At $2,014 per month, the current 55401 Zillow ZORI presents a useful tension: it is a typical observed asking-rent index, blended across rental types, rather than a lease quote for one apartment. Its same-month one-year change is 5.4%; the three-year annualized change is 4.0%, and the five-year annualized change is 3.1%. Thus, recent asking-rent direction confirms the longer upward path and has quickened relative to both longer windows. These are backward-looking ZIP measurements, not a forecast, and they cannot establish what any listed unit will command.
The history record supports a reasonably complete read of that path, with 105 monthly observations and 100% coverage of the available period. Variability in monthly rent returns annualizes to 2.8%, which argues against treating a single current index point as perfectly precise even though the longer path is positive. The maximum historical drawdown was 11.7%, showing that this ZIP has experienced a meaningful retreat from an earlier index peak. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs place momentum at 423, stability at 1,166, and the balanced measure at 329; lower ranks are stronger. Those rankings describe prior rent behavior, not future performance or an investment conclusion.
Source boundaries matter here. The label 55401 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 matched Census ZCTA ACS five-year survey reports median gross rent of $2,023 with a $101 margin of error for occupied renter homes, and that measure includes selected utilities. The Zillow asking index is 0.4% below that survey median, a close numerical comparison but not an interchangeability claim. HUD's $1,709 two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR is instead an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent; the ZIP asking index is 17.8% higher than that standard.
The bedroom ladder translates the ZIP-wide Zillow index through local HUD bedroom proportions. It produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,464 for a studio, $1,656 for one bedroom, $2,014 for two bedrooms, $2,666 for three bedrooms, and $2,983 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents, and they do not substitute for a building's advertised rents, lease terms, utilities, availability, or condition. The two-bedroom result matches the ZIP-wide index mechanically because the HUD ladder supplies the scaling relationship; it does not demonstrate that a typical observed two-bedroom listing rents at that amount.
The ACS ZCTA housing profile is renter-heavy and multifamily-heavy: 9,471 housing units are reported, the vacancy rate is 9.1%, and 487 vacant units are identified as for rent. Large multifamily units account for 8,472 units. Renters occupy 71.6% of occupied homes, while 34.8% of renter households report spending at least 30% of income on gross rent. That burden statistic is a survey-wide household condition, not proof that any available apartment is unaffordable or that a particular tenant is burdened. The reported median household income is $113,522; a $80,560 annual income is the arithmetic amount associated with paying the current asking index at 30% of income. The resulting 21.3% asking-rent-to-income screen is not advice or an applicant qualification rule.
Broader comparisons reinforce that 55401 sits above surrounding asking-rent context, while remaining non-equivalent evidence: Minneapolis city context shows asking rent of $1,686 and median household income of $80,846; Hennepin County context shows asking rent of $1,766 and a renter share of 37.3%; and Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metro context shows asking rent of $1,727 and median household income of $99,833. City, county, and metro figures are wider-geography context only, not ZIP rental comps. The ZIP's higher renter concentration and higher asking index therefore should be read alongside, rather than merged with, those broader figures.
Redfin's direct rolling-three-month 55401 ZIP resale observation describes for-sale activity, not rental transactions. Median sold price was $379,914, up 2.96% year over year, with 68 homes sold and a 49-day median marketing time. Inventory stood at 112 homes and months of supply at 5. Sale-to-list signals were restrained: the average sale-to-list ratio was 97.37%, 16.68% of sales closed above list, and 25.32% of listings went off market within two weeks. The $6.36% screening ratio is annualized ZIP ZORI divided by the median sold price; it is only a cross-source screening ratio, not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. Rent acceleration is stronger than the recorded resale-price change, while the supply and sale-to-list evidence challenges any simple reading that rent momentum alone signals uniformly tight resale conditions.
Several limits remain material. Zillow measures a blended asking-rent index, ACS describes surveyed occupied renter homes, HUD supplies an administrative standard, and Redfin records ZIP resale outcomes in a rolling period. Neither vacancy nor rent burden proves anything about a specific unit, household, building, or lease. Concrete property-level checks are the advertised rent by bedroom count, utility responsibility, concessions, lease duration, move-in charges, current availability, unit condition, and the actual sale or listing history of any property under review. The key unresolved question is whether a specific unit's current lease economics resemble the ZIP-level screens without being mistaken for them.
","findings":[{"body":"The ZIP Zillow asking-rent index is $2,014 monthly. Same-month growth was 5.4% over one year, compared with annualized growth of 4.0% over three years and 3.1% over five years. That pattern confirms a longer positive rent path while indicating a faster recent pace. It remains a backward-looking index observation rather than a forecast or unit-level rent quote.","title":"Recent rent growth is faster than the longer record"},{"body":"Matched ZCTA ACS median gross rent was $2,023, only 0.4% above the Zillow asking-rent index. ACS is a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, while Zillow tracks a blended typical asking-rent index. HUD's $1,709 two-bedroom standard is a separate administrative FMR/SAFMR benchmark, not a market asking-rent observation.","title":"Survey rent and asking rent are numerically close but conceptually different"},{"body":"Renters account for 71.6% of occupied homes in the matched ZCTA, and 34.8% of renter households report gross-rent burdens of at least 30% of income. The arithmetic income associated with the ZIP asking index at that threshold is $80,560. These aggregates identify a broad affordability screen, not the income, costs, eligibility, or financial condition of a specific household.","title":"Renter concentration and burden require household-level caution"},{"body":"Redfin's direct ZIP resale record shows a $379,914 median sold price, 2.96% annual price growth, 5 months of supply, and an average sale-to-list ratio below 100%. Those for-sale measures do not describe rental transactions. They nevertheless provide a useful counterweight to the faster recent asking-rent history when reviewing the 6.36% rent-price screening ratio.","title":"Resale evidence is more measured than the rent-growth signal"}],"risks":["The current Zillow index is blended across rental types and measures asking rents, so it may differ materially from a specific unit's signed lease, utility package, concessions, condition, or available bedroom configuration.","ACS burden, income, vacancy, and renter-share statistics are matched-ZCTA five-year survey estimates. They describe aggregated households and housing units, not present-day eligibility, affordability, or vacancy for any particular apartment.","The modelled bedroom ladder uses HUD proportions to scale the ZIP-wide asking-rent index. It is not a measured set of bedroom rents and should not replace current building-level listings or lease terms.","Redfin resale figures are direct ZIP for-sale observations over a rolling three-month period. The rent-price screen is cross-source arithmetic, not a property yield, cap rate, net return, or expected return."],"qa":[{"a":"The $2,014 figure is Zillow's ZIP-level ZORI, a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is not a median signed lease, a guarantee of a current listing price, or a measured rent for a specific studio, one-bedroom, or two-bedroom unit.","q":"What does the current Zillow rent figure represent?"},{"a":"The studio through four-bedroom figures are modelled estimates. They scale the ZIP-wide Zillow asking-rent index according to the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD provides administrative bedroom-specific standards, while Zillow supplies the ZIP-wide asking-rent level; neither source directly measures rents for each bedroom category in this ZIP.","q":"How were the bedroom estimates created?"},{"a":"No. The $80,560 figure is arithmetic: it is the annual income associated with paying the $2,014 monthly asking-rent index at 30% of income. It is not financial advice, a rental application standard, an applicant qualification rule, or evidence that a particular household can afford a particular unit.","q":"Does the 30% income figure determine affordability?"},{"a":"Redfin adds direct rolling-three-month ZIP evidence about the for-sale market: sold prices, sales volume, marketing time, inventory, supply, and sale-to-list outcomes. It does not provide rental comparables or property operating economics. Its rent-price figure simply divides annualized ZIP ZORI by median sold price for cross-source screening.","q":"What does the Redfin resale section 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 fallback","release":"ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR 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