Topeka's current Zillow ZHVI typical home value is $199,788 and ZORI typical observed market rent is $1,283 a month. That produces a 7.7% gross yield before vacancy, maintenance, management, insurance, taxes, financing and capital work. Annualized ZORI equals 27.0% of ACS median household income, while ZHVI is 3.5x that income. These are citywide screening measures, not a property cash-flow result or a borrower-specific affordability test.
The city has 59,868 housing units; renters occupy 41.0% of occupied units, and the citywide vacancy rate is 8.4%. ACS reports a $144,200 median value for occupied owner housing and $979 median gross rent for occupied rentals, including contract rent and selected utilities. Those surveyed ACS measures cover different homes and a different period from Zillow's typical city value and observed market rent, so they should not be averaged or treated as comparable quotes.
Direct city evidence shows 44.4% of renter households meet the ACS rent-burden measure. Single-family homes comprise 69.4% of all housing units, and large multifamily buildings 9.3%. Among vacant units, ACS classified 2,063 as for rent, 168 as for sale and fewer as seasonal. Population slipped 0.5% between overlapping ACS five-year vintages; this is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $56,956, poverty is 15.7%, and unemployment is 4.9%. These stock, burden, vacancy-reason and demand-constraint measures neither identify available investment inventory nor prove that a particular unit will lease quickly.
Shawnee County's property-tax rate was 1.50%, a county cost context rather than a city or parcel-specific tax bill. The Topeka metro had 1.2 months of supply, and metro payroll employment grew 1.33% year over year; these describe the broader metro, not Topeka alone. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate was 6.58%, a national financing benchmark rather than a quote for any borrower.
Underwriting should therefore center on the gap between gross screening yield and net cash flow. Next checks are the property's achievable lease rent, current occupancy, concessions, tenant-paid utilities, taxes, insurance, flood and climate exposure, repairs, deferred maintenance, management, financing terms and capital reserves. Verify title, zoning, permits, inspection findings and comparable leases and sales. Citywide Zillow and ACS data, county records, metro conditions and the national rate cannot establish condition, legal usability, operating expenses or exit liquidity for a specific asset.