At $1,491 in June 2026, 43205's Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types; it is neither a contract rent nor the ACS utility-inclusive survey median, and it is not a measured bedroom rent. 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. The arithmetic 30% required-income screen equals $59,640 a year, compared with the matched ACS five-year ZCTA median household income of $60,181; the index therefore represents 29.7% of that median-income figure. This is a broad calculation, not advice or an applicant qualification rule, and it cannot determine affordability for a particular household.
The ZIP's same-series history creates the central directional tension. Through the stated endpoint, ZORI increased 2.3% in the exact same-month one-year comparison, versus annualized same-month gains of 3.7% over three years and 5.6% over five years. The current pace thus breaks from, rather than confirms, the faster longer path. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations. Record coverage is 97.1%, which supports use of the observed path but does not make it property-specific. At 3.05%, annualized monthly-return variability means a current snapshot should be read with more confidence than a sparse series warrants, yet without assuming it captures every property. The 2.14% maximum drawdown records a historical peak-to-trough reversal. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs are 1,016 for momentum, 1,702 for stability, and 1,260 for the balanced measure, where lower rank is higher.
The ACS 2024 five-year ZCTA survey belongs to another evidence universe: its $1,084 median gross rent describes occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. The asking-rent index is 37.5% above that survey median, but this is not a like-for-like rent change because the populations, timing, rent concepts, and utility treatment differ. The survey's burden estimate provides a more cautionary household signal: 1,721 of 3,662 renter households, or 47.0%, were estimated to spend at least 30% of income on rent. That share and the median-income screen can coexist because they answer different questions. Neither statistic proves utility costs, lease terms, availability, or burden for an individual household or unit; survey uncertainty and the distinction between occupied homes and current asking listings remain material.
Housing composition makes the aggregate vacancy figure important but easy to overread. In the matched ZCTA, 7,407 housing units included 1,569 vacant units, yielding a 21.2% vacancy rate. Only 130 units were classified vacant for rent, so total vacancy is not a count of currently available rentals and is not proof about any particular unit. The stock includes 3,978 single-family units and 847 large-multifamily units. Renters account for 62.7% of occupied homes, a composition measure that helps frame the survey but says neither what is being marketed now nor how long a specific listing will remain open. Vacancy classifications and property type must remain separate from Zillow's blended asking-rent index.
The bedroom view is a modelling bridge, not a set of measured ZIP rents. Scaling the ZIP ZORI by the local FY2026 HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,158 for a studio, $1,245 for one bedroom, $1,491 for two bedrooms, $1,787 for three bedrooms, and $2,009 for four bedrooms. The HUD Fair Market Rent/Small Area Fair Market Rent ladder itself is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent; it is used here only to set relative bedroom spacing. Thus the two-bedroom estimate matches the overall index by construction, and none of these figures should be treated as an observed bedroom asking-rent distribution. Actual unit rents can differ with included utilities, lease terms, condition, and characteristics not represented in this scaling exercise.
Wider geographies provide directional context, not substitutes for the ZIP. In the Columbus city context, rent was $1,456; in the Franklin County context, it was $1,510; and in the Columbus, OH metro context, it was $1,528. The ZIP index therefore sits above the city figure and below the county and metro figures without proving a within-market premium or discount for any home. The same caution applies to city, county, and metro income, renter-share, vacancy, and apartment metrics: each has its named wider scope, while the ZCTA survey and Zillow ZIP series are the local evidence used above. Comparisons across those scopes should describe context, not be converted into ZIP transactions or property facts.
The direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation points to a distinct for-sale market. Median sold price was $344,922, down 0.48% year over year, with 59 homes sold, a 58-day median marketing time, and reported inventory of 113 homes. Supply stood at 5.8 months. The average sale-to-list ratio was 96.77%, while 12.29% of sales closed above list; these are resale liquidity and pricing signals, not rental transactions or rental comparables. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by that median sold price equals 5.19%, solely a cross-source screening ratio with no asset-level expense or outcome interpretation. The tension is plain: asking rent still rose in the one-year history view, whereas this resale observation shows a small price decline, stated months of supply, and average sales below list. That contrast challenges any simple reading of the rent and median-income screens as a unified market signal, without establishing cause.
The limits define the proper use of this report. ZORI blends rental types and is an asking-rent index; ACS is a five-year survey of occupied renter homes with selected utilities; HUD is an administrative standard; and Redfin is a rolling resale observation. None supplies unit-level rent, condition, operating costs, or matched rental and sale histories. A property-level file would need the current advertised asking rent, verified bedroom count, utility inclusions, lease term, availability date, property type, and the address-level geographic match to the ZIP market and ZCTA statistical area. For any resale record, the sale date, property characteristics, listing history, and list-to-close terms also require direct confirmation. Those checks clarify whether a particular home belongs in the broad statistical patterns while preserving the separation between rental and resale evidence.
","findings":[{"body":"Same-month history remains positive, but growth decelerated from 5.6% annualized over five years to 2.3% in the latest year. The 97.1% record coverage makes this slowdown visible in the recorded index rather than a conclusion from a sparse series. Still, 3.05% annualized variability and a 2.14% historical maximum drawdown constrain confidence in treating the current ZORI level as a persistent path.","title":"Positive asking-rent growth has slowed"},{"body":"At $1,491, the current ZORI is 37.5% above the ACS $1,084 median gross rent, but the gap is not a rent-growth calculation. ZORI tracks blended asking rents, whereas ACS reflects occupied renter homes, selected utilities, and a five-year survey window. The arithmetic screen is near the ZCTA median household income, yet the burden estimate still covers nearly half of renter households.","title":"The affordability screen and burden survey diverge"},{"body":"The HUD-scaled bedroom ladder is useful for relative sizing but is not a measurement of listing rents. It centers the two-bedroom estimate on ZORI by construction. Separately, the ZCTA combines a renter-majority occupied base with a high aggregate vacancy rate; because only part of vacancy is classified for rent, the aggregate measure should not be translated into current available rental inventory.","title":"Bedroom estimates are modelled, while vacancy is aggregate"},{"body":"Direct resale data show a median price slightly lower year over year, months of supply near six, and average closing prices below list. These signals sit beside a still-rising one-year asking-rent index, creating a cross-universe tension. The annualized rent-to-price calculation is useful only as a screening ratio; it has no unit-specific cost, financing, or expense content.","title":"Resale signals complicate the rental narrative"}],"risks":["ZORI is a blended asking-rent index across rental types, so it cannot identify the rent, utility package, bedroom count, lease terms, condition, or availability of a particular advertised home.","ACS estimates describe occupied renter homes over a five-year survey period and include selected utilities; their median income and burden measures are not contemporaneous applicant-level affordability tests.","The aggregate ZCTA vacancy rate includes vacant housing of different classifications. Although units classified vacant for rent are reported, neither figure establishes actual availability, marketing duration, or suitability for a specific rental.","Redfin observes for-sale ZIP resales over a rolling three-month window. Its price, supply, marketing, and sale-to-list data cannot be used as rental comparable evidence or as asset-specific economics."],"qa":[{"a":"ZORI and ACS use different rental universes. The Zillow measure is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, while the ACS five-year ZCTA measure is median gross rent among occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Their different timing, populations, and rent definitions prevent the numerical gap from serving as a like-for-like rent change.","q":"Why is the Zillow figure higher than ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled monthly estimates created by scaling the ZIP-wide ZORI with the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD Fair Market Rent or Small Area Fair Market Rent is an administrative standard, not asking rent. Because the two-bedroom model equals the ZIP index by design, the ladder should not be treated as observed bedroom rent data.","q":"Are the bedroom figures direct rental comparables?"},{"a":"The current history shows a positive but slower one-year change than its three-year and five-year annualized paths. Coverage is high enough to make the slowdown visible in the recorded series, but variability and the historical maximum drawdown show that the index has not moved in a straight line. These measurements describe the past series and do not establish a future rent direction.","q":"Does the rent history establish a continuing trend?"},{"a":"Redfin's direct ZIP data supply a rolling-three-month resale lens: sold prices, closed-sale volume, marketing time, inventory, months of supply, and sale-to-list outcomes. They do not report rental transactions. The contrast between rising asking rent and slightly falling median resale price is therefore a tension between evidence universes, rather than evidence that one measure caused the other.","q":"What does the direct resale information add?"}],"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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