FIPS 37183 · population 1,178,653 · part of Raleigh, NC
The latest county-level Zillow ZORI is $1,676 per month in 2026-06. It is a typical asking-rent index across rental types—not an arithmetic average, signed lease or quote for one property.
| Bedrooms | HUD monthly FMR | Geography | Measurement boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,524 | Wake County, NC | HUD administrative benchmark; compare with same-bedroom listings, never treat it as observed asking rent. |
| 1 bedroom | $1,596 | Wake County, NC | HUD administrative benchmark; compare with same-bedroom listings, never treat it as observed asking rent. |
| 2 bedrooms | $1,750 | Wake County, NC | HUD administrative benchmark; compare with same-bedroom listings, never treat it as observed asking rent. |
| 3 bedrooms | $2,196 | Wake County, NC | HUD administrative benchmark; compare with same-bedroom listings, never treat it as observed asking rent. |
| 4 bedrooms | $2,936 | Wake County, NC | HUD administrative benchmark; compare with same-bedroom listings, never treat it as observed asking rent. |
Zillow asking rent, ACS gross rent and HUD FMR describe different housing universes. They remain separate and no metro, city or neighboring-county value replaces missing county evidence.Zillow pulled 2026-07-26 · HUD pulled 2026-07-26
Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.
Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.
Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.
Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-08-02. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.
BEA per-capita personal income divides all personal income by the county population. It is broader than wages, but it is not household income or a measure of what renters can afford.
HUD CHAS separates renter households by income relative to local HAMFI. Moderate burden means housing costs above 30% through 50% of income; severe burden means more than 50%.
These Apartment List observations match the exact county Census code 37183. They are kept separate from Zillow asking rent, Census occupied-home rent and wider metro measures.
Monthly overall-rent index; missing observations are not filled from another geography.
Wake County’s decision tension is measurable current income against unsettled valuation evidence. Zillow’s 2026-06 county median home value was $482,092, down 2.18% year over year, while FHFA’s 2025 annual repeat-transaction HPI increased 1.01%. These are different vintages and methods: the HPI is not a home value, and neither measure should be combined into one appreciation rate. Investors relying on near-term resale support should be cautious; income-focused buyers should investigate asset-level expenses and leasing depth.
Zillow reports median asking market rent of $1,676 per month, supporting a stated 4.17% gross yield before operating costs; this is the usable rent measure, not a guarantee of collected rent. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than an asking-rent estimate, so it cannot substitute for market rent or yield. The effective property-tax rate is 0.71%; this makes tax a material carrying-cost line beside insurance, maintenance, vacancy and management, none of which is published. Absent those inputs, net yield, cap rate and debt-service coverage cannot be determined.
Demand evidence is constructive but does not resolve absorption. QCEW shows annual covered employment at county workplaces, not resident employment or a forecast; Professional and business services is its largest disclosed private supersector, not the entire economy. Net migration of 3,952 tax-return households coincides with entrants’ average AGI being $1,107 higher than leavers’, a limited indication of household purchasing capacity. Investors accounted for 13.98% of 17,335 purchases, indicating meaningful buyer competition. In Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS listing market, 4,147 active listings and a 22.98% price-reduced share point to visible supply and seller concessions, not closed-sale demand.
Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected annual building-value loss is 0.12%; it is a county-level model, not a parcel insurance quote or a dollar loss. The price split between Zillow and FHFA, listing concessions, and flood exposure leave the thesis sensitive to entry basis, insurability and local absorption. Next checks are parcel flood zone and claims history, binding insurance and tax bills, rent rolls and vacancy or turnover, operating statements, financing terms, and closed comparable sales. Their absence prevents property-level cash-flow, replacement-cost and resale underwriting.
This view uses 12 direct Zillow ZIP markets matched to Census ZCTAs. Each ZIP is assigned by its largest HUD residential county share; this is not an exhaustive county inventory.
The selected direct-evidence set shows a material present-market spread rather than a single Wake County rent signal. Zillow's ZIP-level ZORI, a typical observed asking-rent index, runs from $1,476 to $2,040, a $564 range, with a $1,613.50 median; Wake County's separate county ZORI is $1,676. Year-over-year ZORI changes among shown areas span -1.0% to 3.6%, versus 0.2% countywide. The decision question is whether a unit's current asking terms sit plausibly within the relevant local rent band and whether household finances can bear them, not which ZIP offers a universally lower cost. For renters, the relevant comparison is among qualifying, like-for-like homes rather than a ZIP-wide statistic alone.
Keep three rent evidence universes distinct. In Zillow's current index, the maximum is in ZIP 27519 and the minimum is in 27612, supporting the observed spread. The ACS five-year ZCTA survey instead reports median gross rent, not current asking rent: shown values range from $1,432 to $1,952, and the county estimate is $1,623. Separately, HUD two-bedroom administrative standards span $1,540 to $2,240, with a county $1,750 standard. The supplied ZORI-to-HUD contextual ratios range from 71.7% to 121.9%; this does not make the HUD standard an asking-rent measure or either series a unit-level affordability measure. These measures answer different questions on different geographic and program bases.
ACS results show that affordability indicators do not map mechanically to vacancy. The shown ZCTA burden share—households spending 30% or more of income on rent—is 26.4% to 57.4%, against 48.3% for Wake County; these are household estimates, not measures of one available unit. The lowest-burden/lowest-vacancy pairing has a 3.1% vacancy rate. ZIP 27609 has the highest vacancy, 12.7%, but a 50.1% burden share. The highest burden share appears alongside 6.1% vacancy. A lower vacancy rate can describe less unoccupied stock without identifying price, eligibility, or lease conditions. These pairings require separate screening of availability and household strain; they establish neither a causal relationship nor a unit-level outcome.
Coverage and geography narrow any conclusion. The display contains 12 of 31 eligible direct-ZORI ZIP/ZCTA matches, selected under renter-household ordering and covering 106,177 renter households; it is not a countywide inventory. ZCTAs are statistical areas rather than USPS delivery ZIPs, and cross-county labels use the largest HUD residential-address share, which ranges from 71.8% to 100.0% here. At property level, confirm the exact rent, bedroom count, lease term, availability date, utilities, and fees; use the matching bedroom-specific HUD standard only for its administrative purpose, and compare a listing with the dated Zillow index without treating either as a guaranteed contract rent.
31 ZIP profiles passed the county gate; the 12 with the most renter households are shown.
| ZIP / ZCTA | Zillow asking rent | ACS gross rent | HUD 2BR | Burden 30%+ | Vacancy | Income screen | HUD county share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27606 | $1,502 | $1,432 | $1,750 | 52.4% | 12.5% | $60k | 100.0% |
| 27610 → | $1,878 | $1,449 | $1,540 | 55.0% | 5.7% | $75k | 99.9% |
| 27616 | $1,578 | $1,659 | $1,820 | 57.4% | 6.1% | $63k | 100.0% |
| 27560 | $1,737 | $1,840 | $2,230 | 28.4% | 9.0% | $69k | 78.0% |
| 27612 | $1,476 | $1,620 | $2,060 | 51.1% | 8.7% | $59k | 100.0% |
| 27609 | $1,529 | $1,474 | $1,820 | 50.1% | 12.7% | $61k | 100.0% |
| 27604 | $1,649 | $1,480 | $1,720 | 52.5% | 11.8% | $66k | 100.0% |
| 27603 | $1,725 | $1,547 | $1,670 | 43.6% | 9.5% | $69k | 98.1% |
| 27519 | $2,040 | $1,952 | $2,240 | 26.4% | 3.1% | $82k | 93.1% |
| 27513 | $1,557 | $1,617 | $1,920 | 37.4% | 6.2% | $62k | 100.0% |
| 27529 | $1,889 | $1,464 | $1,660 | 51.5% | 5.7% | $76k | 71.8% |
| 27607 | $1,574 | $1,610 | $1,780 | 52.5% | 10.6% | $63k | 100.0% |
Open a five-digit report for asking rent, affordability, rent history and resale liquidity. Each row keeps its ZIP/ZCTA measurement scope.
| ZIP report | City label | Zillow rent | 1Y change | ACS burden 30%+ | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZIP 27502 rental reportWake County | Apex, NC | $2,126 | ▲ 0.5% | 45.4% | 48,530 |
| ZIP 27519 rental reportWake County | Cary, NC | $2,040 | ▼ 0.1% | 26.4% | 69,836 |
| ZIP 27523 rental reportWake County | Apex, NC | $1,951 | ▲ 0.1% | 39.3% | 20,269 |
| ZIP 27610 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,878 | ▼ 0.4% | 55.0% | 81,419 |
| ZIP 27560 rental reportWake County | Morrisville, NC | $1,737 | ▼ 0.1% | 28.4% | 40,792 |
| ZIP 27603 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,725 | ▼ 0.8% | 43.6% | 53,972 |
| ZIP 27601 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,699 | ▼ 3.1% | 48.9% | 9,905 |
| ZIP 27604 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,649 | ▲ 3.0% | 52.5% | 44,514 |
| ZIP 27511 rental reportWake County | Cary, NC | $1,637 | ▲ 1.0% | 51.8% | 33,221 |
| ZIP 27614 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,579 | ▲ 1.3% | 52.8% | 34,226 |
| ZIP 27616 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,578 | ▲ 1.6% | 57.4% | 63,520 |
| ZIP 27607 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,574 | ▲ 3.6% | 52.5% | 28,438 |
| ZIP 27513 rental reportWake County | Cary, NC | $1,557 | ▲ 1.0% | 37.4% | 46,979 |
| ZIP 27609 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,529 | ▼ 0.6% | 50.1% | 35,573 |
| ZIP 27606 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,502 | ▲ 1.6% | 52.4% | 45,444 |
| ZIP 27615 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,489 | ▲ 0.8% | 44.1% | 46,019 |
| ZIP 27612 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,476 | ▼ 1.0% | 51.1% | 41,952 |
| ZIP 27613 rental reportWake County | Raleigh, NC | $1,385 | ▼ 1.4% | 43.2% | 45,235 |
Zillow ZORI is an asking-rent index. ACS burden and population describe the Census ZCTA; missing observations remain n/a.
Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.
Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.
0.121% of building value expected lost per year
$3,260 median annual bill
39,525 in · 35,573 out
$84,668 arriving · $83,561 leaving
2,423 of 17,335 mortgages
Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.
A metro is an average of these. Which side of a county line a property sits on can change the tax bill, the hazard profile and the tenant pool.
| County | Population | Price | Rent | Yield | Hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wake County | 1,178,653 | $482k | $1,676 | 4.2% | inland flooding |
| Johnston County | 234,263 | $345k | $1,840 | 6.4% | inland flooding |
| Franklin County | 74,386 | $365k | $1,753 | 5.8% | inland flooding |
Zillow’s median asking market rent is the applicable measure; HUD Fair Market Rent is a payment standard and cannot replace it.
No. Zillow shows a declining county home-value observation, while FHFA shows a rising repeat-transaction index in a different period and method.
It measures annual covered jobs at workplaces in the county and identifies Professional and business services as the largest disclosed private supersector; it does not measure resident employment or forecast demand.