The distinctive decision question for this ZIP is how to interpret a current asking-rent signal against household conditions and administrative standards without mistaking any one source for a quoted unit price. The five-digit label 19104 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. Zillow’s June 2026 ZORI is $1,809 per month, after a 2.2% year-over-year change. For a neutral cash-flow screen, that monthly figure converts to $72,360 in annual income at 30% of income. This screen is arithmetic, not advice or an applicant qualification rule; it does not claim that any listing rents at that amount or that a household qualifies.
Household conditions make that screen consequential but not determinative. In the matched ACS ZCTA, median household income is $38,814, with a 90% margin of error of ±$3,410; annualized ZORI is 55.9% of that median, a cross-source comparison rather than a household budget observation. Of 17,520 renter-occupied homes, renters represent 83.1% of occupied homes. ACS also records 9,206 renter households spending at or above the stated burden screen on gross rent, or 52.5% of renter households, with respective margins of error of ±912 for the renter total and ±875 for the burdened count. That observed burden describes surveyed renter homes, not the costs or payment record of a particular unit.
Supply indicators require similar restraint. The matched ZCTA has 24,924 housing units, 21,088 occupied units, and 3,836 vacant units, yielding a 15.4% vacancy rate. Among the enumerated vacant categories, 917 are for rent, 102 are for sale, and 55 are seasonal use; those categories do not account for every vacant unit, so the headline rate cannot be read as a count of immediately rentable options. The stock includes 7,570 units in larger multifamily buildings, alongside a separately reported single-family category. These are area-level inventory and status counts, not evidence that a specific property is available, competitively priced, or suitable.
Rent measures point to different universes, rather than a single benchmark. The ACS 2024 five-year matched-ZCTA median gross rent is $1,364, with a 90% margin of error of ±$47. It is a survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. It is 32.6% below ZORI, but the difference is not a same-unit premium or a measure of rent change: ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. Separately, the local HUD FY2026 FMR/SAFMR two-bedroom standard is $1,800, 0.5% below ZORI. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent; its near match does not validate either measure as a listing quote.
The bedroom view is deliberately modelled, not measured. The estimates scale the ZIP ZORI by the local HUD bedroom ladder, producing a sequence from $1,397 for a studio to $2,422 for four bedrooms, with intervening modelled estimates of $1,518, $1,809, and $2,171 per month. The increasing sequence expresses the HUD ladder’s relative bedroom steps around the ZIP-level ZORI; it does not report observed asking rents, lease rents, utility treatment, condition, or availability for any bedroom category. The middle estimate aligns mechanically with the ZIP-level ZORI because it is the scaling anchor. The figures support a bedroom-count scenario only and cannot replace current property quotes.
On wider context, the City of Philadelphia scope and the Philadelphia County scope each have a $1,814 rent context, while the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro scope has $1,928; all are wider context, not substitutes for the ZIP market identifier. The City of Philadelphia and Philadelphia County each show a 48.2% renter share in their supplied context measures, below the matched ZCTA’s renter-heavy occupancy. The metro’s separate apartment indicators, income measure, and HUD standard have their own scope and definitions and should not be folded into ZIP ZORI, ACS ZCTA estimates, or local HUD ladder results.
Important limits remain. ZORI is an index rather than an advertised unit, ACS has survey timing and sampling uncertainty, and HUD is a program standard. The matched geography does not erase the difference between a statistical ZCTA and USPS delivery ZIP boundaries. A property-level review should verify the advertised rent, bedroom count, lease term, included and separately billed utilities, concessions, availability date, deposits and fees, and whether the unit’s location is actually within the relevant market geography. It should also distinguish a vacancy count from availability and an area burden statistic from any applicant’s finances. These checks resolve questions the supplied aggregates cannot answer and prevent cross-source figures from being treated as interchangeable.
","findings":[{"body":"Current ZIP ZORI supplies the timely asking-rent signal, but its observed, blended design makes it different from ACS gross rent and HUD bedroom standards. The decision issue is not selecting a winner among these measures. It is keeping asking-market conditions, occupied-home survey experience, and administrative program benchmarks separate before using any comparison in a property review.","title":"Asking-rent signal needs source discipline"},{"body":"The income screen is arithmetic. The surveyed burden measure reports how many renter households cross its gross-rent threshold, but it does not establish a particular household’s ability to pay or qualification. Treating it as an applicant-level conclusion would extend the evidence beyond its evidentiary scope in this packet.","title":"Income screen and burden show exposure, not eligibility"},{"body":"The overall vacancy rate bundles several vacancy statuses. The separately reported for-rent, for-sale, and seasonal categories cover only part of vacant stock, while building-type counts describe the area’s stock rather than a current listing pool. Neither the vacancy total nor any category confirms that a specific unit is available, rentable, or priced at the ZIP index.","title":"Vacancy is composition, not ready supply"},{"body":"Studio-through-four-bedroom figures derive by scaling the ZIP asking-rent index to the local HUD ladder. They are modelled monthly estimates, not measured rents by bedroom count. They show relative scenario steps while retaining the need to verify bedroom designation, utilities, fees, availability, and current advertised rent at a property.","title":"Modelled bedrooms bracket scenarios"}],"risks":["Treating the ZIP asking-rent index, the ACS occupied-home measure, and the HUD administrative standard as interchangeable could create a misleading rent comparison because their populations, timing, and intended uses differ.","The matched ZCTA is a statistical geography rather than a USPS delivery ZIP, so a property’s mailing ZIP or location may not align with the geography underlying every estimate.","An area vacancy figure includes several vacancy statuses and cannot establish whether an individual unit is actually available, what rent it carries, or what lease terms apply.","The income screen and renter burden statistic are population-level arithmetic and survey results; neither is evidence of a specific household’s finances, qualification, or likely payment performance."],"qa":[{"a":"They measure different universes. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. ACS median gross rent summarizes occupied renter homes in a five-year survey and includes selected utilities. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard. A numerical gap therefore does not by itself identify a rent change, premium, or error.","q":"Why do the rent figures differ?"},{"a":"No. The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled monthly estimates created by scaling the ZIP ZORI with the local HUD ladder. They describe a consistent scenario framework, not lease observations. They cannot establish available inventory, building condition, utility treatment, concessions, or the advertised price of an individual apartment.","q":"Are the bedroom figures observed rents?"},{"a":"It is the annual income yielded by annualizing monthly ZIP ZORI under the supplied 30% screen. This is arithmetic for comparing an index with broad income data. It is not advice, an underwriting threshold, or an applicant qualification rule, and it does not capture taxes, debt, household size, utilities, or other expenses.","q":"What does the required-income figure mean?"},{"a":"Confirm the current advertised rent, bedroom count, exact location, lease term, move-in date, included utilities, separately billed utilities, concessions, deposits, recurring fees, and availability. These property facts determine the actual offer. They are not supplied by ZIP indices, ACS area estimates, HUD standards, or wider city, county, and metro context figures.","q":"What must be checked at property level?"}],"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 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