At June 2026, Zillow’s ZIP market identifier 27106 records a ZORI of $1,295 per month, 4.5% higher than the same month a year earlier. This is the current rent signal, but it is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, not a measured lease price or a bedroom-specific quote. The same five-digit label is also a Census ZCTA match. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP, so the label connects geographies for comparison without making their source populations identical.
The backward-looking rent path remains upward, but it is not uniformly paced. The current one-year gain exceeds exact same-month annualized change of 3.6% over three years, while remaining below the 6.0% annualized change over five years. Recent direction therefore confirms the longer upward path, though not its fastest historical pace. Coverage is complete at 100%, with 134 observations and 133 consecutive monthly returns. This ZIP is classified as high variability: annualized volatility of monthly ZORI changes reaches 5.7%, reducing the confidence that should be placed in a single current rent snapshot. Separately, the series experienced a maximum peak-to-trough drawdown of 5.6%, documenting prior index retracement. Transparent national discovery ranks are 604 for momentum, 2,874 for stability, and 1,672 for the balanced measure; lower ranks are higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Bedroom figures require a different interpretation from the all-rental-type ZORI. The HUD FY2026 FMR/SAFMR ladder is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent. Scaling ZIP ZORI by that local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,047 for a studio, $1,133 for one bedroom, $1,295 for two bedrooms, $1,685 for three bedrooms, and $2,000 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates, not measured bedroom rents. The two-bedroom model is anchored against a local HUD two-bedroom standard of $1,360, which helps establish the relative ladder but does not verify the rent, utility treatment, condition, or availability of any unit with that bedroom count.
The matched ACS 2024 five-year survey answers a different affordability question. Its median gross rent is $1,145, and it covers occupied renter homes while including selected utilities; the current asking-rent index is 13.1% higher because the two measures have different populations and cost treatment. At the 30% screen, annualizing the ZIP index produces required income of $51,800. That screen is arithmetic, not advice or an applicant qualification rule. The ZCTA-wide median household income is $68,568, placing the asking-rent-to-income screen at 22.7%. At the same time, ACS estimates that 4,579 renter households, or 51.3%, met the rent-burden threshold. That burden estimate describes the surveyed renter population and cannot establish the burden, eligibility, or utility costs for a particular home.
Housing stock and vacancy add scale, while remaining aggregate evidence. The matched ZCTA contains 22,874 housing units, of which 20,288 are occupied. Its estimated vacancy rate is 11.3%, including 1,224 units classified as vacant for rent. The stock includes 13,825 single-family units and 2,173 units in large multifamily structures, indicating that the housing base is not confined to one building form. Yet a vacant-for-rent classification is not proof that a specific unit is currently advertised, lease-ready, priced at the ZIP index, or suitable for a particular household. Aggregate vacancy should therefore be read as market context rather than unit-level availability.
Wider-area readings place the ZIP result in context without replacing it. The City of Winston-Salem context rent is $1,537, the Forsyth County context rent is $1,579, and the Winston-Salem, NC metro context rent is $1,564; each is a wider geographic context rather than a ZIP-level substitute. All three exceed the ZIP asking-rent index, but that difference does not identify the reason or establish a property-level discount. City, county, and metro values should be used to frame the scale of surrounding measures, while the direct ZIP ZORI remains the relevant asking-rent index for this report.
The strongest counterpoint comes from Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation, which describes the for-sale market rather than rental transactions. Median sold price was $384,913, down 11.5% from a year earlier. The resale record shows 211 homes sold with median marketing time of 38 days, inventory of 188 homes, and 2.7 months of supply. Average sale-to-list stood at 99.1%, while 25.4% of sales closed above list price. The resale price decline challenges an uncomplicated reading of the rising asking-rent index, its longer historical path, and the broad income screen; it does not establish how either market affects the other. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price is 4.04%, but that is only a cross-source screening ratio, not a measure of property economics.
The packet cannot turn area measurements into a property conclusion. ZORI is a blended ZIP asking-rent index, ACS is a five-year survey, HUD is an administrative standard, and Redfin is an aggregate resale record with its own rolling observation window. A property-level check would need to verify the actual advertised asking amount, bedroom count, rental type, included utilities, condition, availability date, and lease terms. If comparing a sale, it would also need the individual property’s sale date, list history, physical characteristics, and transaction details rather than the ZIP median. The unresolved question is whether a particular listing matches the definitions behind these broad measures, not whether the aggregate signals alone settle its rent or resale position.
","findings":[{"body":"The current ZIP asking-rent index rose from the same month a year earlier and remains above its three-year annualized pace, while trailing its five-year annualized pace. Full historical coverage strengthens the measurement record, but the high-variability classification, meaningful monthly-return volatility, and prior drawdown mean that one current ZORI reading should be treated as a benchmark rather than a fixed unit-level price.","title":"Rent growth remains positive, but the path is uneven"},{"body":"The studio-through-four-bedroom figures apply the local HUD bedroom ladder to the ZIP-wide ZORI. That produces a consistent relative pattern across bedroom counts, but it does not measure what actual studio, one-bedroom, or larger listings ask. HUD’s bedroom-specific standard is administrative and should not be treated as a current advertised-rent survey.","title":"Bedroom outputs are scaling estimates, not observed rents"},{"body":"The 30% required-income calculation uses the current ZIP asking-rent index, while the ACS gross-rent measure includes selected utilities and represents occupied renter homes. The ZIP-wide median household income clears the broad arithmetic screen, yet more than half of estimated renter households meet the ACS burden threshold. Neither statistic determines what any individual household can afford or what a specific landlord will require.","title":"Income arithmetic and renter burden address separate issues"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale observation shows a year-over-year decline in median sold price even as the Zillow asking-rent index rose. Sales volume, days on market, supply, and sale-to-list signals show active for-sale market conditions, but they are not rental evidence. The annualized-rent-to-sale-price calculation is useful only as a cross-source screen because it does not align specific properties, costs, or transactions.","title":"Resale softness complicates the rent narrative"}],"risks":["The ZIP index, ZCTA survey, HUD standard, and resale series use distinct units, populations, time windows, and definitions; direct comparisons can misstate a property’s actual rent or value.","High measured historical rent variability and a prior drawdown mean the current ZORI is a useful benchmark but a less certain stand-alone pricing snapshot than a stable series.","The vacant-for-rent and rent-burden estimates are area aggregates. They cannot demonstrate availability, affordability, utility treatment, condition, or tenant expense burden for any particular home.","The sale-price screen divides an asking-rent index by a resale median from another data stream. It omits property-level expenses, financing, condition, and matching between rentals and sales."],"qa":[{"a":"They describe different evidence universes. Zillow ZORI is a ZIP-level, blended asking-rent index. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. HUD FMR/SAFMR is a bedroom-specific administrative standard. Redfin reports for-sale resale activity, not rental transactions. Differences among those measures are expected and do not indicate an error by themselves.","q":"Why do the Zillow, ACS, HUD, and Redfin rent-related figures differ?"},{"a":"No. The bedroom figures are modelled estimates created by scaling the ZIP-wide Zillow asking-rent index with the local HUD bedroom ladder. They indicate a relative studio-through-four-bedroom pattern under that model. They do not directly observe listings, signed leases, utilities, property condition, concessions, or availability for units of any bedroom count.","q":"Are the bedroom figures actual measured rents for 27106?"},{"a":"No. The required-income figure simply annualizes the ZIP asking-rent index and applies a 30% arithmetic threshold. It is not advice, a tenant budget, a landlord rule, or an applicant qualification standard. The ACS burden statistic is also population-level survey evidence and cannot determine a specific household’s income, expenses, utility obligations, or eligibility.","q":"Does the required-income calculation determine whether someone qualifies for a rental?"},{"a":"It supplies a separate, direct ZIP observation of the for-sale market: sold-price movement, sales volume, marketing time, supply, and sale-to-list behavior. The resale price decline creates tension with the positive asking-rent history, but does not prove a relationship between them. The annualized ZORI-to-sale-price figure is only a cross-source screening ratio, not a property-level performance measure.","q":"What does the Redfin resale evidence add to the rental analysis?"}],"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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