ZIP 26505 presents a narrow but important comparison question: how should a current typical asking-rent signal be read against survey rents, administrative standards, and household data that describe different things? The 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. Zillow’s June 2026 ZORI is $1,389 per month, after a 4.8% year-over-year increase. This is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than the asking price of any listed home. The immediate decision use is to set a current ZIP-level reference while retaining separate tests for lease terms, bedroom count, and utilities at the property level.
The principal contrast is temporal and definitional, not a disagreement to average away. In the matched ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA survey, median gross rent is $981, with a reported 90% margin of error of $31. That is 41.6% below the Zillow index, but ACS summarizes occupied renter homes over its survey period and its gross-rent measure includes selected utilities. It therefore cannot be treated as a current advertised-rent quote. HUD’s FY2026 two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR is $1,099, and the ZIP index is 26.4% above it. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent, so neither the ACS figure nor the HUD figure should be merged into or substituted for Zillow’s asking-rent index.
Household figures add a separate affordability screen. The matched ACS ZCTA reports median household income of $45,536. Annualizing the Zillow value and dividing by 30% yields $55,560 in annual income for the stated screen; this arithmetic screen is not advice or an applicant qualification rule. The monthly index equals 36.6% of that reported median income when placed on an annual basis, a cross-source comparison rather than a household budget. Renters occupy 10,964 homes, or 67.5% of occupied homes. Among those surveyed renter households, 5,793, or 52.8%, report gross-rent burdens of 30% or more. This observed burden is population-level survey evidence, not proof of what any particular unit costs or requires.
Bedroom detail requires an explicit model rather than a claim of measurement. Scaling the ZIP ZORI by the provided local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,101 for a studio, $1,108 for one bedroom, $1,389 for two bedrooms, $1,666 for three bedrooms, and $2,094 for four bedrooms. The associated HUD standards run from $871 for a studio and $877 for one bedroom to $1,657 for four bedrooms. The two-bedroom estimate matches the ZIP index by construction. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents: the close studio/one-bedroom values and the larger steps at higher bedroom counts reflect the local administrative ladder, not observed averages from a ZIP listing sample.
Supply-side counts help define composition, but not property-level availability. The matched ACS ZCTA records 18,730 housing units, 16,251 occupied units, and 2,479 vacant units, a 13.2% vacancy rate. Within the listed vacant categories, 965 are for rent, 74 are for sale, and 137 are seasonal. Those categories are composition clues, not a count of units immediately rentable, because the data neither identify price, condition, lease timing, nor every vacancy status. The stock also contains 7,109 single-family units and 3,806 units reported in large multifamily structures. This mix does not indicate that either structure type is available, nor does the overall vacancy rate establish vacancy at a particular building or apartment.
For broader rent context, the Morgantown city-context rent value is $1,539, the Monongalia County-context rent value is $1,526, and the Morgantown, WV metro-context rent value is $1,515; all three use wider geographic scopes than the ZIP. Each exceeds the ZIP index, but the ordering is a context comparison, not evidence about location within any one area or a reason for the difference. The city, county, and metro figures remain context only and cannot replace the ZIP’s current index or its separately reported survey measures.
Several limits control the reading. Zillow is an index, ACS is a multi-year survey with margins of error, and HUD is an administrative standard; their dates, populations, and construction differ. The supplied HUD ladder is described as ZIP SAFMR or county-derived, so its exact local basis should be confirmed before relying on the scaled bedroom figures. The ZCTA match also does not settle a property’s delivery ZIP or market coverage. Concrete property-level checks are the advertised monthly asking rent, exact bedroom count, available date, lease duration, included utilities, recurring and one-time fees, concessions and their duration, occupancy limits, and whether the advertised address lies in the relevant geography. These lease facts remain separate from area-level results, which cannot establish availability, contract terms, or qualification.
","findings":[{"body":"June 2026 ZIP ZORI is a current, blended asking-rent reference rather than a unit quote. Its annual movement shows the index changed, but it does not reveal lease terms, utilities, concessions, or bedroom-specific transaction results. Use it as the current ZIP anchor only after preserving the distinction from survey gross rent and administrative HUD standards.","title":"Current asking-rent anchor"},{"body":"The ACS measure describes occupied renter homes over a five-year survey and includes selected utilities; HUD is a bedroom-specific administrative standard; Zillow is a typical observed asking-rent index. The difference among their values is decision-relevant because each answers a different question. Averaging them, or treating the ACS or HUD number as a current listing quote, would erase the stated source boundaries.","title":"Three separate rent universes"},{"body":"The 30% income figure comes from annualizing the ZIP asking-rent index and applying a fixed share, not from underwriting a household. The renter share and survey burden statistics describe populations in the ZCTA, with survey uncertainty, rather than a tenant’s income, lease qualification, or the cost of a specific available apartment. The result is a screen for comparison, not advice.","title":"Income screen is not underwriting"},{"body":"Vacant-unit categories and building-type counts describe area-level composition, but they do not establish immediate availability, condition, price, or vacancy at a named property. Wider city, county, and metro figures provide only geographic context. A property decision still requires the advertised rent, utilities, fees, concessions, lease duration, exact layout, and address to be confirmed from property-level materials.","title":"Area composition does not confirm availability"}],"risks":["The current ZIP index may include listings with utility packages, property types, and lease terms unlike a target home, so the index cannot verify that property’s effective monthly obligation.","ACS estimates summarize earlier five-year survey responses among occupied homes and have sampling margins, creating temporal and measurement differences from the current asking-rent index used here.","Vacancy and rent-burden statistics are aggregate descriptions; applying either to a particular unit, landlord, household, or applicant would extend the evidence beyond what is observed in the underlying data.","Because the supplied HUD ladder may be ZIP SAFMR or county-derived, scaled bedroom figures depend on that administrative reference and should not be treated as directly collected rents."],"qa":[{"a":"The $1,389 June 2026 figure is Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI, described in the packet as a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is useful as a current reference, but it is not the advertised price, effective rent, utilities package, or lease terms for a particular property.","q":"What exactly is the current ZIP rent figure?"},{"a":"The ACS median gross rent summarizes occupied renter homes in the matched ZCTA over a five-year survey and includes selected utilities. Zillow tracks a current asking-rent index, while HUD uses an administrative bedroom standard. The gap can be reported, but these measures should not be averaged or treated as substitutes.","q":"Why is the ACS gross-rent figure different from Zillow’s index?"},{"a":"No. The studio-through-four-bedroom values are modelled estimates made by scaling the ZIP Zillow index according to the supplied local HUD ladder. The two-bedroom estimate equals the ZIP index by construction. This approach translates the administrative bedroom pattern; it does not measure ZIP listings or completed leases by bedroom count.","q":"Are the bedroom rents observed ZIP listing results?"},{"a":"Verify the advertised rent before concessions, the effective rent after any stated concessions, utility inclusion, recurring and one-time fees, exact bedroom configuration, availability date, lease duration, occupancy terms, and the property address. Also determine whether the address fits the relevant market geography. No area-level figure verifies those contract facts or applicant qualification.","q":"What should be verified for a specific listing?"}],"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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