Easton’s present rent signal is an acceleration within a still upward, but not uniformly smooth, history. At June 2026, Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI is $1,748 per month. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index that blends rental types, rather than a lease-price series for a matched set of homes. Exact same-month changes were 8.1% over 1 year, 5.4% annualized over 3 years, and 6.6% annualized over 5 years. The positive recent reading therefore confirms the longer upward path, while its faster latest-year pace departs from the more moderate three-year rate. These are backward-looking measurements only, not a forecast, a valuation, or an investment recommendation.
The strength of that trend should be read beside the series’ high-variability designation. Coverage is 100% through the stated endpoint, with annualized variability of monthly returns at 4.0% and a maximum drawdown of -2.7%. The transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs are 97th for momentum, 2,596th for stability, and 858th for the balanced measure; a lower rank is higher. Together, the strong momentum rank and weak stability rank argue against treating a current ZORI value as precise to the dollar for every rental type. Full coverage makes the historical calculation complete for its available period, but volatility reduces confidence that a snapshot alone captures the near-term quoting range.
Against wider benchmarks, the ZIP’s index is lower, not higher. For wider context only, the Easton city-context asking-rent figure is $1,935, the Northampton County context figure is $1,912, and the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metro-context figure is $1,861; each exceeds the ZIP-level ZORI. These values describe their named broader scopes and are not replacements for the ZIP measure. The difference is useful for locating the current index within those reference geographies, but it cannot show that any individual Easton listing is comparable to the county or metro rental mix. It also does not identify the source of the differences.
Source scope is especially important in 18042. This five-digit label is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a matched Census ZCTA; a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. In the ACS 2024 five-year survey, median gross rent is $1,356, and gross rent covers occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. That survey median is 28.9% below the current ZORI, and these values sit in unlike evidence universes; they should not be read as two versions of the same asking rent. The FY2026 HUD two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR standard is $1,670. HUD is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard, not an observed asking-rent measure.
The bedroom view is intentionally modelled rather than measured. Each monthly ZIP estimate scales the current ZORI by the local HUD bedroom ladder relative to the HUD base category, preserving the ZIP index while applying the local standard’s spacing across bedroom sizes. In ascending bedroom order, the resulting modelled estimates are $1,214, $1,434, $1,748, $2,229, and $2,345. They should be called modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents: the method does not observe transactions, concessions, unit condition, utility treatment, or the mix of listings within each bedroom group. Their practical role is a consistent size ladder tied to the HUD standard, not a claim about a specific unit’s asking price.
The affordability tension is real in the arithmetic but limited in its interpretation. Applying a 30% required-income screen to the present ZORI produces $69,920 in annual income, compared with a ZCTA median household income of $77,556. That screen is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule; moreover, median household income is not a renter-only income measure. Separately, the ACS counts 7,372 renter-occupied households, of which 3,276 report gross-rent burdens at or above the screen, a 44.4% share. The burden result summarizes surveyed occupied renters and selected utility-inclusive gross rent. It does not prove that a particular household faces that burden or that a particular available unit is affordable.
The matched ZCTA’s housing inventory provides a separate structural check. It records 17,974 housing units, including 16,376 occupied and 1,598 vacant, for an 8.9% overall vacancy rate; 233 units are classified as vacant for rent. The single-family category contains 11,728 units, so the stock totals should not be treated as an apartment-only inventory. Vacancy and burden are area-level counts, not proof that a particular unit is available, suitable, or priced at the index. For a property-level comparison, the relevant checks are the live advertised rent, stated bedroom count, utility responsibility, availability date, lease term, recurring fees, concessions, and whether the property’s geography actually matches the relevant ZIP or ZCTA reference. Can the exact listing terms be aligned with the correct source universe?
","findings":[{"body":"Zillow’s June 2026 ZIP ZORI is $1,748. The exact same-month record shows 8.1% growth over one year, compared with annualized gains of 5.4% across three years and 6.6% across five years. Recent direction therefore confirms the longer upward record while running faster than the intermediate pace. The figures are historical measurements, not a forecast of future asking rents or property returns.","title":"Recent rent growth is faster than the intermediate trend"},{"body":"History coverage is 100% through the endpoint, but the annualized variability of monthly returns is 4.0% and the maximum drawdown is 2.7%, consistent with the supplied high-variability category. Momentum ranks 97th, whereas stability ranks 2,596th, among history-eligible ZIPs. That contrast supports using the current index as a broad benchmark rather than assuming that any one listing will follow a smooth monthly path.","title":"Full historical coverage does not eliminate variability"},{"body":"ZORI, ACS, and HUD answer different questions. ZORI is a ZIP-level typical asking-rent index across rental types. The ACS five-year ZCTA survey’s median gross rent represents occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom standard. Because the universes and construction differ, the gap between $1,748 ZORI and $1,356 ACS gross rent is descriptive, not a direct measurement of market overpayment or unit-level affordability.","title":"The main rent figures are not interchangeable"},{"body":"The bedroom figures are modelled by scaling the ZIP ZORI with the local HUD ladder, yielding a consistent studio-through-four-bedroom sequence rather than observed bedroom rents. The 30% income screen is also only arithmetic. ACS burden and vacancy data summarize area-level surveyed households and housing units; they cannot confirm that a specific available dwelling has a given rent, utility package, lease term, or tenant income fit.","title":"Bedroom and affordability screens are analytical tools"}],"risks":["ZORI describes a blended typical asking-rent index, not signed leases or a single building’s quote. Unit size, utilities, timing, condition, fees, concessions, and lease terms can create material deviations from the index.","The ACS ZCTA is a statistical boundary with survey margins of error and does not exactly match a USPS delivery ZIP. Its occupied-household gross-rent median should not be substituted for current listing rents.","HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative standard, and the bedroom sequence inherits its relative spacing. The model does not observe bedroom-specific listings, achieved rents, concessions, or available inventory at this ZIP level.","An area vacancy classification and a rent-burden share cannot demonstrate that a particular dwelling is vacant, suitable, eligible, or affordable to any particular household at the time it is viewed."],"qa":[{"a":"The ZIP ZORI is an asking-rent index spanning rental types, whereas the ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey result for occupied renter homes with selected utilities. HUD’s figure is a bedroom-specific administrative standard. These figures use different populations, timing, and constructions, so their dollar differences frame context rather than establish a single market-clearing rent.","q":"Why do Zillow, ACS, and HUD rents differ?"},{"a":"The latest same-month gain is above the annualized three-year and five-year gains, so it confirms an upward historical direction but is faster than the intermediate path. Complete coverage makes the published history usable for its period, while high annualized monthly-return variability and drawdown mean the latest index should be interpreted as a broad, backward-looking snapshot rather than a smooth trajectory.","q":"Does the latest increase alter the historical reading?"},{"a":"Start with ZIP ZORI and scale it using each local HUD bedroom standard relative to the base HUD standard. The output is a modelled monthly estimate for a size sequence, not observed rent data for units of those sizes. It remains dependent on the HUD ladder and cannot reveal condition, concessions, listing mix, or actual availability.","q":"How should the bedroom estimates be interpreted?"},{"a":"The packet cannot tell whether a specific dwelling is currently available or whether its quoted rent includes the same utilities as ACS gross rent. Match the live asking price, bedroom count, utilities, fees, concessions, lease term, availability date, and geographic reference to the relevant source before interpreting a property-level comparison.","q":"What property-level information remains unmeasured?"}],"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":1225.650267},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":1228.579751},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":1274.977683},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":1268.938317},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":1270.88258},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":1253.241121},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":1259.978671},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":1292.471689},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":1316.437998},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":1363.389276},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":1359.225942},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1394.414995},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1356.934912},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":1391.604287},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":1383.998131},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":1417.147829},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":1425.272863},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":1448.499831},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":1448.874362},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":1452.961937},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":1460.843355},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":1476.51842},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":1487.247396},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":1497.569436},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":1505.982924},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":1499.344997},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":1493.274055},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":1493.136808},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":1491.78404},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":1511.108961},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":1515.527211},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":1542.787741},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":1541.401485},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":1525.624212},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1516.922437},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1517.260049},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1547.262651},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1551.124624},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1556.961815},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1568.073388},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1588.713705},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1584.672419},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1599.557966},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1579.294839},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1597.216503},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1580.483026},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1596.200609},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1590.871382},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1598.53159},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1620.365933},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1621.72831},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1617.747456},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1616.113916},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1620.91355},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1623.399041},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1640.315189},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1642.409626},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1676.535908},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1685.504765},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1705.940732},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1704.429738},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1706.981727},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1727.443471},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":1748.18797}],"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":1617.747456,"endRent":1748.18797,"change":0.08063094985327535,"cagr":0.08063094985327535},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1493.136808,"endRent":1748.18797,"change":0.1708156684862865,"cagr":0.05397305592584489},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1268.938317,"endRent":1748.18797,"change":0.37767765901579264,"cagr":0.06617752447614}},"maxDrawdown":-0.026878714826212957,"annualizedVolatility":0.04006311964712714,"consecutiveReturnCount":63}}