ZIP 39759 raises a specific comparison question: how should a current ZIP asking-rent signal be read beside survey, administrative, income, and housing-composition measures that describe a similar but not identical area? In 2026-06, Zillow ZORI is $1,563 per month, following a 5.77% year-over-year increase. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, so it summarizes market asking signals rather than a lease quote for a named home. It does not segment the result by bedroom, property condition, lease terms, or utility package. The decision question is whether the index creates a materially different budget screen from the separate household, standard, and stock measures, and which differences should be checked at a property level.
The matched Census ZCTA's ACS 2024 5-year figures describe household capacity and renter experience, not current advertised pricing. Median household income is $46,398, and renter households make up 54.25% of occupied units. Income is a household-wide ZCTA median, not a renter-only income distribution or a record of current applicant earnings. The observed ACS burden measure estimates that 53.15% of renter households spend 30% or more of income on gross rent. Annualizing the $1,563 ZIP index produces a $62,520 required-income screen and a 40.42% comparison with median household income. That required-income screen is arithmetic, not financial advice and not an applicant qualification rule; it does not say whether any household can or should rent a particular home.
Price-series gaps are large but are not contradictory because their universes differ. The ACS median gross rent is $922 for occupied renter homes in the matched ZCTA, and it includes selected utilities. Zillow's $1,563 index is 69.52% above that ACS figure, but it is a later typical asking-rent index rather than a median gross-rent survey measure. HUD's FY2026 local FMR/SAFMR standard for a two-bedroom home is $900, putting the ZIP index 73.67% higher. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent; neither comparison establishes a premium or shortfall on a named property. The comparison is descriptive of published benchmarks rather than evidence that one source is wrong.
The bedroom pattern is intentionally modelled, never measured bedroom rents. Scaling the ZIP ZORI by the local HUD ladder yields monthly modelled estimates, in ordered bedroom sequence from studio through four bedrooms, of $1,340, $1,378, $1,563, $1,976, and $2,070. The local HUD rungs supporting that sequence are $771, $793, $900, $1,137, and $1,191. This procedure preserves the local HUD relative bedroom relationship around an all-type Zillow index. It does not demonstrate actual listings, signed leases, unit condition, included utilities, fees, concessions, or availability at those modelled amounts.
ACS housing counts report 23,650 total units and a 14.48% vacancy rate in the ZCTA. The stock includes 12,141 single-family units and 1,422 units in large multifamily structures, a structural mix rather than a count of homes currently being marketed for rent. Within reported vacancy categories, 792 units are for rent, 25 are for sale, and 962 are seasonal. The category mix shows that the vacancy rate is not a count of units known to be for rent. Aggregate counts cannot identify a property's condition, price, timing, bedroom configuration, or whether it is actually available.
Broader places provide context only, not substitutes for ZIP or ZCTA measures. In City of Starkville scope, the context rent is $1,571.46, slightly above the ZIP level. In Oktibbeha County scope, the context rent is $1,571, also slightly above the ZIP level. In Starkville, MS metro scope, median household income is $48,750 and the rent-to-income measure is 38.68%, below the ZIP's arithmetic comparison. These city, county, and metro figures describe wider scopes, so the comparison identifies scale differences without converting them into conditions for any particular part of the ZIP. They also cannot resolve variation within any of these areas.
Scope and timing limit precision. The five-digit label 39759 is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a Census ZCTA match; a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. The ACS survey period, Zillow index period, and HUD fiscal-year standard period differ, and ACS estimates carry sampling uncertainty. A property-level review should verify the address geography, live asking amount, bedroom count, included utilities, lease term, recurring fees, availability date, and any concession. It should also confirm that a listing is actually offered, because ZORI, HUD standards, burden shares, and vacancy aggregates do not prove terms or availability for a particular unit.
","findings":[{"body":"The Zillow figure describes a current, blended typical asking-rent index for the ZIP. ACS median gross rent describes occupied renter homes across a five-year survey and incorporates selected utilities. Their numerical gap is a useful signal to investigate utility treatment, timing, and property type, but it does not convert either source into the other or establish a unit-specific asking rent.","title":"Asking index and gross-rent survey are separate"},{"body":"The bedroom amounts are generated by scaling the ZIP-wide ZORI with the local HUD bedroom ladder. They retain the ladder's relative pattern, not evidence of observed studio or larger-unit transactions. A property can differ because its quoted rent, utilities, condition, lease structure, and concessions are not measured by the model. Treat every bedroom figure as a modelled estimate.","title":"Bedroom figures are a scaling model"},{"body":"The income comparison is a transparent arithmetic screen using the ZIP asking-rent index and the ZCTA median household income. It should not be read as renter income, financial advice, or an eligibility threshold. The ACS burden statistic is separately informative because it measures the survey's renter-household distribution, rather than showing what any prospective applicant will pay or qualify for.","title":"Income screen is not renter qualification"},{"body":"Aggregate vacancy distinguishes units reported for rent from seasonal, for-sale, and other vacancy statuses, while structure counts describe broad stock composition. Neither measure identifies a property that is available today. Listing-level confirmation remains necessary for address, bedroom count, asking rent, fees, utilities, lease terms, availability date, and concessions before drawing a unit-level conclusion.","title":"Vacancy does not identify an available home"}],"risks":["The index, ACS gross-rent measure, and HUD standard use different dates, populations, utility treatment, and purposes. Treating their differences as a direct discount or premium would misstate what any one source measures.","Bedroom estimates inherit the ZIP-wide index and local HUD ladder rather than observed unit transactions. They may not reflect a listing's bedroom classification, included utilities, condition, concessions, or lease structure.","Vacancy and for-rent totals are area aggregates and include no address-level availability, price, timing, or quality information. They cannot demonstrate that a particular property is open or appropriate.","The ACS figures are ZCTA five-year survey estimates with sampling uncertainty, while the Zillow and HUD figures use other reference periods and scopes. The ZCTA boundary is statistical, not a USPS delivery ZIP."],"qa":[{"a":"The $1,563 figure is Zillow ZORI for 2026-06. It is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types in the Zillow ZIP market. It is not a signed-lease average, a utility-inclusive gross-rent measure, or a promise that a specific listed unit is available at that price.","q":"What does the ZIP rent figure represent?"},{"a":"ZORI reflects a current asking-rent index, while the ACS figure comes from a five-year survey of occupied renter homes in the matched ZCTA and includes selected utilities. The sources differ in time, population, rental concept, and geography. Their comparison can flag a distinction for review, but it cannot establish a market-wide markup or a property-specific rent.","q":"Why is it inappropriate to equate ZORI with ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"They are modelled monthly ZIP estimates produced by applying the local HUD FMR/SAFMR bedroom ladder to the ZIP ZORI. The method supplies a consistent relative bedroom pattern around the all-type index, but it does not observe listing rents, lease payments, unit features, or availability for any bedroom category.","q":"How were bedroom estimates derived?"},{"a":"Check the address's applicable geography, current asking amount, advertised bedroom count, utilities included, lease term, recurring fees, availability date, and concessions. Also confirm directly that the property is actually being offered. Aggregate ZORI, ACS burden, HUD standards, and vacancy counts do not verify these unit-level facts.","q":"What should be checked for a 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":"2023-12-01","rent":1364.375514},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1389.692865},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1379.940042},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1379.775211},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1368.747596},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1382.199608},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1395.352291},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1412.785279},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1433.620331},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1438.022737},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1437.726599},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1449.46941},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1453.398832},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1458.516026},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1456.219569},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1460.137085},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1463.67646},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1472.56676},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1477.464252},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1487.741114},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1484.090045},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1490.687469},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1500.89744},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1502.8772},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1502.43961},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1500.994055},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1517.253466},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1531.119377},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1547.904252},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1553.036249},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":1562.685185}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":31,"firstPeriod":"2023-12-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":31,"coverageRatio":1,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1477.464252,"endRent":1562.685185,"change":0.05768053804661544,"cagr":0.05768053804661544}},"maxDrawdown":-0.015071869135630966,"annualizedVolatility":0.020851074749626275,"consecutiveReturnCount":30}}