Salt Lake County, UT

Within the selected direct Zillow evidence, Salt Lake County presents a meaningful current asking-rent spread rather than one usable ZIP-level benchmark. ZORI runs from $1,318 in 84116 to $1,929 in 84111, a $611 difference, and the selected-set median is $1,543.50. The county Zillow index is $1,639, but it is not a substitute for a ZIP-level listing search or evidence that the selected group represents the full county. The practical decision is whether a renter’s budget can tolerate the upper part of that observed range, or whether the search should favor lower-index areas while testing actual unit availability, bedroom count, lease terms and fees. Direction is also uneven among the direct indicators, with positive and negative annual changes represented, so the set does not establish a single local rent trajectory.

These sources answer different questions and should remain separate. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index; ACS five-year median gross rent is a survey estimate of gross rents paid; and HUD’s two-bedroom fair-market-rent standard is an administrative program benchmark. ACS median gross rent in the displayed ZCTAs ranges from $1,328 to $1,894. The displayed matches carry a $1,494 HUD two-bedroom standard, while their Zillow-to-HUD comparisons range from 88.2% to 129.1%. That ratio can flag places where the two measures differ in scale, but it is not a market discount, an affordability finding, or a like-for-like price comparison: Zillow’s current typical asking-rent index is not a bedroom-specific HUD payment standard, and ACS reflects a distinct surveyed rent universe.

ACS conditions sharpen, but do not resolve, the search trade-off. Countywide, 48.8% of renter households are estimated to pay at least 30% of income toward rent and the rental vacancy estimate is 5.2%. Across the displayed ZCTAs, the burden measure ranges from 38.4% in 84103 to 59.7% in 84102, while vacancy ranges from 2.7% in 84020 to 11.6% in 84111. The low-vacancy endpoint also has a $1,742 direct ZORI, whereas the high-vacancy endpoint is the set’s top ZORI location. These pairings are screening signals, not causal findings: higher vacancy does not establish easier leasing, nor does lower vacancy prove less affordability. Applicants should weigh turnover, unit fit, concessions, utility treatment and all move-in charges.

Coverage and geography set firm limits. The direct-evidence display includes 12 of 35 eligible ZIP/ZCTA matches, covering 84,102 renter households under the selection rule; it is not an exhaustive county or subcounty inventory. ZCTAs are Census statistical areas, not USPS delivery ZIPs. ZIPs that cross county lines are shown with the county holding the largest HUD residential-address share; within this display, that share is at least 94.5%, not necessarily entirely county-contained. Before acting, verify the exact address, available bedroom configuration, asking rent, utilities, deposits, concessions, income qualification, lease length, occupancy date and the applicable HUD program rules with the property and relevant administrator.