ZIP 60615’s current Zillow ZORI is $1,923 per month, up 4.2% year over year. This is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than a lease quote for a particular home. It sits below the Chicago city-context asking-rent index of $2,408.80, the Cook County context value of $2,336, and the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI metro context value of $2,275. The five-digit label is both Zillow’s market identifier and a matched Census ZCTA; a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. That distinction matters when translating area-level readings to an address.
The backward-looking rent path supports a stable-growth description rather than a sudden reversal. The one-year exact same-month annualized ZORI change is 4.21%, while the three-year measure is 3.86% and the five-year measure is 4.45%. Recent direction therefore broadly confirms, rather than breaks from, the longer path. The history has 136 observations and 135 consecutive monthly returns, with 100% available coverage. Variability in monthly returns annualizes to 2.33%, suggesting a relatively contained month-to-month range around the trend, so one current index snapshot carries more confidence than it would in a highly erratic series. Still, the maximum drawdown reached 3.21%, showing that a generally rising history has included setbacks. Transparent discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 606 for momentum, 445 for stability, and 164 for the balanced measure; these are descriptive ranks, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
The supplied bedroom figures are modelled estimates, not measured bedroom rents. They scale ZIP ZORI through the local HUD ladder: $1,594 for a studio, $1,709 for one bedroom, $1,923 for two bedrooms, $2,475 for three bedrooms, and $2,867 for four bedrooms. The two-bedroom model aligns with the all-type index by construction, not because it is a direct sample of two-bedroom listings. HUD’s FY2026 two-bedroom figure is $2,160. That HUD FMR or SAFMR input is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent, so the modelled ladder should be used as a consistent sizing framework, not as evidence of achieved lease prices.
The affordability tension is that the current asking-rent index is lower than wider Chicago-area asking-rent context while the ZIP-level household screen is tighter. In the ACS 2024 five-year survey for the matched ZCTA, median gross rent was $1,514 with a $66 margin of error; this survey covers occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, unlike Zillow asking rent. Median household income was $63,876. Applying the arithmetic 30% screen to the current asking-rent index produces required annual income of $76,920, and the index equals 36.1% of median household income. This screen is arithmetic only, not advice or an applicant qualification rule. Among 15,397 renter households, 8,513, or 55.3%, reported spending at least 30% of income on gross rent. That burden statistic does not establish affordability, utility costs, or payment behavior for any particular unit.
Housing composition provides context for why renter conditions should be read at the area level rather than inferred from one building. The matched ZCTA contains 25,592 housing units, including 2,867 vacant units, for an 11.2% vacancy rate. Of the vacant stock, 1,051 units were identified as vacant for rent. Renters represent 67.8% of occupied households, and the area includes 12,111 units in large multifamily structures. These ACS stock and vacancy readings concern the ZCTA’s housing inventory and survey classifications; they do not prove that a specific advertised home is available, comparable, appropriately priced, or likely to lease quickly.
Context comparisons sharpen the source-universe distinction. The Chicago city-context and Cook County context median gross-rent measures are wider-area occupied-renter benchmarks, while the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI metro context measures describe an even broader geography; none substitutes for the ZIP Zillow asking-rent index. The ZIP’s renter share is higher than the city-context renter share, while its vacancy rate exceeds both the city-context and county-context rates. Metro apartment vacancy is also a different measure from all-housing ZCTA vacancy, and the metro rent-to-income screen is not a household-level test for this ZIP. Together, the context readings reinforce the main tension: a comparatively lower asking-rent index does not automatically translate into a lighter household rent burden.
Redfin provides a separate, direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation, not rental transactions or rental comps. Its median sold price was $319,928, up 14.26% year over year, with 89 homes sold and a median 84 days on market. Redfin recorded active listings and inventory of 176 homes, alongside 6 months of supply. The average sale-to-list ratio was 97.35%, and the share of sales above list is likewise a for-sale-market signal. Price appreciation confirms that the resale market had a rising price reading while ZORI also rose, but the below-list average and extended marketing time challenge any simplistic reading of uniformly rapid market conditions. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price equals a 7.21% cross-source screening ratio only. It is not a cap rate, net return, expected return, property yield, or measure of property economics.
Several limits remain material. Zillow measures typical observed asking rents, ACS measures occupied renter households over a five-year survey window, HUD provides administrative standards, and Redfin describes completed ZIP resale activity over a rolling period. Their timing, housing coverage, and definitions differ. A property-level review should confirm the actual address’s delivery ZIP and ZCTA relationship, bedroom count, advertised rent, included utilities, lease term, fees, concessions, availability date, and unit condition. For resale comparison, verify property type, sale date, list-price history, marketing exposure, and whether the observed sales resemble the subject property. The key unresolved question is whether the specific unit’s terms resemble the index and survey universes closely enough for these area-level signals to be informative.
","findings":[{"body":"ZIP 60615’s Zillow ZORI is below the supplied Chicago city, Cook County, and metro asking-rent context values. Yet the 30% arithmetic income screen exceeds matched-ZCTA median household income, and more than half of renter households report gross-rent burdens of at least 30%. This contrast is descriptive of different area-level measures, not proof about any individual household or unit.","title":"Lower asking-rent context, tighter local household screen"},{"body":"One-year, three-year, and five-year same-month annualized ZORI changes are all positive and relatively close together. Full history coverage, restrained annualized variability, and a limited maximum drawdown support confidence that the latest index is not isolated from the broader observed path. The measurements do not predict future asking rents, lease renewals, or investment outcomes.","title":"Rent history is steady but remains backward-looking"},{"body":"Studio-through-four-bedroom figures are derived by scaling the all-type ZIP ZORI with the local HUD bedroom ladder. They are modelled estimates rather than direct observed bedroom rents. HUD FMR or SAFMR values are administrative standards, not market asking rents, so a particular listing can differ materially because of unit condition, utilities, concessions, lease term, and exact location.","title":"Bedroom ladder is a modelling tool"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale record shows a rising median sold-price reading, but its average sale-to-list ratio below list and relatively lengthy marketing time do not portray uniformly urgent resale conditions. This evidence belongs solely to the for-sale universe. The annualized-rent-to-sold-price figure is useful only as a cross-source screen and cannot establish property-level economics.","title":"Resale signals present a separate market tension"}],"risks":["The Zillow index, ACS gross-rent survey, HUD bedroom standard, and Redfin resale series differ in timing, population, unit coverage, and purpose, so apparent gaps between them should not be treated as errors or direct substitutes.","The matched Census ZCTA is statistical geography rather than a USPS delivery ZIP, meaning an address near a boundary or served by a different mailing ZIP may not align cleanly with the reported area statistics.","Area vacancy, renter burden, and multifamily-stock measures cannot establish availability, tenant demand, utility expense, concessions, lease qualification, or net housing cost for a particular advertised apartment.","Resale price growth does not validate rental pricing or property economics; the Redfin observation covers completed for-sale transactions and may include homes unlike a specific rental or prospective purchase target."],"qa":[{"a":"The current Zillow ZORI is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is not a quoted rent for a specific listing, a measure of occupied rents, or a bedroom-specific observation. Its matched ZCTA relationship supports geographic comparison, but the ZCTA remains a statistical area rather than an identical USPS delivery ZIP.","q":"What does the current Zillow rent figure measure?"},{"a":"No. The studio through four-bedroom figures are modelled estimates produced by scaling the ZIP ZORI through the supplied local HUD bedroom ladder. They provide a consistent relative sizing tool, but they are not measured rents from bedroom-specific listings. HUD standards themselves are administrative FMR or SAFMR benchmarks rather than asking-rent evidence.","q":"Are the bedroom rent figures observed listing rents?"},{"a":"The required-income figure is simply the annual income produced when the current monthly asking-rent index is divided by 30% of income. It is not financial advice, a recommended budget, or an applicant-screening standard. The ACS burden share describes surveyed renter households reporting gross-rent burdens, including selected utilities, and cannot characterize a particular household.","q":"How should the 30% income screen and burden statistic be read?"},{"a":"The ratio divides annualized ZIP ZORI by Redfin’s median sold price from the direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation. It can place rent and sale-price readings on a common cross-source screen, but it excludes expenses, financing, taxes, maintenance, vacancy, property condition, and transaction differences. It is therefore not a cap rate, yield, or expected return.","q":"What does the Redfin screening ratio say?"}],"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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