For ZIP 35758, the June 2026 Zillow Observed Rent Index, or ZORI, is $1,318 per month, a 0.9% year-over-year increase. ZORI is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, so it is the packet’s direct current asking-rent signal, not a lease-level quote. Context points in different directions: Madison city context is $1,442, while Madison County context is $1,371 and Huntsville, AL metro context is $1,381; all three are wider-area context rather than ZIP readings. The immediate tension is therefore a ZIP index below each named comparator while still showing a modest latest annual gain.
That gain is a partial resumption, not a clean continuation of every longer window. Exact same-month ZORI changes annualized to 0.9% over one year, 0.1% over three years, and 1.7% over five years. Thus, latest direction is firmer than the nearly flat three-year path but still slower than the five-year path. Annualized monthly-return variability was 2.7%, and maximum drawdown was -4.4%; with 99.3% history coverage, those backward-looking measures support reasonable continuity but not certainty from one current snapshot. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 2,185 for momentum, 1,065 for stability, and 1,924 for balanced performance, where lower ranks are higher. They are descriptive history, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
The current index should not be substituted for the matched Census source. In the ACS 2024 five-year survey, median gross rent was $1,444 for occupied renter homes; that survey measure includes selected utilities and does not represent a current asking-rent index. The $1,318 ZORI equals 91.3% of that ACS figure, a difference that can arise from timing, rental universe, and included-cost definitions rather than a contradiction. This ZIP’s Census match is a ZCTA: a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. Treat the ZCTA survey as population context and Zillow as the current ZIP asking-rent series; neither makes a particular advertised unit comparable by itself.
Bedroom detail is available only as a model, not a measured rent survey. HUD’s FY2026 FMR/SAFMR ladder is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent. Scaling the ZIP ZORI by the local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates for studio through four bedrooms, in that order: $1,036, $1,143, $1,318, $1,700, and $2,122. The two-bedroom model aligns with the all-type ZIP index because it is the scaling anchor, not because observed two-bedroom listings have been measured at that value. The ladder is useful for keeping bedroom comparisons internally consistent, while the administrative basis and blended ZORI base limit property-level precision.
The 30% required-income screen translates the $1,318 monthly ZORI into $52,720 in annual income under a simple 30%-of-income arithmetic rule. It is neither advice nor an applicant qualification rule, and it cannot substitute for household expenses, lease terms, or eligibility standards. The ZCTA ACS median household income was $117,380, but that all-household statistic and an asking-rent screen use different universes. Separately, 2,145 of 6,250 surveyed renter households were at or above the 30% gross-rent burden threshold, or 34.3%. Madison city context recorded 37.6% and Madison County context 44.2%; these are broader survey comparisons, not evidence that any specific tenant or unit is burdened.
Stock data add a second tension: the matched ZCTA had 21,285 housing units and 963 vacant units, a 4.5% vacancy rate, but only 295 were classified vacant-for-rent. Single-family units substantially outnumbered large multifamily units in the ACS structure counts, indicating that aggregate stock composition cannot be read as an apartment-listing count. The renter share was below one-third of occupied homes. Madison city context had a lower vacancy rate, whereas Madison County context had a higher one; the Huntsville, AL metro apartment vacancy is a separate metro-wide apartment measure. These unlike scopes and vacancy definitions make neither figure proof of availability, concessions, condition, or price at a particular property.
No packet field identifies unit condition, address assignment, actual signed rent, tenant income, utilities paid, or lease economics. ZORI is a blended asking-rent index, ACS gross rent and burden are survey aggregates, HUD is an administrative standard, and city, county, and metro figures remain context only. Before using this report for a listing-level comparison, verify the address’s ZIP assignment, advertised monthly rent and bedroom count, included utilities, mandatory recurring fees, available date, concession treatment, and lease term. The key unresolved question is whether the specific listing’s all-in monthly cost and configuration actually match the benchmark universe being used.
","findings":[{"body":"June 2026 ZORI was $1,318, with a 0.9% same-month annual gain. That pickup exceeds the 0.1% annualized three-year change but trails the 1.7% five-year result. Monthly-return variability was 2.7%, and the maximum drawdown was -4.4%, so a current index snapshot is more useful as a market benchmark than as a precise property price.","title":"Recent gain sits atop a flatter middle history"},{"body":"ACS reports $1,444 median gross rent in the 2024 five-year survey of occupied renter homes, including selected utilities. ZORI is a $1,318 current asking-rent index from a distinct rental universe. The ZCTA is a statistical geography, not a USPS ZIP, making geographical and definitional matching essential before using either source for a unit-level comparison.","title":"The principal rent benchmarks answer separate questions"},{"body":"HUD’s FY2026 ladder scales the $1,318 ZORI into modelled studio-through-four-bedroom estimates ranging from $1,036 to $2,122. They are not observed bedroom rents. The $52,720 income screen applies a 30% arithmetic convention; ACS reports 34.3% of surveyed renter households at or above that gross-rent threshold, which is not an applicant-specific finding.","title":"Bedroom figures are modelled and affordability remains aggregate"},{"body":"Within the matched ZCTA, the 4.5% vacancy rate includes 963 vacant homes, yet 295 were vacant-for-rent. That distinction prevents total vacancy from being treated as listing supply. City, county, and metro measures provide broader context, but their scopes and definitions differ from the ZIP and ZCTA values.","title":"Vacancy needs classification before comparison"}],"risks":["The report’s current benchmark and its survey benchmark observe different universes and time frames; comparing them as if they were identical could misstate a listing’s current all-in cost.","Historical stability and drawdown calculations describe recorded ZORI movements only. They cannot establish future rent direction, property appreciation, leasing speed, or the persistence of any particular advertised price.","Vacant-for-rent, total vacancy, renter burden, and renter share are aggregate classifications. None verifies unit availability, condition, concessions, tenant finances, or affordability for a particular household.","The Census ZCTA match is statistical rather than postal. Address-level ZIP assignment, bedroom count, utilities, recurring fees, lease duration, and advertised versus signed rent require direct property-level verification."],"qa":[{"a":"It is Zillow’s June 2026 ZIP-level ZORI, a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It summarizes a market signal, not a signed lease or a measured bedroom-specific rent. Its ZIP identifier differs in scope from the ACS ZCTA survey geography.","q":"What does the $1,318 ZORI measure?"},{"a":"The estimates take the ZIP ZORI and scale it using the supplied local FY2026 HUD FMR/SAFMR bedroom ladder. That process yields a consistent studio-to-four-bedroom ladder, but it does not observe listings or leases by bedroom. HUD is an administrative standard, so the resulting figures are modelled estimates only.","q":"How were the bedroom estimates created?"},{"a":"No. It is an arithmetic annual-income screen generated by placing the monthly ZORI at 30% of income. It is not an affordability recommendation or qualification standard. The ACS burden statistic separately reports surveyed renter households’ gross-rent share, with a different renter-household universe, timing, and measure definition.","q":"Does the $52,720 screen determine whether someone can qualify?"},{"a":"They describe classifications within the matched ACS ZCTA housing stock, and metro apartment vacancy is a wider, separate measure. They can frame aggregate availability context, but they cannot confirm that a listing is vacant, rentable, competitively priced, in comparable condition, or offered under the same lease terms.","q":"What can the vacancy figures establish?"}],"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 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