Onondaga County, NY

Across the selected ZIP/ZCTA matches, Zillow’s ZORI typical observed asking-rent index runs from $1,305 to $2,546, a $1,241 spread around a $1,571 median. That range is materially wider than a single county figure can represent: the county ZORI is $1,662. ZIP 13090 anchors the upper end and ZIP 13224 the lower end. The practical decision is therefore whether a household’s target unit, budget, bedroom need, and timing fit the localized asking-rent range; prospective renters should use the spread to decide where a unit-level search needs closer price verification. This is a selected direct-evidence comparison, not a complete ranking of places.

These measures answer different questions and should not be averaged or substituted. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index; ACS provides a five-year survey median gross rent, while HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is an administrative standard. At the high end, ZIP 13090’s ZORI is 82.9% above the $1,392 HUD standard; at the low end, ZIP 13224’s is 6.3% below it. Separately, the county ACS median gross rent is $1,108. The gap among the three measures does not quantify a change in rent or identify a market discount: it reflects differing constructs, timing, bedroom treatment, and administrative purpose. Compare a property’s bedroom count to the relevant HUD standard, and compare its advertised asking rent to ZORI only as an index benchmark.

Burden and vacancy add a different, ACS ZCTA-based lens. The rent-burden share spans 33.3% in ZIP 13088 and 57.6% in ZIP 13205, against 50.3% for the county. Their vacancy rates are 4.1% and 15.2%, respectively, while their ZORI values are $1,770 and $1,600. Thus, in this pair, the lower burden observation also has lower vacancy and a higher Zillow asking-rent index. This is a trade-off to investigate, not evidence that one area will be easier to rent in: a survey vacancy rate is not a count of currently available listings, and burden is not a unit-specific affordability result. ZIP 13090 further pairs a 1.7% vacancy rate with a 41.4% burden share. Households should assess price capacity and likely search options separately, using current listings and their own income, household size, and recurring costs.

Geographic coverage limits matter before extending these signals beyond the displayed records. ZIP labels are assigned to Onondaga County using the largest HUD residential-address share; ZIP 13027’s 99.9% primary-county share illustrates that this is a crosswalk convention, not proof that every delivery address lies in the county. ACS ZCTAs are statistical areas rather than identical USPS delivery ZIPs, and the selected direct-evidence group, despite covering 46,572 renter households, is not an exhaustive county or property inventory. Before acting on any comparison, verify the advertised rent, unit bedroom count, whether utilities or other recurring charges are included, lease term, availability date, application and screening terms, and the appropriate bedroom-specific HUD standard. These property checks are necessary because neither an index nor an area-level survey estimate establishes the price or terms of a particular unit.