South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT

The selected direct-evidence ZIP/ZCTA matches show a meaningful Zillow asking-rent range rather than a single local price point. In June 2026, Zillow ZORI, a typical observed asking-rent index, runs from $1,667 to $2,565, with a $2,020 median and an $898 spread across the 12 shown matches. The practical screening question is whether a household's search budget can accommodate the upper part of that observed range or should initially target lower-index matches. These matches cover 77,957 renter households but represent only 12 of 18 eligible matches, so they are a focused evidence set rather than a complete local inventory.

Zillow, ACS, and HUD answer different rent questions and should not be blended. Zillow supplies the current asking-rent index; ACS 2024 five-year ZCTA estimates report median gross rent, which ranges from $1,213 to $1,845 in this set; and FY 2026 HUD two-bedroom FMR is a bedroom-specific administrative standard, not an asking rent. The HUD standard is $1,969 for most shown matches and $1,750 for one. Direct Zillow values range from 95.0% to 130.3% of the corresponding HUD two-bedroom standard. Separately, the packet's 30% income screen ranges from $66,680 to $102,600 annually. Use Zillow to screen current price levels, ACS to describe surveyed rent conditions, and HUD only for the relevant benchmark or program.

Affordability pressure cannot be read from the current asking-rent index alone. In ACS, the county's share of renter households paying 30% or more of income for rent is 53.5%; across the shown ZCTAs it runs from 40.0% to 58.4%. ACS vacancy estimates range from 4.5% to 10.6%, compared with 7.1% for the county. These measures frame a trade-off to investigate: lower measured vacancy may indicate fewer surveyed vacant units, while a high burden share signals more constrained renter budgets. They do not establish listing availability, tenant experience, or a causal relationship between vacancy, burden, and rent. Treat burden as area-level household-budget context and vacancy as a separate stock indicator when comparing searches.

Geography and coverage impose final guardrails. Census ZCTAs are statistical areas rather than USPS delivery ZIPs, and ZIPs can cross county lines. Assignment here follows the county with the largest HUD residential-address share; among the shown matches, that share ranges from 99.33% to 100.00%. No shown ZIP has a published report in this packet, and the direct-evidence selection is not exhaustive. Before acting on a screen, verify a property's exact asking rent and bedroom count, current availability, lease term, utilities and other recurring charges, deposit and income requirements, program eligibility, and actual mailing and jurisdictional location. Those property-level checks determine whether a particular unit fits a household budget and needs; the indexes and survey estimates do not.