The decision question for this ZIP is how a current asking-rent benchmark sits against differently constructed rent standards and the local household profile, rather than whether any particular available unit is priced fairly. In June 2026, Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI was $1,269 per month, 2.52% higher than a year earlier. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, so it supplies an all-type market signal rather than a lease quote or a bedroom-specific observation. The five-digit 35405 label is both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and the matched Census ZCTA; a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. That distinction matters when using these figures for a property search or comparing an address with administrative boundaries.
Bedroom sizing should start with the local HUD ladder but not mistake it for observed rent. Scaling the ZIP ZORI by that ladder produces modelled monthly ZIP estimates of $1,005 for a studio, $1,012 for one bedroom, $1,269 for two bedrooms, $1,570 for three bedrooms, and $1,680 for four bedrooms. The applicable FY2026 HUD standards range from $914 for a studio through $1,528 for four bedrooms, with $1,154 for two bedrooms. These estimates preserve HUD’s local bedroom relationships while anchoring the level to ZORI; they are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent, and neither set establishes the rent, utility treatment, condition, or availability of a particular home.
Cross-source comparison indicates a level difference, not a contradiction. The matched ZCTA’s ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent was $1,061, with a $29 90% margin of error, placing the current Zillow index 19.6% above that survey median. ACS median gross rent describes occupied renter homes over a five-year survey and includes selected utilities; it is therefore not an asking-rent series. Against the listed two-bedroom HUD standard, ZORI is 10.0% higher, but that comparison likewise does not convert an administrative standard into a market quote. Keeping the Zillow, ACS, and HUD universes separate makes the spread useful as context rather than as a single blended market rent.
Household measures frame arithmetic exposure without identifying any renter’s actual finances. The ZCTA median household income was $62,301. A 30% rent screen yields $50,760 in annual income for $1,269 monthly rent. This is arithmetic, not advice or an applicant qualification rule. Renter households occupied 9,446 units, or 45.6% of occupied housing. Among the ACS renter universe, 3,665 households, or 38.8%, were observed spending at or above that screen on gross rent; the burden count’s margin of error was 635. These are aggregate survey observations, not evidence about a household or the cost burden in a particular unit.
The 22,891-unit housing inventory had 2,190 vacant units, a 9.6% vacancy rate, but a vacancy total is a composition count rather than a current supply measure. Of units classified vacant, 338 were for rent, 161 were for sale, and 693 were seasonal. The stock also included 13,724 single-family units and 1,777 units in large multifamily structures. These categories do not show asking rents, turnover timing, utility charges, lease terms, or whether a given vacancy is rentable now. They also cannot demonstrate the condition, pricing, or burden status of any named or available property.
Broader rental benchmarks sit above the ZIP index but remain context only. In the City of Tuscaloosa scope, the rent context is $1,433, compared with $1,470 in Tuscaloosa County scope and $1,480 in the Tuscaloosa, AL metro scope. Each wider geography has its own housing mix, renter base, boundaries, and source construction; these are comparisons across scopes, not substitutes for the ZIP ZORI, matched-ZCTA ACS measures, HUD ladder, or an address-level price.
Several limits control the use of this report. ZORI is an index rather than an offer, ACS is a survey with margins of error and a different renter universe, and HUD standards serve administration rather than measurement of available rents. The modelled bedroom estimates inherit both the ZIP index and the local HUD ladder, so they should be checked rather than treated as listings. For a specific property, verify the advertised base rent, bedroom count, included and separately metered utilities, lease term, deposit and fee schedule, availability date, concessions, income-screen method, and whether the address lies within the relevant ZIP, ZCTA, and HUD geography. Confirming those details is necessary before translating area-level context to a unit-level cost comparison. Area measures cannot establish the final monthly obligation or legal terms for an individual listing.
","findings":[{"body":"Zillow indicates a current all-type asking-rent benchmark above the matched ZCTA’s ACS gross-rent median. This is a difference in source population and construction, not proof that new listings, existing leases, or a specific apartment are overpriced. ACS reflects occupied renter homes and selected utilities, whereas ZORI tracks a typical observed asking-rent index.","title":"Source spread is not a single rent measure"},{"body":"Bedroom figures are modelled from the ZIP index using the local HUD ladder. Their usefulness is comparative: they express a size gradient consistently with the local administrative standard. They are not sampled bedroom rents, listing medians, or evidence that a vacant home of a given size can be leased at the shown level.","title":"Bedroom ladder is a model"},{"body":"The income screen links the ZIP index to the ZCTA median household income using a stated arithmetic threshold. Separately, the ACS burden measure reports an aggregate share of renter households paying at least that threshold on gross rent. Neither statistic is an underwriting test, a measure of disposable income, or a conclusion about an individual renter.","title":"Income and burden answer different questions"},{"body":"Vacant units are spread across for-rent, for-sale, and seasonal classifications, while the stock includes single-family and large multifamily structures. That composition is more informative than treating the headline vacancy rate as immediate rental availability. It does not reveal which homes are listed, habitable, competitively priced, or available on the needed date.","title":"Vacancy requires composition reading"}],"risks":["ZORI, ACS gross rent, and HUD standards describe different populations and purposes. Treating their gaps as interchangeable market evidence can misstate utilities, lease status, bedroom mix, or available asking rents.","Modelled bedroom estimates inherit the ZIP-wide index and HUD size relationships. They can diverge from a property’s advertised rent because condition, lease details, utility billing, and availability are not measured.","Vacancy classifications cannot establish that a unit is rentable now or identify its price. Seasonal and for-sale vacancies particularly prevent the total from serving as a listing count.","ZCTA boundaries are statistical and do not equal USPS delivery ZIPs. An address can require separate confirmation against the relevant Zillow, Census, and HUD geographic definitions."],"qa":[{"a":"In the stated period, the $1,269 figure is Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI, a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is a monthly ZIP market benchmark, not a posted price, lease renewal figure, or an observed rent for a particular bedroom count.","q":"What does the current ZIP rent represent?"},{"a":"They have different evidence universes and time structures. Zillow reports a typical observed asking-rent index, while ACS reports a five-year survey median for occupied renter homes that includes selected utilities. HUD adds a third construct: an administrative bedroom-specific standard. The values should be compared for context, not averaged into one figure.","q":"Why do the Zillow, ACS, and HUD figures differ?"},{"a":"No. It is an aggregate ACS observation among renter households paying at or above the stated gross-rent share of income. It does not identify the residents, utilities, lease terms, or rent of a listing. Likewise, it cannot establish whether a particular prospective tenant would meet any owner or manager screening process.","q":"Does the burden measure apply to a listed unit?"},{"a":"Confirm the advertised base rent, bedroom count, utility inclusions and separate meters, lease term, deposit, fees, concessions, availability date, income-screen method, and address geography. These property-level facts can differ from every area benchmark and are necessary for comparing an actual recurring housing cost with the report’s area context.","q":"What should be checked for a specific property?"}],"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":"2022-01-01","rent":1032.55308},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1033.344548},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1034.382006},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":1043.319612},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":1051.41719},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":1052.141523},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":1040.356836},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":1051.694639},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":1064.013293},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":1071.279845},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":1072.876049},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":1075.793247},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":1093.960626},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":1106.979353},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":1109.889648},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":1102.816466},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":1107.136307},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":1115.308302},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":1133.312551},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":1137.103226},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":1136.889662},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":1139.566336},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":1138.120585},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":1139.596182},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1141.330449},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1150.264372},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1168.695515},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1179.095288},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1175.817379},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1174.984218},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1179.445277},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1186.02174},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1191.495594},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1192.26984},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1195.432651},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1203.071864},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1207.187511},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1219.538556},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1208.954505},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1219.05232},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1224.179728},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1238.276768},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1241.0094},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1243.747471},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1248.801571},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1256.776321},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1265.618063},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1268.480886},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1270.604697},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1263.469196},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1271.409136},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1268.700843},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1273.823676},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":1269.423016}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":54,"firstPeriod":"2022-01-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":54,"coverageRatio":1,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1238.276768,"endRent":1269.423016,"change":0.025152896997579832,"cagr":0.025152896997579832},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1115.308302,"endRent":1269.423016,"change":0.1381812667615201,"cagr":0.04408809644279943}},"maxDrawdown":-0.011200667155876642,"annualizedVolatility":0.020081987374828202,"consecutiveReturnCount":53}}