In June 2026, ZIP 55443’s Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI) is $1,536 per month. This is a typical observed asking-rent index at the ZIP level, blended across rental types rather than a quote for any particular unit. In the same sentence of scope, Brooklyn Park city context is about $1,649, Hennepin County context is $1,766, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metro context is $1,727; each is wider context, not a replacement ZIP measure. The ZIP reading therefore sits below all three benchmark rents, while still serving as the current asking-rent snapshot to test against the other evidence universes.
The five-digit label is both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and its match to a Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a statistical area constructed for Census reporting and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. The ACS 2024 five-year survey reports median gross rent of $1,338 and a published margin of error; gross rent applies to occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. It is 14.8% below current ZORI, a difference that does not make either source wrong: ACS describes surveyed occupied homes, while ZORI tracks asking rents. The FY2026 HUD two-bedroom standard is $1,709, an administrative benchmark rather than an asking-rent observation.
Bedroom detail is a model, not a set of measured bedroom rents. Scaling ZIP ZORI by the local HUD ladder produces monthly modelled ZIP estimates of $1,116 for a studio, $1,263 for one bedroom, $1,536 for two bedrooms, $2,033 for three bedrooms, and $2,275 for four bedrooms. These estimates preserve the ZIP index as their starting point and use the HUD bedroom relationship only as a scaling device. HUD fair-market-rent or small-area standards are bedroom-specific administrative standards; they do not establish quoted availability, lease terms, or market asking rents for a given bedroom count. The ladder can organize preliminary comparisons, but a unit’s actual layout, utilities, and condition still require direct verification.
The affordability screen creates an important counterpoint to the headline income figure. At a 30% rent-to-income arithmetic threshold, annual income required for the $1,536 ZORI is $61,440. That compares with ACS median household income of $95,082 and produces a 19.4% asking-rent-to-income arithmetic ratio. This is not advice, a tenant budget, or an applicant qualification rule, since household income and a blended asking-rent index do not identify a specific renter or unit. More directly, the ACS ZCTA burden tabulation says 59.9% of occupied renter households paid at least the threshold share of income toward gross rent. That burden evidence should not be used to prove a particular household’s payment stress, but it weakens any simple affordability reading from the area-wide median.
ACS housing counts provide a separate stock-and-occupancy frame. The ZCTA has 12,313 housing units and an overall vacancy rate of 3.2%, with 220 units recorded as vacant for rent; neither figure establishes availability or vacancy at a specific property. Renter-occupied homes account for 27.4% of occupied homes, below the 29.7% Brooklyn Park city-context share and the 37.3% Hennepin County-context share. The tabulated stock is predominantly single-family, which helps describe the mix behind a ZIP-wide blended index but does not identify the housing type receiving any quoted asking rent. The overall vacancy figure must remain distinct from a vacancy measure for a defined apartment segment or a real-time listing count.
The direct ZIP Zillow ZORI history supplies complete backward-looking context rather than a projection. Exact same-month ZIP ZORI changes annualize to 4.80% over one year, 4.87% over three years, and 4.96% over five years. Annualized monthly-return variability is 2.37%, maximum drawdown is -2.16%, and coverage is 100%, so the current increase broadly confirms, rather than breaks from, the longer growth path in this index. The transparent national discovery ranks are 88 for balanced history, 376 for momentum, and 497 for stability among history-eligible ZIPs, where a lower rank is higher. The measured variability and full coverage support more confidence that the series direction is persistent than a lone month would, but they do not turn the current snapshot into a forecast, recommendation, or property-specific rent.
Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation describes for-sale transactions only, not rental transactions or rental comparables. Median sold price was $394,911, up 5.3% year over year, with 108 homes sold and a median 21 days on market. Inventory was 83 homes and months of supply stood at 2.3. The average sale-to-list ratio was 100.4%, while 35.3% of sales closed above list price. These are resale liquidity and pricing signals within the ZIP: they can confirm that sales activity was occurring alongside rent growth, but they cannot establish leasing demand, apartment vacancies, or a unit’s rental economics.
One cross-source calculation sharpens the tension rather than resolving it: annualized ZIP ZORI divided by Redfin’s median sold price equals 4.67%. This is only a screening ratio built from a rent index and a resale median, not a property-performance measure. The resale price increase and sale-to-list signals are consistent with an active for-sale snapshot, while the rent history’s steady path supports continuity in the asking-rent series; however, the renter burden result and the fact that the ZIP asking index trails city, county, and metro context challenge a uniformly strong affordability interpretation. Before relying on either universe, check the property’s bedroom count, advertised rent, included utilities, lease term, current availability, physical condition, sale comparables, and listing status. Which of those property-level facts would most change the interpretation of this ZIP-wide screen?
","findings":[{"body":"Current ZIP ZORI sits beneath the named Brooklyn Park city, Hennepin County, and metro context rents, yet it remains an asking-rent index blended across rental types. ACS gross rent is lower because it surveys occupied renter homes over a multiyear period and includes selected utilities. The difference is a source-scope distinction, not direct evidence of a rent comparable.","title":"Asking rent trails broad context"},{"body":"Same-month history shows a similar pace across the short, medium, and longer measurement windows, with complete coverage and a limited recorded drawdown. That alignment means the latest reading follows the established index path rather than reversing it. It does not establish future rent movement, a lease renewal outcome, or an investment conclusion.","title":"History supports continuity, not projection"},{"body":"The area-wide income arithmetic looks less restrictive than the burden tabulation. The former combines an annualized asking-rent index with median household income, while the latter records gross-rent burdens among surveyed occupied renter homes. High reported burden does not identify any household or unit, but it prevents a median-income comparison from serving as a complete affordability description.","title":"Burden tempers broad affordability arithmetic"},{"body":"Redfin resale data report the ZIP’s price, transaction count, marketing time, inventory, supply, and sale-to-list outcomes. Those signals support the observation that sales were active at the endpoint, but they are not rental transactions. The rent-to-price calculation merely aligns two different sources for screening and omits property income, expenses, financing, and condition.","title":"Resale liquidity is not rental proof"}],"risks":["ZORI is a blended ZIP asking-rent index rather than a lease ledger, so unit type, concessions, included utilities, lease term, and current availability can materially differ from the index.","ACS figures are survey estimates for the matched ZCTA, which is statistical rather than a USPS delivery geography. Sampling error and source timing limit direct comparison with current asking rents.","HUD bedroom standards and the income screen are administrative or arithmetic benchmarks, not evidence that a household qualifies, pays a stated amount, or can secure a specific dwelling.","The rolling resale observation describes sold homes and listings, while the screening ratio omits operating costs, property taxes, financing, repairs, unit condition, and actual lease revenue."],"qa":[{"a":"Zillow ZORI tracks typical observed ZIP asking rents across rental types. ACS reports median gross rent among occupied renter homes in the matched ZCTA and incorporates selected utilities. HUD provides a bedroom-specific administrative standard. Their different populations, timing, and construction mean gaps are informative about scope but are not a contradiction or unit-level comparable.","q":"Why are the current rent figures not interchangeable?"},{"a":"No. The studio through four-bedroom amounts are modelled ZIP estimates obtained by scaling the ZIP ZORI with the local HUD bedroom ladder. They are useful for a consistent preliminary ladder, but they are never measured bedroom rents. Confirm actual bedroom count, asking price, utilities, lease terms, and availability from property-level listing or lease information.","q":"Are the bedroom amounts direct observations?"},{"a":"The complete historical coverage, consistent same-month growth pattern, and contained measured drawdown make the current ZORI more interpretable than an isolated monthly figure. Variability still belongs to an index, not a specific building. The evidence is retrospective only and cannot establish future rent, renewal, investment, or operating outcomes.","q":"What does history say about confidence in current ZORI?"},{"a":"Redfin’s ZIP observation should be read as a direct rolling resale snapshot: it describes sold prices, marketing, inventory, supply, and sale-to-list behavior rather than rents. Dividing annualized ZORI by the resale median offers a cross-source screening ratio only. Before drawing property conclusions, compare the specific home’s condition, sale record, listing status, rent terms, utilities, and bedroom count.","q":"How should the resale screen be used?"}],"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":"2021-03-01","rent":1204.731293},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":1200.778645},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":1202.751598},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":1205.707647},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":1214.204912},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":1240.127929},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":1250.440587},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":1260.808445},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":1250.999862},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":1254.827751},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":1261.263737},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1281.851609},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1284.919242},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":1292.700344},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":1301.483689},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":1309.484099},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":1320.454371},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":1317.990819},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":1323.541439},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":1326.548223},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":1335.848094},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":1334.920887},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":1326.244849},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":1309.842849},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":1307.002095},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":1307.2947},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":1320.719525},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":1331.661432},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":1345.831772},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":1341.476746},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":1338.573222},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":1338.0243},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":1352.633675},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":1381.473257},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1388.456536},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1393.375037},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1384.701208},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1403.938048},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1403.721397},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1405.252862},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1394.715989},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1407.320561},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1417.596041},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1420.01717},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1411.862481},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1398.538868},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1414.330475},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1426.328315},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1446.566834},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1442.848592},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1460.226709},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1465.656729},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1479.192629},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1486.0781},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1492.546889},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1504.442807},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1515.831841},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1525.837449},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1525.017835},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1529.265323},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1531.190804},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1536.649428},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1531.968556},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":1536}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":64,"firstPeriod":"2021-03-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":64,"coverageRatio":1,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1465.656729,"endRent":1536,"change":0.04799436976487281,"cagr":0.04799436976487281},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1331.661432,"endRent":1536,"change":0.15344633635075478,"cagr":0.0487350864261904},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1205.707647,"endRent":1536,"change":0.27394066366073244,"cagr":0.04961454444833935}},"maxDrawdown":-0.021593771873884893,"annualizedVolatility":0.02371322060791483,"consecutiveReturnCount":63}}