The five-digit label 02151 is both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and the matched Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. In June 2026, the ZIP’s Zillow Observed Rent Index, or ZORI, was $2,825 per month after a 0.77% year-over-year increase. The distinctive decision question is not whether every rental asks that amount; it is whether this typical observed asking-rent index, the survey view of occupied renters, and a bedroom-specific administrative benchmark give a coherent frame for screening a particular listing. The index is the current ZIP-wide reference, while the remaining measures answer different questions and must not be substituted for it.
Zillow’s ZIP ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is not a survey median. The matched ACS 2024 five-year estimate instead puts median gross rent at $2,076, with a stated $95 margin of error, for occupied renter homes and with selected utilities included. The current asking index sits 36.1% above that ACS statistic, a cross-universe difference rather than a measure of change, quality, or the rent for a given unit. The FY2026 HUD two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR standard is $2,311; ZORI is 22.2% above that standard. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent. These values are useful side by side only when their populations, timing, and construction remain explicit.
The bedroom view is deliberately modelled: it scales ZIP ZORI by the local HUD ladder, so its figures are not measured bedroom rents. The resulting monthly modelled estimates are $1,994 for a studio, $2,153 for one bedroom, $2,825 for two bedrooms, $3,532 for three bedrooms, and $3,741 for four bedrooms. The two-bedroom figure coincides with ZORI because it is the ladder’s reference point; the other sizes reflect relative HUD standards, not a count of actual listings or leases. The sequence can organize a size-specific budget comparison, but it cannot establish condition, utilities, availability, concessions, or the asking price of a particular home. A listing should therefore be compared with the model as a reference, then verified directly.
Household indicators show why the index should be read as a screen rather than a statement about affordability for any applicant. ACS reports median household income of $86,969, with a $10,489 margin of error. At 30%, the annual income associated arithmetically with the monthly asking index is $113,000; annualized index rent equals 39.0% of that median income. That required-income screen is arithmetic only, not advice or an applicant qualification rule. Renter-occupied homes number 12,075, representing 54.4% of occupied homes. Among the corresponding ACS rent-burden universe, 6,625 report gross rent burden at or above that threshold, or 54.9%. This is an observed household-level survey measure; it neither proves the burden of a selected unit nor identifies who could lease it.
The ACS housing inventory contains 24,139 units: 22,178 occupied and 1,961 vacant, producing an 8.1% vacancy rate. Within the vacant count, 713 are identified as for rent, 160 as for sale, and 67 as seasonal. Those supplied categories do not classify every vacant unit, so they should not be converted into an inventory of immediately obtainable rentals. Structure counts also show 8,137 single-family units and 5,853 units in large multifamily structures. These inventory and vacancy fields describe the ZCTA survey stock, rather than Zillow listings or HUD eligibility standards. In particular, the vacancy measure does not establish the vacancy, asking rent, lease terms, or condition of any one property.
Broader geographies place the ZIP reference in context, not as substitutes. In Revere city scope, the asking-rent context value is $2,826, nearly the ZIP level. In Suffolk County scope, the asking-rent context value is $3,423 and the HUD two-bedroom FMR is $2,941. In Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro scope, the asking-rent context value is $3,210; median household income is $115,863; and the rent-to-income metric is 33.3%. These city, county, and metro values have wider scope and serve as context only; they do not replace ZIP ZORI, matched ZCTA ACS estimates, or the local HUD ladder.
Several limits govern interpretation. Zillow is a ZIP-level index, not a distribution of advertised units; ACS is a five-year ZCTA survey; and HUD is an administrative standard whose local ladder may be ZIP SAFMR or county-derived, as supplied. The ZCTA match identifies the ACS statistical geography but does not turn it into a USPS delivery ZIP. Before using these figures for a property, confirm the advertised monthly rent, bedroom count, lease term, included utilities, fees, concessions, occupancy date, and whether the address belongs to the intended ZIP delivery area. Also compare its current ask with the ZIP index and the appropriate modelled bedroom reference, while treating burden, vacancy, and wider-area context as population measures rather than evidence about that unit.
","findings":[{"body":"The June 2026 ZIP ZORI is $2,825 per month, with a 0.77% year-over-year increase. That is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, not a promise that any listing, lease, or bedroom category carries that amount. It is most useful as the current ZIP-level reference against which a specific advertised ask can be checked.","title":"Current ZIP asking-rent reference"},{"body":"The matched ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent is $2,076 and includes selected utilities for occupied renter homes, while the FY2026 HUD two-bedroom standard is $2,311. ZORI is $2,825. The gaps are informative only as cross-source context: ACS is a survey of occupied renters and HUD is an administrative standard, so neither figure is a substitute for a live asking rent.","title":"Cross-source gap requires source discipline"},{"body":"The studio-through-four-bedroom series from $1,994 to $3,741 is modelled by scaling ZIP ZORI with the local HUD ladder. It is not a measurement of actual bedroom rents, an availability count, or a listing-price survey. The $2,825 two-bedroom estimate is the reference point; every other size should be treated as a proportional comparison tool.","title":"Bedroom series is a model, not measurement"},{"body":"Renter-occupied homes make up 54.4% of occupied units, and 54.9% of the reported renter burden universe is at or above the threshold. The ACS stock also has an 8.1% vacancy rate, but only 713 vacant units are separately identified as for rent. These population measures support due diligence; they do not establish a particular unit’s vacancy, burden, condition, or attainable price.","title":"Burden and vacancy are population measures"}],"risks":["ZORI, ACS gross rent, and HUD standards describe different universes and time constructs. Treating any one as a direct substitute can overstate or understate a specific listing’s price comparison.","The bedroom ladder assumes HUD relative standards can scale the ZIP-wide index. Actual listings can differ in bedroom count, utilities, fees, condition, lease terms, concessions, and timing, none of which this model measures.","Median household income and reported rent burden summarize different households and have survey uncertainty. Annualizing an asking index into a 30% screen cannot determine an individual applicant’s income, expenses, qualification, or housing choice.","The observed vacancy rate includes multiple vacancy categories and the supplied for-rent count is not a live listing feed. It cannot verify that a specific address is vacant, rentable now, or offered at its advertised terms."],"qa":[{"a":"ZORI and ACS were not built to measure the same population. The $2,825 June 2026 ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index across rental types. The $2,076 ACS 2024 five-year median describes occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Their 36.1% difference is therefore a cross-universe comparison, not evidence of rent change for a particular unit.","q":"Why is the current asking index higher than the ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. The studio, one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom values are modelled monthly estimates created by scaling the ZIP ZORI with the local HUD ladder. HUD is a bedroom-specific administrative standard, not an asking-rent sample. The series can frame size differences, but it cannot show the rent, availability, utilities, or condition of any actual home.","q":"Are the bedroom figures observed rents?"},{"a":"No. The $113,000 figure simply annualizes the $2,825 monthly index using the stated 30% share. It is an arithmetic screen, not advice, a recommendation, or an applicant qualification rule. It does not account for a particular household’s income, household size, debts, utility obligations, fees, assistance, or the terms of an offered lease.","q":"Does the required-income figure determine whether an applicant qualifies?"},{"a":"First verify the advertised monthly rent, actual bedroom count, lease duration, included utilities, recurring fees, concessions, and occupancy date. Confirm the address is in the intended delivery ZIP. Then compare the ask with the current ZIP index and corresponding modelled bedroom reference, while keeping ACS burden, survey vacancy, and city, county, and metro figures as context only.","q":"What should be checked before comparing a property with these ZIP figures?"}],"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 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