Current rent is this ZIP's central tension. In June 2026, Zillow's ZIP-level ZORI is $1,724 per month, up 6.67% from the same month a year earlier. It is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, not the asking price of one available home. The five-digit label 15213 is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a Census ZCTA match. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. That distinction matters before comparing rents or applying wider data.
Scope explains why the ACS figure is not a competing current quote. In the matched Census ZCTA, the ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent is $1,263, a survey result for occupied renter homes that includes selected utilities. The current asking index is 36.5% higher, but the two measures have different populations, timing, and utility treatment. The same ACS release reports ZCTA median household income of $31,069. The 30% required-income screen converts the index to an annual $68,960 income figure; it is arithmetic, not advice, an applicant qualification rule, or evidence about any household's capacity.
Bedroom detail extends that scope caution. The FY2026 local HUD FMR/SAFMR ladder is a bedroom-specific administrative standard, not asking rent: its studio and four-bedroom standards are $1,290 and $2,310, and its two-bedroom standard is $1,680. Scaling ZIP ZORI by that local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly ZIP estimates of $1,324 for a studio, $1,426 for one bedroom, $1,724 for two bedrooms, $2,206 for three bedrooms, and $2,370 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents, so they cannot substitute for a listing's actual asking rent, utility terms, or bedroom classification.
The historical record supports an upward but uneven path rather than a smooth trend. Exact same-month annualized changes were 6.67% over one year, 5.04% over three years, and 5.57% over five years. The latest pace is above both longer measures, so recent direction confirms rather than breaks from the longer upward path. Annualized monthly-return variability was 3.07%, while maximum drawdown was -3.38%. The series reports 100% coverage. Its transparent national discovery ranks are 181 for momentum, 1,734 for stability, and 422 for the balanced measure, with lower ranks higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations; full coverage supports the series, but variability limits confidence in any single current-rent snapshot.
The matched ZCTA's housing-stock data describe a heavily renter-oriented aggregate. It contains 11,376 housing units, renters account for 73.4% of occupied units, and large multifamily structures account for 5,324 units. The ZCTA-wide vacancy rate is 21.6%, while ACS separately records 1,081 units vacant for rent. Vacancy is an area aggregate, not proof that a particular unit is available, comparable, or priced near the index. The burden screen is also pronounced: 68.9% of renter-occupied households are at or above the stated threshold. That survey burden statistic does not establish the affordability, terms, or utility costs of a particular home.
Redfin's direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation provides a separate resale-liquidity read. Median sold price was $299,932, rising 5.24% year over year. The observation recorded 56 homes sold, a median 74 days on market, inventory of 81 homes, and a 13.57% inventory increase from a year earlier, alongside 4.4 months of supply. Sale-to-list signals were an average 97.81% sale-to-list ratio and a 20.39% share sold above list. These are direct observations of the ZIP for-sale market and resale activity, not rental transactions, rental comparables, or property-level rental economics.
Against wider rent context, the ZIP index stands above the Pittsburgh city-context rent of $1,592.60, the Allegheny County-context rent of $1,551, and the Pittsburgh, PA metro-context rent of $1,523; each is wider-geography context, not a direct ZIP substitute. Annualizing ZIP ZORI and dividing it by the reported direct ZIP median sold price produces a 6.90% cross-source screening ratio only. It is not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. The positive resale price change confirms the shared short-run direction of rent and resale measures, yet the resale marketing-time, supply, and below-list signals challenge a one-dimensional tightness reading based on rent growth alone. They also do not resolve the separate ACS affordability and burden screen.
Important limits remain because the sources differ by geography, timing, population, and purpose: ZIP ZORI is an asking-rent index, ACS is a ZCTA survey, HUD is an administrative standard, and Redfin is a direct ZIP resale observation. Property-level checks should confirm the listing's current ask, exact address, advertised bedroom count, included utilities, lease terms, and current availability. For a sale comparison, verify the actual sale date, property type, and whether the record is a completed transaction rather than an active listing. The practical closing question is: does the specific listing's stated rent and terms align with the applicable modelled bedroom estimate rather than being assumed from a ZIP-wide index?
","findings":[{"body":"Zillow's June 2026 ZIP index is a current typical observed asking-rent signal, while the matched ZCTA ACS gross-rent figure summarizes occupied renter homes across five survey years and includes selected utilities. The gap is therefore a scope and timing comparison, not proof that any current listing is overpriced or that existing renters pay the Zillow amount. The required-income screen is transparent arithmetic rather than a qualification test.","title":"Asking rent exceeds the occupied-home benchmark"},{"body":"HUD's FY2026 ladder is a bedroom-specific administrative standard, not a collection of asking rents. Scaling ZIP ZORI by that ladder creates the studio-through-four-bedroom figures in this report. Those figures are modelled estimates, not measured bedroom rents, and they should be checked against an individual listing's stated bedroom count and included utilities before any comparison.","title":"Bedroom figures are modelled rather than observed"},{"body":"The historical series has full stated coverage and shows positive same-month changes over the one-, three-, and five-year windows, with the latest pace above both longer measures. Volatility and the maximum drawdown show that the path was not smooth. The national discovery ranks are transparent sorting tools; neither they nor the growth measurements forecast future rents or recommend an investment action.","title":"History shows growth with measurable path risk"},{"body":"Redfin supplies a direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale view, including sale price, completed sales, marketing time, inventory, supply, and sale-to-list behavior. It is evidence about the for-sale market and resale liquidity, not rental transactions or a rental comp set. Dividing annualized ZORI by median sold price is only a cross-source screening ratio, so it omits property-specific costs, financing, and operating outcomes.","title":"Resale data is a separate liquidity and pricing signal"}],"risks":["Zillow ZORI, ACS gross rent, and HUD standards use different populations, time windows, utility treatment, and purposes. Their gaps should not be treated as interchangeable rent quotes or appraisal evidence.","High ZCTA vacancy and vacant-for-rent counts are aggregates. They do not establish that a particular unit is available, comparable in condition, offered at the index level, or appropriate for a given household.","The burden share and required-income arithmetic rely on ZCTA survey aggregates and a median income, with no applicant-level earnings, assets, household size, lease terms, or utility bill information.","Redfin's resale measures are rolling three-month for-sale observations. The price screen excludes expenses, debt terms, taxes, maintenance, property condition, and actual lease economics; it cannot establish a property-level return."],"qa":[{"a":"The figure annualizes the ZIP-level Zillow asking-rent index and divides by the 30% threshold, producing a gross-income comparison. It does not observe an applicant, calculate take-home pay, include debts or household composition, set an approval standard, or demonstrate that a particular renter can afford a particular unit.","q":"What does the required-income figure mean?"},{"a":"Each bedroom figure starts with ZIP-wide ZORI and scales it using the local HUD bedroom ladder. It is therefore a modelled estimate for relative bedroom sizing, not a measured asking rent from a sample of studio, one-bedroom, or larger listings. Utility inclusions and listing terms still require property-level confirmation.","q":"Are the bedroom rents directly measured from listings?"},{"a":"The history compares matching months across its stated windows, which makes the reported growth rates backward-looking descriptions of the index path. Full coverage supports completeness of that series, while measured variability and drawdown show the path changed. These data cannot identify the rent on a specific property or predict later values.","q":"What do the history figures establish?"},{"a":"Redfin records a direct ZIP for-sale and resale window and therefore can contextualize transaction flow, marketing time, inventory, supply, and seller pricing behavior. Its median sold price is not a rental comp. The annualized-rent-to-sale-price calculation is a screening ratio across sources and omits all property-specific costs, financing, and lease outcomes.","q":"How should Redfin resale data be read alongside ZORI?"}],"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 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