At June 2026, ZIP 01752’s current Zillow ZORI is $2,668 per month, a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is a market-level current asking signal rather than a quote for a given unit, lease, or bedroom count. The five-digit label is both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and a Census ZCTA match. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP, which matters whenever a property’s address or service ZIP is being checked.
The one-year same-month ZORI change is -0.3%, whereas same-month annualized changes remain +2.8% over three years and +5.0% over five years. Thus, the recent direction breaks from rather than confirms the longer positive path. The history has 64 monthly observations, 63 consecutive monthly returns, and 100% coverage; annualized monthly-return variability is 2.9%, with a -3.0% maximum drawdown. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs are 1,914 for momentum, 1,421 for stability, and 1,936 for the balanced measure, where lower rank is higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations. Complete coverage and limited recorded variation provide more context for a current snapshot, but they do not turn an index into certainty about any available home.
Bedroom detail must be treated as modelling, not a separate observed-rent series. Scaling the ZIP ZORI through the supplied FY2026 local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,883 for a studio, $2,033 for a one-bedroom, $2,668 for two bedrooms, $3,335 for three bedrooms, and $3,533 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents; the two-bedroom result equals the overall index because of the scaling method. The underlying $2,311 HUD two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR standard is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent. It provides the ladder used in the calculation, while Zillow supplies the blended observed asking-rent index, so neither source confirms a particular unit’s advertised rent or utility terms.
ACS provides a deliberately different affordability lens. In the matched 2024 five-year ZCTA survey, median gross rent is $1,871, or 42.6% below the Zillow asking-rent index. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities; it is therefore not a current asking-rent comp. A 30% required-income screen on the current index equals $106,720 annually, compared with ZCTA median household income of $91,968. This is arithmetic, not advice or an applicant qualification rule. The same ACS survey records 4,211 of 7,329 renter households, or 57.5%, at or above the burden threshold. That area-level burden measure cannot establish what any individual renter pays or can afford.
Stock and vacancy are area aggregates rather than listing availability. The matched ZCTA contains 17,247 housing units, and renters account for 44.0% of occupied homes. The vacancy rate is 3.4%, representing 582 units, including 210 classified as vacant for rent; vacant-for-sale, seasonal, and other categories are distinct and should not be combined into a claim about a specific property. The unit mix is weighted more toward single-family structures than large multifamily structures. These counts describe housing stock and its recorded status in the ACS survey, not current rental inventory, lease-up conditions, or the odds that an individual advertised unit is open.
Scope also changes the comparison. At the Marlborough city-context scope, the reported rent is $2,668; at the Middlesex County context scope, it is $3,260; and at the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro context scope, it is $3,210. The city figure aligns with the displayed ZIP figure, while the county and metro context readings are higher. These city, county, and metro figures are wider-geography context only, not substitutions for a direct ZIP observation, and they cannot resolve differences in unit type, timing, household composition, or the survey-versus-asking-rent definitions described above.
Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation at its stated endpoint is entirely for-sale evidence, not rental transactions. It reports a $569,871 median sold price, down 10.3% year over year, with 100 homes sold and median marketing time of 22 days. Inventory was 71 homes and months of supply 2.2; the average sale-to-list ratio was 100.7%, 45.4% sold above list, and 61.2% went off market within two weeks. The annualized ZORI divided by median price is 5.6%, a cross-source screening ratio only, not a measure of property-level income or financial performance. The resale price contraction confirms the direction of asking-rent cooling but is much sharper; meanwhile supply and sale-to-list signals challenge a simple weak-market characterization. Those signals indicate observed resale liquidity and pricing behavior, without describing rental comps, tenant demand, or causation.
All figures also have source and timing limits: ZORI is an asking-rent index, ACS is a five-year survey with stated margins of error, HUD is an administrative standard, and Redfin is a rolling resale series. At property level, check the live advertised amount, unit size and bedroom count, utilities billed to the tenant, lease term and concessions, availability date, the delivery ZIP’s relationship to the ZCTA, and, for resale information, list history, closing date, property type, and transaction status. Neither area vacancy, burden, ZORI, modelled bedroom estimate, nor an aggregated sale statistic proves the price, occupancy, utility cost, affordability, or resale behavior of a particular property. Does the specific property’s documented rent, utility terms, bedroom configuration, and transaction status match the relevant measure rather than an aggregate proxy?
","findings":[{"body":"Zillow’s current $2,668 ZIP asking-rent index is slightly lower than a year earlier, while same-month three- and five-year annualized changes remain positive. Full history coverage, modest annualized variability, and a shallow recorded drawdown make the cooling label traceable, but the measurements remain historical context rather than a prediction of the next rent reading or a unit-level quote.","title":"Cooling interrupts a longer positive rent path"},{"body":"ACS’s $1,871 median gross rent measures occupied renter homes and selected utilities, not advertised units, so it should not be substituted for Zillow ZORI. The 30% screen yields $106,720 annual income against $91,968 area median household income, while 57.5% of renter households meet the area burden threshold. These calculations are descriptive only.","title":"Asking rent and ACS rent answer different questions"},{"body":"At the matched ZCTA, 17,247 housing units, a 44.0% renter share, and a 3.4% vacancy rate frame scale and tenure. Only 210 units are recorded as vacant for rent, but that count is not a live availability feed. Marlborough city, Middlesex County, and Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro figures are context at their respective geographic scopes, not interchangeable ZIP results.","title":"Housing-stock measures do not establish live availability"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale observation shows a lower year-over-year median sold price alongside short marketing time, limited months of supply, and some sales above list. This confirms a cooling direction in the price series but complicates a simplistic weak-liquidity reading. The 5.6% annualized-rent-to-price figure is solely a cross-source screen and does not establish property-specific income or resale outcomes.","title":"Resale softness coexists with active sale signals"}],"risks":["Because ZORI blends rental types and is not an advertised-unit sample, an actual listing’s bedroom count, floor area, condition, included utilities, lease length, and concessions can produce a rent materially different from the ZIP index.","ACS gross rent and burden data reflect a five-year sample of occupied renter homes, including selected utilities. They can lag current asking conditions and cannot be used to determine an individual household’s payment, income, or qualification.","The vacancy count separates for-rent, for-sale, seasonal, and other statuses, and it is not a real-time inventory feed. Neither vacancy nor the renter burden percentage proves that a particular unit is open or affordable.","Redfin is an aggregated, rolling-three-month resale observation rather than a rental transaction set. Sale price, supply, and sale-to-list measures may describe for-sale conditions without providing rental comparables, operating costs, or property-level financial outcomes."],"qa":[{"a":"The five-digit 01752 label serves two analytical matches: Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and the Census ZCTA match used for ACS. A ZCTA is a Census statistical area, while a USPS ZIP is a delivery construct. Their boundaries need not coincide, so property-address checks remain necessary before assigning area statistics.","q":"Why does the ZCTA and USPS ZIP distinction matter here?"},{"a":"No. The bedroom amounts are modelled estimates created by scaling the overall ZIP ZORI with the supplied HUD bedroom ladder. HUD standards distinguish bedroom sizes for administrative purposes, but they are not observed asking rents. Consequently, the outputs organize a relative bedroom pattern and do not measure any studio, one-bedroom, or larger unit currently offered.","q":"Are the bedroom rent figures observed rents for available units?"},{"a":"The screen annualizes the current $2,668 monthly index and divides that annual amount by 30%, which produces $106,720. It answers only the arithmetic question of income associated with that share of the index. It is not advice, a lender or owner policy, an underwriting conclusion, or an applicant qualification rule.","q":"How is the required-income screen calculated?"},{"a":"Redfin’s $569,871 median sold price is a ZIP-level rolling-three-month resale observation, and the 5.6% screen divides annualized ZORI by that price. It is useful only as a cross-source comparison of two aggregates. It does not identify a rental transaction, an actual unit’s income, costs, or a property-level outcome.","q":"What does the Redfin rent-to-price screen measure?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback","release":"ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/usps_crosswalk.html"},{"key":"realtor_county","name":"Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory","release":"county inventory 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-28","url":"https://www.realtor.com/research/data/"},{"key":"redfin","name":"Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts","release":"metro tracker through 2026-05-01","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"redfin_zip","name":"Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply","release":"ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03","pulledAt":"2026-08-12","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"zillow_county","name":"Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents","release":"county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori","name":"Zillow ZORI — metro market rents","release":"Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_city","name":"Zillow ZORI — city market rents","release":"zillow_zori_city.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-29","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_zip","name":"Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents","release":"ZORI ZIP 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"}],"history":[{"period":"2021-03-01","rent":2010.025626},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":2043.927374},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":2037.679204},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":2094.030747},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":2109.837936},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":2154.174018},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":2185.584981},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":2233.128431},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":2240.721529},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":2265.253087},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":2275.373616},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":2279.129013},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":2317.124513},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":2343.519808},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":2392.50275},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":2417.003306},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":2434.355313},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":2412.689438},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":2360.906228},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":2364.79069},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":2368.993612},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":2385.183385},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":2382.505935},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":2400.509479},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":2440.384866},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":2448.508711},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":2460.14996},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":2456.973523},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":2463.939129},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":2468.144676},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":2507.051327},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":2522.406053},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":2562.112425},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":2569.625639},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":2606.98084},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":2606.923191},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":2583.948005},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":2578.502486},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":2573.406409},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":2577.237402},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":2584.720618},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":2603.811593},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":2628.482379},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":2633.135471},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":2643.311921},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":2652.381655},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":2655.789852},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":2653.889808},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":2643.19988},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":2656.314722},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":2669.0035},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":2676.143554},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":2678.808337},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":2679.991168},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":2665.67959},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":2665.924911},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":2651.039653},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":2649.084701},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":2640.769647},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":2649.810511},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":2669.62358},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":2669.707278},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":2667.395163},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":2668.138278}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":64,"firstPeriod":"2021-03-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":64,"coverageRatio":1,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":2676.143554,"endRent":2668.138278,"change":-0.00299134775039811,"cagr":-0.00299134775039811},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":2456.973523,"endRent":2668.138278,"change":0.08594506738605978,"cagr":0.027864702384639006},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":2094.030747,"endRent":2668.138278,"change":0.27416384970588026,"cagr":0.049651318987567805}},"maxDrawdown":-0.03017188354048639,"annualizedVolatility":0.028882116383706035,"consecutiveReturnCount":63}}