Cumberland County, NC

Cumberland County’s selected direct-evidence set shows a varied Zillow ZORI asking-rent landscape rather than a single ZIP figure. Across 10 matched ZIPs covering 54,422 renter households, the typical observed asking-rent index ranges from $1,249 to $1,801, a $552 spread, with a $1,402 median. Seven ZIPs sit within a $1,330–$1,460 central band; 28348 and 28306 make up the higher-rent edge, while 28312 establishes the lower end. The practical question is whether a specific available unit competes with that central band or needs testing against the limited upper edge. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index, not a signed-lease rent, an all-bedroom quote, or a property appraisal.

At county scale, Zillow’s index is $1,407, and annual growth is 3.49%; in selected ZIPs with an available comparison, growth spans 2.34% to 5.94%. Those are Zillow asking-rent measures. Separately, every shown ZIP carries a $1,124 HUD two-bedroom FMR, an administrative program standard rather than an asking-rent estimate; ZIP ZORI values stand 11.1% to 60.2% above it. ACS five-year ZCTA median gross rents instead run from $948 to $1,312. Their timing, housing coverage, and construction differ, so Zillow, ACS, and HUD should be compared as distinct reference points, never fused into a single rent level or interpreted as a common rent-change series.

ACS burden and vacancy figures add a separate affordability-and-availability screen. The share of renter households paying at least thirty percent of income for gross rent spans 38.9% to 52.4% in selected ZCTAs, while vacancy spans 5.2% to 15.5%. The ends do not create a simple ranking: 28348 pairs the lowest vacancy with a 40.9% burden share, whereas 28301 combines a 15.1% vacancy rate with the highest burden share. Vacancy is not a measure of asking-rent affordability, and burden does not establish the rent or availability of a particular unit. For a current listing, use the asking rent and lease costs to test the applicant’s own income and cash requirements; do not substitute the ACS household estimates.

Coverage and geography limit how far these comparisons travel. The direct-evidence selection is not an exhaustive county or local-market inventory, and displayed ZIPs are assigned to Cumberland County using the largest HUD residential-address share; a ZIP can cross county lines. ACS ZCTAs are statistical areas rather than USPS delivery ZIPs, so their estimates do not necessarily map to a mailing address or a listing’s service area. Before acting on a unit, verify address and county assignment, current advertised rent and availability, bedroom count, lease term, utilities and mandatory fees, screening or income rules, and the applicable HUD program standard. Check the actual unit rather than assigning ZIP-level figures to it.