year vintages; this is not an annual rate or a migration count, and boundary changes may affect comparison. Median household income is $61,783, while unemployment is 5.2% and poverty is 13.0%; these describe demand constraints but do not establish their causes or predict tenant performance.
Saline County recorded a 50-day median listing time and a 1.3% property-tax rate; both are county context rather than city or parcel results. The broader Salina metro had 1.3 months of supply, while metro employment grew 1.5%; metro conditions can inform liquidity, but they do not measure Salina alone. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate was 6.7%, a national financing benchmark that does not state the loan terms available to a buyer or property.
Treat the headline yield only as a first-pass screen. Verify condition, insurability, tax assessment, utilities, achievable contract rent, vacancy, management, maintenance and capital needs. Check title, zoning, inspections, and comparable property-level leases and sales. Reconcile debt quotes with net operating income, without assuming citywide vacancy, county marketing time, metro supply or the national rate apply to the asset.