At $1,994 in June 2026, the ZIP's Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, not a quote for a particular home. Its same-month annualized change was 0.66% over one year, versus 2.39% over three years and 4.57% over five years. The latest pace therefore breaks from the longer, faster historical path rather than confirming it. Annualized monthly-return variability was 2.95%, and maximum drawdown was -2.61%. Coverage was 98.4% across the observed history. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 1,775 for momentum, 1,539 for stability, and 1,890 for the balanced measure, where a lower rank is higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations; the variability and drawdown mean a single current index reading merits measured confidence.
The five-digit label 19446 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. The matched ACS 2024 five-year survey places median gross rent at $1,884 for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities; that is a different universe from the asking-rent index, and ZORI is 5.8% higher. As wider context only, Lansdale city-context rent is about $1,997, Montgomery County context rent is $2,081, and the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro-context rent is $1,928. The ZIP sits near the city-context figure, below the county-context figure, and above the metro-context figure, but those named geographies do not substitute for a ZIP result.
Bedroom figures extend the index through a model, not a survey. Scaling ZIP ZORI with the supplied local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,535 for a studio, $1,672 for one bedroom, $1,994 for two bedrooms, $2,389 for three bedrooms, and $2,665 for four bedrooms. They are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents. HUD's FY2026 two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR standard is $2,170, so the modelled ZIP two-bedroom estimate is 8.1% below it. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent; its ladder supplies relative sizing rather than evidence that a listed unit will rent at the estimate.
Using the ZORI level, a 30% required-income screen yields $79,760 in annual income. Against the ACS ZCTA all-household median household income of $106,310, that arithmetic comparison is 22.5%. This screen is arithmetic, not advice or an applicant qualification rule, and it does not describe an individual renter's income. Separately, the ACS survey counts 4,320 of 8,407 renter households as spending at or above the same threshold on rent, a 51.4% burden share. These aggregate burden readings cannot prove affordability, payment stress, or qualification for any particular unit.
ACS housing counts frame availability cautiously. Of 24,781 ZCTA housing units, 603 were vacant, a 2.4% vacancy rate, and 238 were classified vacant for rent. The stock is more heavily single-family than large-multifamily in the survey, with 17,189 single-family units; renter-occupied homes account for 34.8% of occupied housing. These are housing-stock and vacancy measurements, not an active-listing count or a promise that a specific size, price, or lease term is available. Likewise, the metro apartment-vacancy context is a different geography and housing universe, so it cannot establish vacancy for this ZIP or for one building.
The useful tension is not a contradiction: the current ZIP asking index is near the Lansdale city-context level but its recent growth is much slower than the earlier multiyear path, while the ACS gross-rent and burden measures describe occupied renters rather than today's listings. The historical variability, drawdown, and near-complete coverage support reading the time series as informative evidence, yet they do not turn its next move into a prediction. City, county, and metro figures are wider-scope context only. They can locate the ZIP among the supplied benchmarks, but cannot be blended with ZIP ZORI, ACS ZCTA results, or HUD standards to create one purported market rent.
Uncertainty remains material. The ACS gross-rent estimate has an $86 margin of error, while its five-year survey design, utility treatment, and occupied-renter universe differ from Zillow's asking index. Before applying any reference to a property, check the advertised full monthly rent, bedroom count, included and excluded utilities, exact location and ZIP, availability date, lease length, fees, deposits, and concessions. Then compare those listing facts separately with the ZORI, the modelled bedroom estimate, and the HUD standard rather than treating any of them as a measured contract rent. Which of those property-level facts would most change the comparison?
","findings":[{"body":"ZIP ZORI was $1,994 at the stated endpoint. The one-year same-month change of 0.66% sits below the three-year and five-year annualized changes. History also records moderate monthly-return variability and a limited maximum drawdown. This is evidence of a slower recent pace, not a forecast, and it warrants restraint when interpreting a single current reading.","title":"Recent pace has slowed against the longer record"},{"body":"Zillow ZORI summarizes typical observed asking rents across rental types at the ZIP-market level. ACS median gross rent describes occupied renter homes in the matched ZCTA and incorporates selected utilities. HUD FMR/SAFMR supplies an administrative bedroom standard. The bedroom figures in this report therefore use HUD only as a sizing ladder for modelled ZORI estimates; none is a directly measured bedroom asking rent.","title":"Zillow, ACS, and HUD answer different rent questions"},{"body":"Applying the 30% screen to ZORI creates a transparent annual-income arithmetic benchmark. It does not test an applicant, account for a household's debts or income, or establish an owner’s terms. ACS burden data instead report a survey-wide share of renter households at the threshold. Both measures inform context, but neither proves that any available unit is affordable or unaffordable.","title":"Income screen and burden are not unit verdicts"},{"body":"The matched ZCTA’s vacancy rate and vacant-for-rent count describe a survey classification across the housing stock. They do not identify a currently advertised home, its bedroom configuration, condition, utility package, price, or lease terms. Metro apartment vacancy has yet another geography and housing universe. Listing-level availability must be verified independently before applying ZIP-level indicators.","title":"Vacancy data do not equal live supply"}],"risks":["Zillow’s index blends rental types and is not a property quote, so any listing can differ in bedroom count, utilities, timing, lease length, fees, deposits, or concessions.","The matched Census ZCTA is statistical rather than a USPS delivery ZIP, and the ACS five-year survey concerns occupied renter homes; neither boundary nor survey universe pinpoints an advertised unit.","HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative standard used here to scale a modelled bedroom ladder. It is not evidence of measured bedroom asking rents or a landlord’s terms.","Vacancy and burden are aggregate survey measures. A vacant-for-rent count does not establish active listing supply, and a burden share cannot prove payment stress or qualification for a particular unit."],"qa":[{"a":"ZORI is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is useful as a broad current reference at the reported endpoint, but it does not represent a particular home’s signed rent, a measured bedroom rent, or a utility-inclusive gross-rent survey result.","q":"What does the current Zillow ZORI measure?"},{"a":"The ACS estimate comes from a five-year survey of occupied renter homes in a matched Census ZCTA and includes selected utilities. Zillow measures a ZIP asking-rent index across rental types. HUD FMR/SAFMR is instead an administrative, bedroom-specific standard. Different populations, rent concepts, geographies, and construction methods make equal values neither required nor directly interchangeable.","q":"Why can Zillow, ACS, and HUD rent figures differ?"},{"a":"At the stated endpoint, the one-year annualized change is slower than both the three-year and five-year changes, which breaks from the longer historical pace. The reported variability and maximum drawdown show that the index has moved over time. They provide backward-looking context for a snapshot, but cannot determine future rent movement.","q":"How should the historical path be used?"},{"a":"Confirm the advertised monthly rent before concessions, bedroom count, utilities included or excluded, exact address and ZIP, availability date, lease duration, recurring fees, deposits, and incentives. Then compare those facts independently with the ZIP index, the modelled bedroom estimate, and the HUD standard. None of the datasets replaces the listing’s own terms.","q":"Which property-level checks matter before using these benchmarks?"}],"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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