This ZIP’s immediate tension is a still-elevated current asking-rent benchmark beside a nearly flat latest annual change. Zillow ZORI, the ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, is $1,780 per month, and its year-over-year movement is only 0.09%. That is a current market index rather than a quote for any particular home, and it should not be read as a lease-renewal schedule. The useful starting point is therefore not a claim that rents are moving rapidly, but the contrast between today’s level, the slower recent pace, household-income screens, and a resale market showing softer price signals. Each describes a distinct evidence universe.
The ZIP’s stable-growth history shows that recent direction has broken from the pace of the longer path, though not from its positive direction. Exact same-month Zillow ZORI changes annualized to 0.09% over 1 year, 0.63% over 3 years, and 4.55% over 5 years. History coverage is complete. Monthly rent-index movements produced 2.49% annualized variability, which supports some confidence in the current level but not precision around short-term movement. The worst peak-to-trough decline was 2.20%, a limited historical setback rather than evidence of no risk. Among history-eligible ZIPs nationally, the stability discovery rank was 667, compared with 2,315 for momentum and 1,776 for the balanced measure; lower ranks are higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Source definitions matter because the rent figures are not interchangeable. The matched 28205 Census ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. Its ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent describes occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, while Zillow ZORI tracks typical observed asking rents. HUD’s FY2026 FMR/SAFMR ladder is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent. Scaling the ZIP ZORI by that local ladder, whose two-bedroom standard is $1,620, produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,549 for a studio, $1,626 for one bedroom, $1,780 for two bedrooms, $2,198 for three bedrooms, and $2,780 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates, not measured bedroom rents.
The affordability screen is mixed rather than conclusive. ACS median gross rent is $1,460, making the current asking-rent index 121.9% of that occupied-home benchmark; utility treatment, tenant tenure, and survey versus asking-rent scope all help explain why they differ. Applying a 30% required-income screen to the current index produces $71,200 in annual income needed by arithmetic. That is below the ZCTA median household income of $75,622, and the ZIP asking-rent-to-income screen is 28.2%. Yet 6,229 renter households, or 46.4%, were rent burdened at 30% or more in ACS. The screen is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule; the burden figure does not establish the finances of any specific renter or unit.
The matched ACS ZCTA also shows a renter-oriented stock mix without proving immediate unit availability. It contains 14,086 single-family units and 4,118 units in large multifamily structures. Renters occupy 57.5% of occupied homes, while the overall vacancy rate is 6.4%; 676 vacant homes were classified as available for rent. Those figures indicate the structure of the local housing inventory and renter base, not a count of comparable, ready-to-lease homes at the Zillow benchmark. Vacancy cannot demonstrate concessions, condition, landlord terms, or rent for a particular available property.
Wider-area rent context places the ZIP modestly above each comparison, but those geographies cannot replace ZIP evidence. The Charlotte city-context rent is $1,746, the Mecklenburg County context rent is $1,751, and the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metro-context rent is $1,750. City, county, and metro values are context only and should be named at their own scope rather than treated as observations within this ZIP. Their proximity to the ZIP index supports a broad regional reference point, while the ACS ZCTA renter composition, burden measure, and ZIP-specific history remain separate analytical inputs.
The direct Redfin rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation adds the sharpest counterpoint to the rent level. This is for-sale market evidence, not rental transactions or rental comparables: median sold price was $558,874, down 3.22% year over year, with 261 homes sold and a median 42 days on market. Inventory stood at 324 homes, up 20.3%, and months of supply were 3.8. The average sale-to-list result was 99.15%, while 24.43% of sales closed above list. Those liquidity and pricing signals challenge any simple reading of the current rent index as uniformly strengthening, especially after the recent slowdown in rent growth. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price is 3.82%, a cross-source screening ratio only; it does not represent property economics or an expected outcome.
Decision use should remain evidence-bound. ZORI blends rental types, ACS is a survey with a different resident and utility scope, HUD is a standard, and Redfin reflects completed resale activity over a rolling period. Before relying on any headline figure, verify the specific property’s advertised rent, bedroom configuration, included utilities, recurring fees, lease term, condition, availability date, and concessions. For a purchase-oriented review, compare the property’s own recent closed sales, active competition, pending activity, listing history, and sale terms rather than substituting ZIP medians. The central question is whether a specific unit’s documented terms still align with the distinct rent, household, and resale evidence presented here.
","findings":[{"body":"Current Zillow ZORI is $1,780, but the latest annual change is only 0.09%. That nearly flat short-run result contrasts with a 4.55% annualized same-month gain over five years. The history supports a stable-growth classification, but it does not support treating the longer-run appreciation pace as the current rate of change.","title":"Rent growth has slowed materially"},{"body":"The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled by scaling ZIP Zillow ZORI with the local HUD bedroom ladder. They are useful for keeping bedroom assumptions internally consistent, but they are not observed asking rents, executed leases, or unit-specific rental comps. Actual differences can arise from utility inclusion, property condition, lease terms, and availability.","title":"Bedroom figures are ladder-based estimates"},{"body":"The arithmetic 30% income screen places the current asking-rent index below the ZCTA median household income benchmark, yet 46.4% of renter households were burdened at 30% or more in ACS. This combination suggests that a ZIP-wide median-income comparison cannot substitute for renter-level income, household size, or unit-level lease costs.","title":"Income screen and renter burden point in different directions"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale observation shows substantial sales volume, but median sold price declined year over year while inventory increased and the average sale-to-list result remained below list. That combination is relevant to for-sale liquidity and pricing signals only. It neither measures rental demand nor converts the rent-to-price screen into property-level economics.","title":"Resale evidence is active but less price-pressured"}],"risks":["Zillow ZORI blends rental types and represents a typical asking-rent index, so it can differ materially from the rent, concessions, utilities, fees, condition, and lease terms of a currently available unit.","ACS gross rent reflects occupied renter homes in a five-year survey and includes selected utilities, making it unsuitable as a direct substitute for a current advertised rent or a newly signed lease.","The HUD-scaled bedroom ladder is a modelled allocation of the ZIP rent index, not measured bedroom rents; unit mix and property attributes can produce materially different actual asking prices.","Redfin resale indicators describe completed for-sale activity over a rolling period. Median sold prices, marketing time, supply, and sale-to-list outcomes should not be used as rental transactions or proof of a property’s operating results."],"qa":[{"a":"They measure different universes. Zillow ZORI is a current ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes in the matched ZCTA and includes selected utilities. Differences in timing, tenant tenure, utility treatment, and rental composition can all create a gap.","q":"Why is the Zillow rent figure higher than ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. The bedroom figures are modelled monthly estimates created by scaling the ZIP Zillow ZORI using the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD values are administrative standards, not asking-rent observations. The resulting estimates provide a consistent analytical ladder, but a specific unit’s actual advertised rent can differ because of its terms and characteristics.","q":"Are the bedroom rent estimates observed market rents?"},{"a":"It divides annualized ZIP Zillow ZORI by Redfin’s ZIP median sold price. Because the numerator is a blended asking-rent index and the denominator is a rolling resale median, it is only a cross-source screening ratio. It omits financing, operating expenses, taxes, insurance, maintenance, vacancy experience, condition, and the actual rent of any individual property.","q":"What does the rent-to-price screening ratio mean?"},{"a":"Verify the property’s current advertised rent, bedroom count, utilities, fees, lease duration, concessions, availability date, and condition. For a resale review, examine recent closed sales, active and pending competition, listing history, sale terms, and property condition. These checks are necessary because ZIP, ZCTA, HUD, and resale aggregates cannot establish the economics or availability of one address.","q":"What should be verified for a property-level decision?"}],"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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