ZIP market identifier 02215 recorded a Zillow ZORI of $3,534 in June 2026. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, so it is a current market indicator rather than a lease-level rent quote for a particular home. The central tension is that asking rent has moved upward while the supplied resale evidence shows far sharper price movement. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by the direct ZIP median sold price produces a 4.83% cross-source screening ratio only; it is not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield.
The backward-looking Zillow history supports continued rent growth, but at a slower pace than the longer record. Exact same-month change was 3.14% over one year, 2.76% annualized over three years, and 5.78% annualized over five years. Thus, the recent direction confirms growth rather than a reversal, yet it breaks from the faster five-year path through deceleration. Annualized variability in monthly changes was 2.86%, meaning current rent snapshots should be read with some tolerance for month-to-month movement. Separately, the historical maximum drawdown was 11.22%, showing that declines have occurred despite the positive multi-year change. Coverage was 100%. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 1,009 for momentum, 1,370 for stability, and 967 for the balanced measure; lower ranks are higher, and these are discovery tools rather than forecasts or investment recommendations.
The bedroom ladder should not be mistaken for measured bedroom rents. Modelled monthly ZIP estimates scale the $3,534 Zillow ZORI by the supplied local HUD bedroom ladder: $2,494 for a studio, $2,693 for one bedroom, $3,534 for two bedrooms, $4,418 for three bedrooms, and $4,679 for four bedrooms. They are modelled estimates, not observed asking rents for those bedroom categories. The FY2026 HUD two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR amount is $2,311. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent, so its function here is to provide the local scaling pattern, not a competing rental comp.
The ACS comparison measures a different housing population and cost concept. In the matched Census ZCTA, the ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent was $2,443 with a $97 margin of error. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities; it is not a current asking-rent series. The Zillow asking-rent index is 44.7% above that ACS median, a gap that can reflect their distinct timing, populations, and treatment of utilities without proving a change in any individual unit. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP, even though this five-digit label is used as both the Zillow ZIP market identifier and the matched Census ZCTA reference.
The 30% required-income screen makes the affordability tension explicit without functioning as advice or an applicant qualification rule. Paying the current $3,534 monthly ZORI at 30% of gross income requires $141,360 annually by arithmetic. That benchmark is well above the ZCTA median household income of $72,095, but neither figure describes a specific renter’s income, household size, subsidy status, utilities, or lease terms. In the ACS renter survey, 53.97% of renter households were burdened at 30% or more of income. That burden statistic identifies a broad survey pattern, not proof that a particular available apartment is unaffordable or that a particular tenant is burdened.
Housing composition provides useful context but does not establish current availability. The matched ZCTA contained 9,334 housing units, and renter occupancy represented 91.14% of occupied units. Overall vacancy was 14.12%, with 435 units classified as vacant for rent; these are ACS survey categories, not a live inventory feed and not evidence of concessions, condition, or suitability. The housing stock included 6,637 units in large multifamily structures. Together, the renter-heavy occupancy pattern and multifamily concentration frame the ZIP’s rental base, while the distinction between survey vacancy and a currently marketable listing remains essential.
For wider Zillow context only, the City of Boston asking-rent figure was $3,469, Suffolk County’s was $3,423, and the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro figure was $3,210. Each is below the ZIP’s $3,534 ZORI, but the city, county, and metro are broader geographies rather than substitutes for ZIP evidence. Their values should be named and retained as contextual benchmarks, not blended with the ZIP index, ZCTA survey results, HUD standard, or direct ZIP resale observation. The ZIP premium across all three wider asking-rent contexts reinforces that the current index is locally elevated, while saying nothing by itself about unit quality or future movement.
The direct rolling-three-month Redfin ZIP resale observation describes the for-sale market, not rental transactions. Median sold price was $878,801, up 45.5% year over year; 28 homes sold with a median 33 days on market. Inventory was 60 homes and months of supply stood at 6.6. Average sale-to-list was 97.39%, only 7.41% of sales closed above list, and 29.92% went off market within two weeks. Those resale signals challenge any simple interpretation that modest rent growth alone summarizes market conditions, especially because resale pricing moved much more sharply. They do not convert the ZORI-to-price screen into property economics. Concrete property-level checks should include the actual asking rent, bedroom count, utilities included, lease term, condition, listing status, days marketed, sale history, and whether the applicable HUD standard is ZIP-based or county-derived.
","findings":[{"body":"The ZIP’s same-month rent history remained positive over one, three, and five years, so the current direction still supports growth rather than a clear decline. However, the one-year and three-year rates trail the five-year annualized pace. Complete historical coverage improves confidence in the calculation, while the recorded drawdown shows that a positive long-run series has still experienced meaningful setbacks.","title":"Positive rent history has slowed from its longer path"},{"body":"Zillow ZORI and ACS gross rent should not be treated as competing measurements of the same apartments. ZORI summarizes typical observed asking rents across rental types, whereas ACS reports a five-year survey median for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. The difference is decision-relevant as a timing and universe gap, but it cannot establish rent changes, value, or affordability for a particular listing.","title":"The current Zillow index sits above the occupied-home ACS measure"},{"body":"The arithmetic income needed to place the current monthly ZORI at 30% of gross income substantially exceeds the ZCTA median household income. In addition, more than half of surveyed renter households were rent burdened at 30% or more. These are broad screening and survey measures, not an underwriting conclusion, tenant eligibility test, or proof about the finances attached to any individual rental unit.","title":"Income screen and burden data point to broad affordability pressure"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale observation shows a sharp year-over-year increase in median sold price alongside measurable inventory, months of supply, and below-list average sale-to-list results. That combination belongs entirely to the for-sale market. It creates tension with the more moderate recent asking-rent increase and limits the usefulness of any simple rent-to-price interpretation, particularly because the supplied screening ratio excludes operating costs and property-specific facts.","title":"Resale movement is stronger than the recent rent signal"}],"risks":["The Zillow ZIP index, matched Census ZCTA survey, HUD bedroom standard, and wider city, county, and metro figures cover different populations, dates, and purposes. Combining them as interchangeable rental comps would create a misleading comparison.","Historical rent growth is backward-looking and includes a documented drawdown as well as monthly variability. A complete series improves measurement coverage, but it does not establish future asking rents, lease renewals, or the timing of changes.","The Redfin figures are a rolling-three-month direct ZIP resale observation with a limited number of recorded sales. They describe for-sale liquidity and price signals, not rental transactions, rental operating costs, or economics for a specific property.","ACS vacancy and rent-burden figures are area-level survey classifications. They cannot prove that an advertised unit is available, discounted, affordable to a given household, in comparable condition, or representative of the broader stock."],"qa":[{"a":"The measures have different evidence universes. Zillow ZORI is a current ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey result for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Differences in timing, sampled homes, occupancy status, and utility treatment can create a gap without indicating an error or a direct rent increase for a particular apartment.","q":"Why is Zillow ZORI higher than the ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. They are modelled monthly ZIP estimates created by scaling the ZIP Zillow ZORI with the supplied local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not an asking-rent survey. The ladder is useful for a consistent bedroom-size screen, but it does not replace checking actual listings, unit condition, utilities, availability, or lease terms.","q":"Are the studio through four-bedroom figures actual measured rents?"},{"a":"Both measures show positive same-month rent growth through the stated Zillow endpoint, which confirms that the current direction remains upward. Their slower pace relative to the five-year annualized result indicates deceleration from the longer path. Monthly variability and the historical maximum drawdown mean one current index reading should be treated as a dated observation, not a permanent rent level or forecast.","q":"What should readers take from the one-year and three-year rent history?"},{"a":"Use them only as separate market screens. Redfin provides direct ZIP for-sale observations on sold prices, sales volume, marketing time, inventory, supply, and sale-to-list behavior. Annualized ZORI divided by median sold price is a cross-source screening ratio, not a cap rate or property yield. Any property review needs its own rent roll, expenses, taxes, financing terms, condition, legal status, and current listing evidence.","q":"How should the Redfin resale data and ZORI-to-price screen be used?"}],"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 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