In June 2026, Zillow’s ZIP 29605 ZORI was $1,835 per month, up 5.24% from the same month a year earlier. It is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than a quote for every available home. For wider context only, the Greenville city asking-rent index was $1,561, the Greenville County asking-rent index was $1,603, and the Greenville-Anderson, SC metro asking-rent index was $1,570; those broader series do not replace the ZIP observation. The five-digit label is both Zillow’s market identifier and a match to a Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a statistical area built for tabulation, not the same thing as a USPS delivery ZIP.
The apparent gap with survey and administrative figures is material but does not establish an error. The matched Census ZCTA’s ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent was $1,087, and that measure surveys occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities; it is not a current asking-rent series. Thus current ZIP ZORI is 1.69 times the ACS median, a cross-universe contrast, not a statement that a typical renter’s lease changed by that amount. HUD’s FY2026 FMR/SAFMR ladder is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent. Scaling ZORI by that local ladder produces modelled monthly ZIP estimates of $1,598 for a studio, $1,648 for one bedroom, $1,835 for two bedrooms, $2,287 for three bedrooms, and $2,770 for four bedrooms. They are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents.
History makes this a stable-growth record rather than a claim about what comes next. The direct Zillow ZIP series reaches its stated endpoint with 100% coverage, allowing like-month readings to be compared across the supplied window. Exact same-month annualized change was 5.24% over one year, 4.50% over three years, and 6.75% over five years. Recent direction therefore confirms the positive longer path, though it is slower than the five-year pace and modestly stronger than the three-year pace. Annualized monthly-return variability of 2.56% means a single current index reading merits more confidence than a highly erratic series would, but not precision beyond an index. The worst peak-to-trough drawdown was 2.03%, so the direction was not uninterrupted. Transparent national discovery ranks, where lower numbers rank higher, were 356 for momentum, 811 for stability, and 163 for the balanced score; ranks and all history measures are retrospective, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Income and burden introduce the principal caution. Applying the stated 30% screen to the current monthly index yields $73,400 of annual income, while the ZCTA’s ACS median household income is $65,648; annualized asking rent is therefore 33.5% of that aggregate income measure. This is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule, and household income is not renter income. In the same ACS five-year universe, 4,957 renter-occupied households were counted and 2,334, or 47.1%, were at or above the burden threshold. Gross rent’s inclusion of selected utilities further separates the burden statistic from ZORI. Survey margins of error apply, and neither the burden share nor the income screen proves affordability or unaffordability for any particular unit or household.
Housing composition and vacancy give the survey backdrop, not a live availability count. In the matched ZCTA ACS five-year data, 17,155 housing units included 15,948 occupied and 1,207 vacant units, equivalent to a 7.0% vacancy rate. The stock included 13,692 single-family units and 554 units in large multifamily structures, while renter occupancy represented 31.1% of occupied homes. These counts may help frame the mix represented by the survey, but they do not identify which homes can be rented now, their condition, their bedroom count, or their asking price. Nor does a ZCTA-wide vacancy rate demonstrate vacancy, lease-up terms, or concession availability at a particular property.
The direct rolling-three-month Redfin ZIP resale observation at its stated endpoint shows a distinct for-sale market: median sold price was $338,923, up 1.2% year over year, with 216 homes sold and 68 median days on market. Reported inventory was 283 homes and months of supply stood at 4.0. The average sale-to-list ratio was 97.94%, while 13.82% of sales closed above list. Those are resale liquidity and pricing signals, not rental transactions or rental comps. Dividing annualized ZIP ZORI by the median sold price gives a 6.50% cross-source screening ratio only; it is not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. The tension is clear: the current same-month asking-rent gain exceeds the sale-price change, whereas the below-list average and marketing time temper any inference from the rent trajectory alone.
Taken together, the decision tension is not resolved by selecting a favorite source. The ZIP asking-rent index sits above the named city, county, and metro context, while the ACS occupied-home measure, burden share, and aggregate-income screen describe a more constrained survey-side picture. The resale record offers neither rental transaction evidence nor a substitute for those measures. It does, however, challenge a simple extrapolation from rent gains: resale pricing rose more slowly, and its marketing and sale-to-list readings are not uniformly aggressive. Conversely, positive same-month rent changes across each supplied historical horizon keep the present index from looking like an isolated spike. This is a cross-source comparison of different populations, periods, and definitions—not proof of property economics, cause, or future direction.
Several limits should govern use of this ZIP screen. ZORI is a blended index; ACS is a multi-year survey; HUD is an administrative standard; and Redfin reports rolling resale evidence. None establishes the rent, costs, occupancy, condition, or sale outcome of a specific address. Concrete property-level checks would distinguish a real listing from the indexes: advertised rent by bedroom, current availability date, included utilities, lease term, deposits and recurring fees, concessions, furnished status, and the actual property’s prior lease and transaction records. For an address under resale review, pertinent checks also include address-level list history, closed-sale details, marketing time, and current competing listings. The useful question is not whether a ZIP statistic can approve a deal or a household, but which source definition matches the decision being examined.
","findings":[{"body":"June 2026 ZIP ZORI of $1,835 exceeded the Greenville city, Greenville County, and Greenville-Anderson metro context indexes. That comparison is useful only as wider context: Zillow ZORI is a blended asking-rent index, whereas the ZIP remains the operative market identifier. The ZCTA match supports Census tabulation but does not make the ZCTA a USPS delivery geography.","title":"Asking index exceeds broader rent context"},{"body":"Same-month Zillow history is positive at every supplied horizon, with complete coverage of the available monthly series. Recent growth trails the full five-year pace but tops the three-year pace, so the pattern is continuing with moderation rather than breaking sharply. Return variability and the historical drawdown support a steadier reading of the index, while the ranks remain retrospective discovery tools.","title":"History is positive but moderated from its longest pace"},{"body":"The affordability signal is mixed by design. Annualized ZORI clears the stated 30% screen only at income above the ZCTA median household measure, and nearly half of ACS renter households meet the gross-rent burden threshold. These are population-level survey and arithmetic results, not tenant underwriting. Gross rent includes selected utilities and therefore cannot be substituted for current advertised rent.","title":"Affordability measures present a separate caution"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale series reports price growth slower than ZIP asking-rent growth, alongside marketing time and an average sale-to-list result below list. This challenges a one-direction reading of rent history without turning resale data into rental evidence. The annualized-rent-to-sale-price figure is strictly a cross-source screen; it omits operating costs, financing, property condition, and address-specific rent.","title":"Resale conditions challenge a one-direction rent reading"}],"risks":["The strongest comparability risk is source mismatch: ZORI tracks current blended asking rents, ACS tracks occupied renters over five years with selected utilities, and HUD sets administrative standards. A gap between them is informative but cannot identify a unit’s market rent.","The income screen relies on median household income for the ZCTA rather than renter income, household size, credit, assets, or lease rules. The burden share likewise summarizes survey respondents and cannot determine whether a specific household or listing is affordable.","Bedroom amounts are modelled by scaling a ZIP-wide ZORI with the HUD ladder. They are not measured asking rents, so property bedroom mix, utilities, condition, fees, concessions, and availability can make an individual advertised amount diverge materially.","Redfin covers rolling ZIP resale outcomes rather than leases or rental transactions. Median price, sale-to-list, inventory, and marketing time should not be converted into cash flow, cap rate, expected return, or an appraisal of any address."],"qa":[{"a":"They describe different evidence universes. Zillow ZORI is a June 2026 ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. ACS is a matched ZCTA five-year survey of occupied renter homes and its gross-rent measure includes selected utilities. Time period, population, and rent definition all differ, so the gap is not a direct lease-price comparison.","q":"Why does the current asking-rent index exceed ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled monthly ZIP estimates created by scaling the ZIP ZORI using the local HUD FY2026 FMR/SAFMR bedroom ladder. HUD’s ladder is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not current asking rent. The estimates help maintain a stated sizing method but cannot establish what any advertised apartment or house is charging.","q":"Are the bedroom figures observed ZIP rents?"},{"a":"History covers the supplied monthly ZIP ZORI series through its stated endpoint and is strictly backward-looking. Positive exact same-month changes over the supplied horizons show continuity, while lower annualized return variability makes the index less erratic than a volatile path. The maximum drawdown shows that gains were not uninterrupted, so the current value should remain an index reading rather than a forecast.","q":"What does rent history say about confidence in the current snapshot?"},{"a":"Redfin’s rolling-three-month ZIP evidence concerns homes that sold, not rental transactions. Its median price and liquidity measures can test whether resale conditions move consistently with the asking-rent and history picture, but they do not produce property operating economics. Annualized ZORI divided by median sold price is only a cross-source screening ratio, not a cap rate or expected return.","q":"How should resale evidence be used with the rent screen?"}],"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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