Bexar County, TX

In Bexar County’s selected direct-evidence set, Zillow’s ZORI—its typical observed asking-rent index—runs from $1,094 to $1,550, a $456 spread, with a $1,242 median. The countywide ZORI is $1,389, so the immediate decision is not to treat one selected-area figure as countywide pricing: it is to identify whether a search budget aligns with the lower, middle, or upper end of this observed index range, then test live listings. Comparable searches should hold bedroom count and lease structure constant before a price difference is treated as meaningful for the household’s actual requirements. Direction is mixed but mostly downward: annual ZORI changes span a -7.6% decline to a +4.3% gain, versus -2.0% countywide. These are changes in an asking-rent index, not a forecast or a measure of any particular unit’s rent.

Three rent measures answer different questions. Alongside the countywide ZORI above, the ACS five-year median gross-rent estimate is $1,354 and HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is $1,426. ZORI tracks typical observed asking rents, ACS reports surveyed gross rent, and FMR is a bedroom-specific administrative standard; they should be read together only as distinct reference points, never averaged or substituted. In 78207, the $1,282 ZORI is 120.9% of its $1,060 two-bedroom FMR, while its ACS median gross rent is $907. At the other end, the ZORI-to-two-bedroom-FMR comparison is 71.5%. These gaps identify differing measures, not comparable-rent ranks.

Across the selected ZCTAs, the ACS share of renters paying at least 30% of income toward rent ranges from 43.8% to 58.4%, while ACS vacancy ranges from 4.6% to 14.7%. The pattern does not produce a simple trade-off: 78229 pairs the highest vacancy, 14.7%, with a 54.0% burden share. 78258, by contrast, has the lowest burden share, 43.8%, and 6.4% vacancy. This frames an availability-versus-household-affordability screen, but vacancy is not a count of available listings and burden describes surveyed existing renter households, not affordability for a specified lease.

Coverage and geography constrain the read. The display includes 12 selected direct-ZORI ZIP/ZCTA matches from 53 eligible matches and covers 131,265 renter households; it is not a county inventory. ZIP assignment uses the county holding the largest HUD residential-address share, and the included shares are at least 99.25%, yet ZIPs can cross county lines. ACS ZCTAs supplying income, burden, and vacancy estimates are Census statistical approximations rather than exact USPS delivery-ZIP footprints. Before choosing a property, verify live asking rent, bedroom count, lease term, concessions, recurring fees, included utilities, availability date, and any income or program eligibility terms.