The five-digit 29301 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. At June 2026, Zillow ZORI stood at $1,426 per month, after a 2.9% year-over-year increase. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than a lease-level average or a survey of occupied homes. At this rent, the arithmetic 30% required-income screen equals $57,040 annually, compared with a matched ACS ZCTA median household income of $57,805; the resulting asking-rent-to-income screen is 29.6%. That screen is arithmetic only, not advice or an applicant qualification rule.
The longer Zillow record describes stable growth, but the recent pace is below the earlier multi-year path. Exact same-month annualized ZORI change was 2.9% over one year, 3.1% over three years, and 5.0% over five years. Thus, the latest direction generally confirms continued rent growth rather than a reversal, while breaking from the stronger five-year pace. Coverage is complete at 100% across 65 monthly observations. The month-to-month return series produced 2.5% annualized variability, suggesting a current index reading has relatively limited historical fluctuation but should still not be treated as a precise unit quote. Its maximum drawdown was 2.7%, a contained historical setback rather than proof against future declines. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 987 for momentum, 649 for stability, and 489 for the balanced measure, with lower ranks higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
The bedroom ladder should be read as modelled estimates, never as measured bedroom rents. Scaling the ZIP ZORI by the local HUD ladder produces monthly estimates of $1,166 for a studio, $1,201 for one bedroom, $1,426 for two bedrooms, $1,736 for three bedrooms, and $1,945 for four bedrooms. The local FY2026 HUD two-bedroom standard is $1,112. HUD FMR or SAFMR values are administrative, bedroom-specific standards, not asking rents, while the modelled estimates inherit ZORI’s blended-rental-type basis. The ladder is useful for maintaining local bedroom spacing around the ZIP index, but it does not establish what any available unit is advertised for or what a renter ultimately pays.
The matched ACS ZCTA provides a separate occupied-home and housing-stock lens. It contains 16,079 housing units and has a 15.0% vacancy rate, including 662 units classified as vacant for rent. Its stock includes 10,791 single-family units and 1,177 large multifamily units, while renter-occupied homes represent 37.2% of occupied housing. ACS median gross rent is $1,178, a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes that includes selected utilities and therefore is not interchangeable with Zillow asking rent. In that same survey universe, 50.3% of renter households paid at least 30% of income toward rent. That burden statistic describes surveyed households collectively; it cannot prove affordability, occupancy, utility treatment, or burden for a particular available unit.
Wider geographies frame the ZIP without replacing it. City of Spartanburg context, which is city-scope rather than ZIP evidence, reports a $1,375 asking-rent level and a 46.1% renter share; Spartanburg County context, which is county-scope, reports $1,500; and Spartanburg, SC metro context, which is metro-scope, also reports $1,500. The ZIP’s current asking-rent index therefore sits above the stated city context and below the county and metro contexts. Different renter shares and housing mixes can affect those wider measures, so they are benchmarks for scale rather than substitutes for the direct ZIP ZORI or the matched ZCTA survey.
The for-sale picture introduces the clearest counterweight to the rent-history reading. In Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation, the median sold price was $264,940, up 13.2% year over year, with 171 homes sold and a median 58 days on market. Inventory was 232 homes, 34.2% higher than a year earlier, and months of supply measured 4.1. Sale-to-list signals were measured separately: the average sale-to-list ratio was 98.14%, 9.0% of sales closed above list, and 22.9% went off market within two weeks. These are ZIP for-sale and resale observations, not rental transactions or rental comparables. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by the median sold price equals a 6.46% cross-source screening ratio only; it is not property-level economics.
Resale prices rose much faster than the recent asking-rent index, while the resale market also showed more inventory, below-list average selling, and a limited above-list share. That combination challenges any simple conclusion that steady ZORI history alone describes current housing-market pressure. At the same time, the income screen sits close to the matched ZCTA median income, whereas the ACS burden measure shows that many surveyed renter households were already spending a substantial income share on rent. The evidence therefore supports a narrow reading: observed asking rents have continued to rise, but affordability pressure and resale conditions remain distinct questions with different source definitions and time structures.
Several limits matter before applying this ZIP-level evidence to a property. ZORI is an index rather than a unit listing, ACS is a lagged survey with sampling uncertainty, HUD is an administrative standard, and Redfin tracks resale rather than rents. A property-level review should verify the exact advertised rent, bedroom count, utility inclusions, lease term, fees, concessions, current availability, and condition of the specific unit. It should also distinguish a unit’s actual location and property type from the ZIP aggregate. Neither a vacancy statistic nor a renter-burden share establishes the likely outcome for one apartment, house, landlord, renter, or future transaction.
","findings":[{"body":"ZIP ZORI was $1,426 in June 2026, up 2.9% year over year. Same-month annualized growth measured 3.1% across three years and 5.0% across five years, indicating continued growth at a slower recent pace than the longer historical record. Complete monthly coverage supports use of the history as a backward-looking ZIP index series, not a forecast.","title":"Asking-rent growth has continued but slowed from the longer trend"},{"body":"The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled ZIP estimates created by scaling the blended Zillow ZORI with the local HUD bedroom ladder. They are not observed asking rents for available units. HUD’s bedroom standards are administrative FMR or SAFMR measures, while ZORI is an observed asking-rent index across rental types. The matching two-bedroom estimate does not validate a particular unit quote.","title":"The bedroom figures are modelled from two different rent frameworks"},{"body":"ACS reports a $1,178 median gross rent for occupied renter homes, including selected utilities, versus the higher current Zillow asking-rent index. Half of surveyed renter households were rent burdened at the 30% threshold, while the ZCTA also recorded a 15.0% vacancy rate and vacant-for-rent units. These statistics cannot establish the rent, occupancy, utility package, or financial pressure of a specific property.","title":"Survey affordability and vacancy measures describe households and stock, not listings"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale observation shows a double-digit annual median sale-price increase alongside higher inventory, more time on market, and an average sale-to-list ratio below 100%. Those are for-sale signals, not rental-market transactions. They contrast with the ZIP’s modest recent ZORI growth and make the annualized rent-to-price figure useful only as a cross-source screening ratio.","title":"Resale data creates a meaningful cross-market tension"}],"risks":["The Zillow index is a blended typical asking-rent measure, so its ZIP reading can differ materially from a specific unit’s advertised price, bedroom mix, condition, lease structure, utility treatment, or concessions.","ACS median gross rent and rent burden come from a five-year survey of occupied renter homes, include selected utilities in gross rent, and carry survey uncertainty rather than providing current listing evidence.","HUD bedroom standards are administrative benchmarks rather than asking rents; consequently, the bedroom ladder is modelled from ZORI and HUD spacing and should not be treated as observed rent comparables.","Redfin resale metrics concern homes sold and listed for sale, not rental transactions. Price appreciation, inventory, marketing time, and sale-to-list behavior cannot establish rental performance for a property."],"qa":[{"a":"The $1,426 figure is Zillow ZORI for the ZIP, a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is not a median lease payment, a bedroom-specific measurement, or evidence of the rent for one available unit. The ZIP identifier also matches a Census ZCTA, but the ZCTA remains a statistical area rather than a USPS delivery ZIP.","q":"What does the current Zillow rent figure represent?"},{"a":"They describe different evidence universes. Zillow ZORI measures a current typical asking-rent index, while ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Differences can therefore reflect timing, surveyed occupied households, utility inclusion, rental composition, and the distinction between an index and a household survey statistic.","q":"Why does ACS median gross rent differ from Zillow ZORI?"},{"a":"No. The screen simply divides annualized ZIP ZORI by income, producing a 29.6% arithmetic result at the stated median household income and a required-income figure of $57,040. It is not lending, leasing, or applicant-qualification guidance. Actual qualification can depend on unit rent, income documentation, household composition, debts, fees, utilities, and landlord-specific policies that are not in this packet.","q":"Does the 30% income screen show whether a renter can qualify for a unit?"},{"a":"The 6.46% figure divides annualized ZIP ZORI by the direct ZIP median sold price. It is a cross-source screening ratio that places an asking-rent index beside a resale statistic, not a property-specific calculation. It excludes operating costs, taxes, insurance, financing, maintenance, vacancy experience, unit quality, and all other property-level factors needed to assess a particular asset.","q":"How should the Redfin rent-to-price ratio be used?"}],"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 FY2026","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/usps_crosswalk.html"},{"key":"realtor_county","name":"Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory","release":"county inventory 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-28","url":"https://www.realtor.com/research/data/"},{"key":"redfin","name":"Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts","release":"metro tracker through 2026-05-01","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"redfin_zip","name":"Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply","release":"ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03","pulledAt":"2026-08-12","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"zillow_county","name":"Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents","release":"county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori","name":"Zillow ZORI — metro market rents","release":"Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_city","name":"Zillow ZORI — city market rents","release":"zillow_zori_city.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-29","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_zip","name":"Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents","release":"ZORI ZIP 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"}],"history":[{"period":"2021-02-01","rent":1096.469886},{"period":"2021-03-01","rent":1095.001431},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":1116.275135},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":1119.13189},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":1116.507964},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":1118.197911},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":1124.319827},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":1145.256823},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":1154.61754},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":1168.309392},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":1172.358625},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":1191.936769},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1203.543528},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1218.160328},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":1215.737108},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":1213.604433},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":1228.328519},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":1238.488877},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":1248.526878},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":1247.806512},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":1260.075423},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":1267.528226},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":1261.029215},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":1269.55227},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":1273.733105},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":1286.107069},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":1281.283903},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":1297.211576},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":1302.306953},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":1317.511543},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":1309.92038},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":1315.872684},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":1320.32606},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":1321.54965},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":1338.055377},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1335.030057},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1339.866723},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1330.819844},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1337.56389},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1336.392889},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1347.410799},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1345.122792},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1349.183845},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1354.269295},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1362.41321},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1384.629428},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1379.156841},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1392.614811},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1391.746897},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1415.280614},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1416.457398},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1407.350041},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1385.919791},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1385.496594},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1391.516329},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1392.334291},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1389.514637},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1378.702204},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1384.882083},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1383.030342},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1389.742861},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1383.332251},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1390.506654},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1405.269356},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":1425.918182}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":65,"firstPeriod":"2021-02-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":65,"coverageRatio":1,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1385.919791,"endRent":1425.918182,"change":0.02886053814928169,"cagr":0.02886053814928169},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1302.306953,"endRent":1425.918182,"change":0.09491712281443987,"cagr":0.030687674377242402},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1116.507964,"endRent":1425.918182,"change":0.277123162553635,"cagr":0.0501384407781893}},"maxDrawdown":-0.026654662578139976,"annualizedVolatility":0.02476033747235194,"consecutiveReturnCount":64}}