June 2026 Zillow ZORI for 43201 is $1,506 per month, a current ZIP-level reading that frames the report’s central tension: the asking-rent index sits between wider city and metro context and closely matches the county figure, even as later evidence shows affordability strain and mixed resale liquidity. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than a lease quote for one unit. The five-digit label 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. As wider rental context rather than ZIP observations, the City of Columbus figure is $1,456, the Franklin County figure is $1,510, and the Columbus, OH metro figure is $1,528. These city, county, and metro figures supply scale only; they do not substitute for ZIP evidence.
In the matched Census ZCTA’s ACS 2024 five-year survey, median gross rent is $1,325. This is a survey measure for occupied renter homes that includes selected utilities; Zillow’s asking-rent index is 13.7% above it without proving either source is wrong or that rents changed by that amount. The ZCTA’s median household income is $43,731; annualized ZORI relative to that income is 41.3%. A mechanical 30% required-income screen on the index equals $60,240. That screen is arithmetic, not financial advice and not an applicant qualification rule. ACS also records 7,270 renter households spending at least that threshold on gross rent, or 56.7% of renter households. That burden describes reported households in the survey, not the affordability or payment record of a particular home.
Bedroom figures add a sizing lens but must not be presented as measurements. Scaling ZIP ZORI through the local HUD ladder gives modelled monthly ZIP estimates of $1,174 for a studio, $1,262 for one bedroom, $1,506 for two bedrooms, $1,809 for three bedrooms, and $2,034 for four bedrooms. They are modelled estimates, not measured bedroom rents, and no unit-specific rent can be inferred from them. The local HUD FMR/SAFMR ladder for FY2026 runs from $1,200 for a studio to $2,080 for four bedrooms, with $1,540 at two bedrooms. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent; its role here is to establish the proportions used in the model, not to validate a listing price.
The backward-looking series remains upward but its latest pace breaks from the stronger multiyear path. Exact same-month changes through the history endpoint were 1.6% for one year, 2.9% annualized for three years, and 4.1% annualized for five years. Thus, the current direction still confirms growth, while the shorter result indicates deceleration relative to both longer windows. History coverage is 100%, so this comparison rests on a complete available ZIP series. Annualized monthly-return variability of 2.6% makes a single current index reading more useful as a measured snapshot than as a precise unit quote; monthly movement has not been absent. Separately, the largest peak-to-trough decline was 4.1%, which tempers confidence that the current level captures every near-term movement. Transparent national discovery ranks are 1,423 for momentum, 930 for stability, and 1,061 for balanced history; lower is higher among history-eligible ZIPs. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Survey housing composition adds another constraint to a rent-only reading. The matched ZCTA contains 18,126 housing units, and renter-occupied homes account for 83.4% of occupied units. Its 15.1% vacancy rate includes 675 homes identified as vacant for rent, but the total vacancy measure is not a live count of comparable units or a claim that any particular apartment is available. The ACS stock data, the high renter share, and the burden measure can coexist without showing why any one lease is priced as it is. They also cannot convert seasonal, for-sale, or other vacant homes into rental supply. This source therefore supports a broad stock and occupancy description, not a unit-level availability conclusion.
Resale data gives the clearest counterweight to reading rent data as property economics. Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation reports a $466,495 median sold price, up 1.4% from a year earlier, with 78 homes sold and a 48-day median marketing time. For-sale inventory was 138 homes and months of supply were 5.3. The sale-to-list signals remain explicitly in the resale universe: the average sale-to-list ratio was 97.4%, 19.8% of homes sold above list, and 49.4% went off market within two weeks. This is evidence about for-sale transactions, never rental transactions or rental comparables. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price is 3.9%, a cross-source screening ratio only—not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. Price growth aligns with positive rent history, yet supply, marketing time, and below-list average pricing challenge any simple conclusion from that alignment.
Several limits prevent conversion of these ZIP indicators into a property decision. ZORI combines rental types and does not supply a unit’s condition, floor area, furnished status, lease duration, concessions, pet charges, parking, or utility responsibility. The ACS ZCTA boundary and survey population differ from a USPS delivery ZIP and from active listings; HUD is a standard; Redfin observes resale. Property-level checks should therefore verify the exact address’s geography, bedroom count, advertised rent, included utilities, availability date, lease terms, concessions, and unit condition. For a resale comparison, confirm property type, sale date, and whether the observed sales resemble the subject rather than treating the ZIP median as a comp.
The decision-relevant tension is not a verdict: Zillow shows a current asking-rent index that is close to wider county and metro context, while the matched ACS survey shows a lower gross-rent median, lower median income, and substantial reported burden. The history series says rents have risen but slowed, and resale shows positive price change alongside marketing and sale-to-list signals that are not uniformly tight. Each observation answers a different question, at a different scope or time frame. The most defensible use is to retain their separation: use ZORI for the current ZIP asking-rent signal, ACS for household and stock context, HUD to model bedroom scaling, and Redfin for resale liquidity. Does the exact unit’s advertised rent, utilities, lease terms, bedroom configuration, and condition fit the relevant source universe before any comparison is made?
","findings":[{"body":"June 2026 ZORI is $1,506, positioned between the wider City of Columbus context at $1,456 and the Columbus, OH metro context at $1,528, while Franklin County is $1,510. This is an asking-rent index rather than a unit quote. The comparison identifies ZIP scale but does not turn wider geography figures into ZIP rental comps.","title":"Current asking-rent index sits within wider context"},{"body":"The ACS matched ZCTA reports a lower median gross rent than Zillow ZORI, but the measures are intentionally different. ACS is a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, whereas ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index across rental types. The income and burden figures describe surveyed households; the 30% income test is arithmetic only, not a qualification standard.","title":"ACS affordability measures are not interchangeable with ZORI"},{"body":"Rent history is positive across the reported one-, three-, and five-year same-month windows, but the shortest window is slower than the two longer annualized rates. Complete series coverage strengthens the internal comparison, while monthly-return variability and the recorded drawdown limit confidence in any one reading as a stable unit-price proxy. The ranks are discovery tools, not predictive scores.","title":"Rent history remained positive while slowing"},{"body":"Redfin’s rolling-three-month evidence is direct ZIP resale data, not rental transaction data. The median sale price rose, but months of supply, marketing time, average sale-to-list performance, and the shares selling above list or leaving the market quickly create a mixed liquidity picture. The annualized-rent-to-price figure is a cross-source screening ratio only; it excludes expenses, financing, property condition, and lease information.","title":"Resale evidence supplies a separate, mixed liquidity signal"}],"risks":["ZCTA and USPS delivery ZIP geographies are not identical, and the ACS five-year survey covers occupied renter homes rather than current active listings. Geographic and timing mismatch can materially distort a unit-level comparison.","The bedroom values are modelled by scaling a ZIP-wide Zillow index with HUD standards. They are not observed bedroom rents and may not match a unit’s quality, utility package, furnished status, concessions, or lease term.","The reported burden share and required-income screen describe broad household arithmetic using median values. They do not identify any household’s actual earnings, credit, assets, rent payment history, or eligibility for a specific lease.","Redfin data describes rolling-three-month for-sale resales, while ZORI measures asking rents. The screening ratio omits property expenses and is not evidence of a cap rate, property yield, expected return, or future price or rent movement."],"qa":[{"a":"Within this report, 43201 is simultaneously Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and the Census ZCTA matched to it. A ZCTA is a Census statistical area, not a USPS delivery ZIP. Therefore, ACS results describe the matched statistical geography, while address-level delivery geography or listing inclusion can differ.","q":"What is the distinction between the ZIP label and the ACS area?"},{"a":"Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types as of the current ZIP period. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey statistic for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Different timing, populations, and definitions mean the difference is not proof of an error, a rent change, or a current unit’s price.","q":"Why do the Zillow and ACS rent numbers differ?"},{"a":"The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled monthly ZIP estimates. They scale the one ZIP-wide ZORI using proportions from the local HUD FMR/SAFMR bedroom ladder. HUD is an administrative standard and does not observe current asking rents. The results cannot establish actual bedroom rents, concessions, utilities, or condition for a specific listing.","q":"Are the bedroom estimates observed rents?"},{"a":"History describes prior Zillow ZIP index movement with complete reported coverage, variability, drawdown, and transparent discovery ranks; it does not forecast. Redfin describes direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale activity only. The positive rent and sale-price changes coexist with less uniformly tight resale signals, so neither source converts the other into rental comps, unit economics, or an outcome prediction.","q":"How should the history and resale evidence be read together?"}],"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 — 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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 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