The sharpest measured tension in 19122 is between a current Zillow asking-rent index of $1,918 in June 2026 and the income screen implied by that level. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than a quote for one available home. Annualizing that monthly figure, the 30% screen produces required income of $76,720, above the area’s ACS median household income of $63,676. The index-to-income arithmetic is 36.1%, and 51.1% of surveyed renter households reported spending at least 30% of income on rent. That screen is arithmetic only, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule; nevertheless, it frames the current affordability tension evident in the available ZIP-level data.
The rent history shows steady upward movement rather than a recent break from the longer path. The exact same-month one-year change was 2.7%, while the three-year annualized change was 2.1% and the five-year annualized change was 2.4%. Because the newest pace is somewhat faster than the three-year measure and close to the five-year measure, recent direction broadly confirms the longer growth pattern. History contains 104 observations, 102 consecutive monthly returns, and 99.0% coverage. Annualized monthly-return variability of 2.1% suggests a relatively contained range of month-to-month changes, supporting more confidence in the current snapshot than a highly erratic series would. Separately, the maximum drawdown reached 2.5%, showing that the path was not uninterrupted. Among nationally history-eligible ZIPs, transparent discovery ranks were 1,255 for momentum, 242 for stability, and 462 for the balanced measure, with lower ranks higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Source scope matters before comparing the rent figures. The ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent was $1,471, with a $103 margin of error; it is a survey estimate for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. The current Zillow asking-rent index is therefore 30.4% above that ACS measure, a difference that can reflect their different populations, timing, and utility treatment rather than a directly observed change for a particular apartment. The FY2026 HUD FMR/SAFMR two-bedroom standard is $1,660. HUD is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent, so it should not be treated as a rental listing comparable. The 19122 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.
The bedroom ladder translates the ZIP-wide ZORI into modelled monthly estimates, not measured bedroom rents. Scaling the index through the local HUD bedroom relationship produces estimates of $1,479 for a studio, $1,606 for one bedroom, $1,918 for two bedrooms, $2,299 for three bedrooms, and $2,565 for four bedrooms. This approach keeps the local HUD size relationship but does not establish that an available unit of any size rents at those amounts. In particular, the two-bedroom estimate matches the ZIP-wide index because it is the scaling anchor, not because Zillow measured a typical two-bedroom rent at that exact amount. Unit condition, lease terms, included utilities, concessions, and listing composition remain outside this modelled ladder.
The ZCTA housing-stock evidence describes a renter-heavy occupied base with meaningful but not unit-specific vacancy. ACS reports 10,662 housing units and 1,015 vacant units, equivalent to a 9.5% vacancy rate. The stock includes 5,089 single-family units and 2,692 units in large multifamily structures, alongside other housing forms not detailed here. Renter occupancy accounts for 68.1% of occupied homes, and 168 vacant units were classified as for rent. Those counts can indicate the composition of survey-reported stock, but they do not prove that a particular unit is available, competitively priced, habitable, or suitable for a given household. Likewise, the renter-burden measure describes surveyed households, not the payment stress or lease outcome for a specific renter.
Wider comparisons place the ZIP between its surrounding rent contexts, while keeping those geographies distinct. For wider context only, the Philadelphia city context rent was $1,814, the Philadelphia County context rent was also $1,814, and the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro context rent was $1,928. Thus, the ZIP Zillow index is above the named city and county context figures but slightly below the named metro context figure. City, county, and metro data should not substitute for direct 19122 evidence because each covers a broader population and housing mix. Their practical value here is directional: the ZIP’s current asking-rent index is neither isolated from its larger setting nor fully represented by any single surrounding geography.
Redfin supplies a separate, direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation through June 30, 2026, and it concerns the for-sale market rather than rental transactions. The median sold price was $349,921, down 7.7% year over year; 59 homes sold with a median 55 days on market. Inventory stood at 119 homes and months of supply were 6.2. Sale-to-list evidence was restrained, with an average sale-to-list ratio of 98.4% and 14.1% of homes selling above list. This resale picture creates a useful tension with the rent history: asking rents were still rising over the one-year period while the reported median sold price was lower. That does not establish a causal relationship, but it challenges any simple reading of rent growth as a complete housing-market signal. The 6.6% screening ratio, calculated as annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price, is only a cross-source screening ratio; it omits property expenses, financing, condition, vacancy, and transaction differences.
These figures are best read as a scoped evidence set rather than a property decision. Zillow measures a blended asking-rent index, ACS surveys occupied homes over five years, HUD sets an administrative standard, and Redfin records resale activity over a rolling period. Before applying the ZIP summary to an address, confirm the actual bedroom count, unit type, advertised and effective rent, utility responsibility, concessions, lease duration, availability date, and condition. For a sale comparison, verify property type, transaction timing, list history, repairs, and whether the sale resembles the unit under review. The remaining property-level question is whether those verified facts align with the modelled size estimate and the broader affordability, vacancy, and resale signals without assuming that any one aggregate series describes the specific home?
","findings":[{"body":"The June 2026 Zillow ZIP asking-rent index is $1,918. Applying a 30% income screen to that monthly amount produces $76,720 in annual required income, compared with ACS median household income of $63,676. This is a mechanical affordability comparison, not a qualification standard, but it is consistent with the elevated renter-burden share reported in the survey.","title":"Current asking rent exceeds the local income screen"},{"body":"Exact same-month growth was 2.7% over one year, 2.1% annualized over three years, and 2.4% annualized over five years. The close relationship among those measures indicates that recent rent direction broadly follows the longer path. Low measured variability and a modest historical drawdown support confidence in the index as a historical snapshot, while not converting it into a forecast.","title":"Rent growth has been steady, with limited historical disruption"},{"body":"The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled by scaling ZIP ZORI through the local HUD bedroom ladder. They are useful for maintaining a consistent size relationship across bedroom counts, but they are not observed asking rents for available units. Actual rents can diverge because unit characteristics, concessions, utilities, timing, and listing composition are not captured by the model.","title":"Bedroom figures are size-scaled estimates, not rental comps"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale data show a lower year-over-year median sold price while Zillow’s one-year asking-rent history remains positive. At the same time, sales volume, marketing time, supply, and sale-to-list measures describe a measured for-sale environment rather than rental demand. The resulting rent-price figure is only a cross-source screening ratio and cannot represent property economics.","title":"Resale softness complicates the rent-only reading"}],"risks":["The Zillow index, ACS gross-rent survey, HUD standard, and Redfin resale series cover different populations, periods, and definitions, so apparent gaps should not be interpreted as direct unit-level price discrepancies.","The reported vacancy rate and vacant-for-rent count are survey-based stock measures. They do not establish current availability, condition, lease terms, effective rent, or negotiating position for any specific home.","Historical rent stability can increase confidence in the past index path, but it cannot identify future asking rents, future resale prices, or the timing and terms of a particular transaction.","The annualized rent-to-sold-price screening ratio omits operating costs, taxes, insurance, repairs, financing, property condition, and actual lease performance, making it unsuitable as a stand-alone property economics measure."],"qa":[{"a":"They are different evidence universes. Zillow ZORI is a current typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, whereas ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Differences in timing, housing mix, occupancy status, and utility treatment can all produce a gap without proving that any specific listing is overpriced.","q":"Why is the Zillow asking-rent figure higher than ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. They are modelled ZIP estimates created by scaling the ZIP-wide Zillow rent index using the local HUD bedroom ladder. The figures preserve a bedroom-size relationship for screening purposes, but they do not measure available-unit rents. A listing’s actual rent can differ based on building type, condition, utilities, concessions, furnishings, lease term, and timing.","q":"Are the bedroom rent estimates observed rents for studios through four-bedroom homes?"},{"a":"The one-year, three-year, and five-year same-month changes are all positive and relatively close, which supports a reading of stable historical growth rather than a sharp recent reversal. The series also has high coverage and limited measured variability. Still, the historical maximum drawdown shows that the path had declines, and none of these backward-looking figures forecast future rents.","q":"What does the rent history say about confidence in the current rent snapshot?"},{"a":"Redfin is direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale evidence, not rental comparable evidence. Its sold price, days on market, inventory, supply, and sale-to-list measures describe for-sale conditions. Comparing annualized Zillow ZORI with median sold price creates only a cross-source screening ratio. It can flag a tension between rent and resale signals, but it cannot establish return, property costs, or transaction outcomes.","q":"How should the Redfin resale figures be used alongside rent data?"}],"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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