The five-digit 60640 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. In June 2026, Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI put the typical observed asking-rent index at $2,042 per month, 6.7% above the same month a year earlier. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than a lease quote for a defined unit. This current signal must therefore be read alongside, not merged with, household survey evidence. The central tension is a materially advancing asking-rent benchmark in a place where the other source universes describe residents, occupied homes, or administrative standards rather than the current listing market.
The backward-looking ZORI path is notably steady in its reported measurements. Exact same-month change was 6.7% over 1 year, 6.2% annualized over 3 years, and 7.1% annualized over 5 years. Thus the latest direction confirms rather than breaks from the longer growth path. Annualized monthly-return variability was 1.5%, maximum drawdown was -3.9%, and coverage was 100%. On transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs, it placed 116 for momentum, 9 for stability, and 5 for balance; lower ranks are higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations. The limited variation and shallow prior decline support more confidence in a current rent snapshot than a highly erratic series would, without establishing what happens next.
The matched Census ZCTA’s ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent was $1,413. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities; it is not an asking-rent series. The ZORI index is 44.5% above this survey median, but the gap is not evidence that any individual property charges that much more. The ACS survey observes occupied renter homes across its survey period, whereas ZORI blends current observed asking rents across rental types. These distinct timing, utility treatment, and unit universes mean neither figure should be substituted for the other in a unit-specific comparison.
The income arithmetic creates the sharpest affordability screen. Applying the current index to a 30% required-income screen produces $81,680 in annual income, compared with matched ZCTA median household income of $73,254. Expressed against that income benchmark, annualized index rent equals 33.5% of income. This is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule. ACS estimates 25,825 renter-occupied households and 11,564 households spending 30% or more of income on rent, a 44.8% burden share. That survey burden describes households in aggregate; it cannot prove a particular unit is affordable, unavailable, or burdensome for a particular applicant.
Bedroom detail should be used as a modelled allocation, not observed evidence. The modelled ZIP estimates, scaled from ZIP ZORI using the supplied local HUD ladder, are $1,696 for a studio, $1,811 for one bedroom, $2,042 for two bedrooms, $2,628 for three bedrooms, and $3,045 for four bedrooms. They are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent. The local HUD ladder supplies relative scaling only and should not be treated as proof of a listing’s price, a lease outcome, or measured rent by bedroom within this ZIP.
Housing counts document stock and vacancy without proving current unit conditions. Of 41,362 housing units, 3,514 were vacant for an 8.5% overall vacancy rate; 1,304 were classified vacant for rent. The structure inventory includes 21,392 large-multifamily units. These are area-level stock and status counts, so the for-rent category is not confirmation that a specific apartment is actually available, comparable, or offered at the index. For wider context only, the City of Chicago city-context rent is $2,408.80, the Cook County county-context rent is $2,336, and the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI metro-context rent is $2,275; each is above the ZIP-level index but none is a ZIP estimate.
The evidence has firm limits at property level. ZORI does not identify a unit’s contract rent, and ACS, HUD, stock, burden, and wider geographic context each use a different universe or purpose. For a specific property, check the advertised asking rent, bedroom designation, lease term, included utilities, mandatory fees, concessions, availability date, property type, and address geography before comparing it with these benchmarks. Confirm how the home’s characteristics fit—or fail to fit—the blended ZORI series. Neither the vacancy count nor the burden share proves availability, price, or affordability for any one unit. The relevant final question is not whether a benchmark is universally right, but which benchmark matches the property and household circumstance actually under review.
","findings":[{"body":"At the history endpoint, same-month ZORI growth measured 6.7% across 1 year, 6.2% annualized across 3 years, and 7.1% annualized across 5 years. Monthly-return volatility annualized to 1.5%, while the deepest peak-to-trough decline was -3.9%. This is a backward-looking stable-growth profile, not a forecast of future rent movement or an investment conclusion.","title":"Steady backward-looking ZORI growth"},{"body":"The June 2026 Zillow index is $2,042, while ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent is $1,413, a 44.5% difference relative to the ACS figure. Zillow measures observed asking rents blended across rental types. ACS surveys occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Different timing and universes make the comparison informative but not a unit-level price premium.","title":"Asking index and survey rent are materially different"},{"body":"Using the ZIP asking-rent index in a 30% income screen yields $81,680, exceeding the ZCTA’s $73,254 median household income. The same arithmetic places annualized index rent at 33.5% of that median. ACS estimates that 44.8% of renter households are rent burdened at 30% or more, an aggregate result rather than an applicant outcome.","title":"Income screen exceeds the median-income benchmark"},{"body":"Area stock totals 41,362 units, including 21,392 large-multifamily units. Overall vacancy is 8.5%, with 1,304 units classified vacant for rent. These figures describe area categories, not verified openings. Wider context rents are higher in the City of Chicago, Cook County, and the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro, but broader geographies do not replace the ZIP measure.","title":"Stock and broader context require careful interpretation"}],"risks":["A ZIP-level ZORI can differ from a particular advertised home because the index blends rental types and does not specify lease terms, fees, utilities, concessions, condition, or actual current availability.","The matched Census ZCTA is a statistical area rather than a USPS delivery ZIP, so an address or delivery designation should not be assumed to match the Zillow ZIP market boundary.","Overall vacancy and the category designated vacant for rent are area-level classifications. They cannot establish that a given unit is vacant, available to an applicant, comparable, or offered at a stated price.","HUD FMR or SAFMR values are administrative bedroom-specific standards used here only to scale modelled estimates. They are not observed asking rents and cannot validate a unit’s advertised rent."],"qa":[{"a":"Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index, blended across rental types, at the ZIP market level. ACS median gross rent comes from a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Their timing, rental coverage, and treatment of utilities differ, so the gap is not a direct price comparison for an individual home.","q":"Why does the Zillow asking-rent index differ from ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. The bedroom series is expressly modelled: ZIP ZORI is scaled by the supplied local HUD bedroom ladder to form studio through four-bedroom estimates. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent. The outputs are useful proportional benchmarks, but they are never measured bedroom rents in this ZIP.","q":"Are the bedroom estimates measured asking rents for each unit size?"},{"a":"The history’s same-month growth rates, annualized monthly-return variability, maximum drawdown, and complete coverage describe prior ZORI behavior only. Low national rank numbers for stability and balance mean stronger discovery placement within the history-eligible ZIP group. Together they support more confidence in a snapshot than an erratic past would, yet they do not forecast future rents.","q":"What does the stable history indicate about the current index reading?"},{"a":"For any property, verify current advertised rent, bedroom classification, lease term, included utilities, fees, concessions, availability, property type, and address geography. Then compare the listing with the appropriate source universe instead of treating ACS burden, vacancy categories, HUD standards, or city, county, and metro context as proof of the property’s price or availability.","q":"What property-level information is needed before using these benchmarks?"}],"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 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