Syracuse’s Zillow ZHVI typical home value is $225,918, while Zillow ZORI typical observed market rent is $1,546 per month. Those measures imply an 8.2% gross yield, calculated as annual ZORI divided by ZHVI before taxes, insurance, repairs, vacancy, management, utilities or financing. ZHVI equals 4.72x the ACS median household income, and annual ZORI equals 38.8% of that income. The figures make household affordability and operating costs central; they do not establish net return or tenant-level affordability.
The city has 67,601 housing units; 11.5% are vacant, and renters occupy 58.4% of occupied units. These citywide shares describe stock and tenure, not the lease-up odds of a selected property. ACS reports a $138,400 median value for surveyed owner-occupied housing and $1,039 median gross rent, including contract rent plus selected utilities. They differ in concept and period from Zillow’s typical-value and observed-rent series and should not be combined or averaged.
City evidence shows 55.4% of renter households are rent-burdened; single-family homes are 45.1% of all units, and large multifamily buildings are 17.2%. Among vacant units, 23.7% are classified as for rent. ACS structure and vacancy-reason shares do not measure available investment inventory. Population rose 2.5% between overlapping ACS five-year vintages; the change is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $47,819, while poverty is 28.8% and unemployment is 7.7%. These demand constraints are descriptive, not proof of future rent growth, tenant quality or causation.
County context for Onondaga County puts the property-tax rate at 2.44% and median listing time at 31 days. Those county figures inform expense and transaction planning but do not measure Syracuse. The broader Syracuse metro recorded 1.18% year-over-year job growth and 2.9 months of supply, labor and liquidity context that does not establish city demand. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.58%, a financing benchmark rather than a borrower quote. County, metro and national denominators should remain separate from city assumptions.
The key limitation is that citywide typicals and survey medians do not reveal a building’s achievable rent, condition, legality or costs. Verify leases, concessions, arrears, occupancy and comparable asking rents; inspect the structure, roof, systems and deferred maintenance; and obtain parcel taxes, insurance, utilities and hazard terms. Confirm zoning, permitted use, certificates, title, tenant protections and planned capital work. Model vacancy, turnover, management, maintenance, reserves and financing from actual quotes; do not treat gross yield as cash flow.