At $1,113 in June 2026, Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI for 61701 is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, and it is 4.8% above its level a year earlier. It is not a median lease or a quote for a particular home. For wider context only, the Bloomington city context is about $1,368, while the McLean County context and Bloomington, IL metro context each stand at $1,374. Those city, county, and metro series identify broader geographic scopes; they are not substitute observations for this ZIP market identifier. The immediate tension is therefore a rising ZIP index that remains below each supplied wider-area asking-rent context.
That positive latest reading sits within a stronger but uneven history. Exact same-month annualized ZORI changes were 4.8% over one year, 6.3% over three years, and 9.3% over five years. The latest pace is below the longer-period averages, but its positive sign confirms rather than breaks from the longer upward path. The high-variability designation reflects 3.5% annualized variability in monthly index returns and a 4.0% maximum drawdown. Coverage is 98.1%, supporting the historical calculation, yet variability means a reader should place measured, rather than absolute, confidence in a single current rent snapshot. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs are 276 for momentum, 2,238 for stability, and 808 for the balanced measure, where a lower rank is higher. They describe backward-looking discovery signals, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
The gap between sources is material, not a contradiction. This five-digit label is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a matched Census ZCTA label; a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. In the ACS 2024 five-year survey, median gross rent is $909 with a $50 margin of error, measured across occupied renter homes and including selected utilities. The current Zillow asking index is 22.4% higher because it tracks a different rent universe. HUD’s FY2026 two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR standard is $1,302; the index is 14.5% below that administrative, bedroom-specific standard. HUD is not asking rent, and ACS gross rent is not a current asking-rent series, so neither should be merged with ZORI as though they were interchangeable prices.
Bedroom figures add useful structure only when their construction is kept visible. Scaling the ZIP ZORI by the local HUD ladder yields modelled monthly estimates of $792 for a studio, $854 for a one-bedroom, $1,113 for a two-bedroom, $1,468 for a three-bedroom, and $1,474 for a four-bedroom. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents: they use the ZIP-wide asking index and the local administrative ladder to allocate relative levels. They do not establish the advertised rent of a home with a given bedroom count, and they do not replace the HUD standard itself. The narrow top-end step is a feature of the supplied ladder-derived model, not proof about observed listings.
The income screen provides a separate arithmetic lens. Allocating the current monthly asking index to a 30% rent share produces a required annual gross income of $44,520. Against the ACS ZCTA median household income of $57,130, the index equals 23.4% of that overall household-income benchmark. This is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule; it says nothing about a particular household’s earnings, debts, household size, or actual utility bill. Separately, ACS estimates that 2,799 of 7,157 renter households, or 39.1%, had housing costs at or above that threshold. The burden measure is an aggregate survey result for occupied renters, not proof that any particular unit is affordable or burdensome.
Housing and vacancy counts illuminate scale but not live supply. The matched ZCTA has 17,889 housing units, including 10,914 single-family units and 1,776 units in large multifamily structures. Its 1,352 vacant units translate to a 7.6% vacancy rate, with 365 categorized as vacant for rent. These are ACS stock classifications rather than a real-time count of listings, leases, or move-in-ready homes. In particular, the vacant-for-rent count cannot show advertised price, condition, concessions, unit size, or whether a specific property is available. The structure mix also does not reveal which type drives the ZIP-wide asking index.
Source boundaries define the limit of this report. ZORI is a current ZIP-wide asking-rent index, the ACS figures are survey estimates for a matched statistical area, and HUD supplies an administrative standard used for scaling; each has a distinct unit of observation and timing. The historical results describe what the index has recorded through its stated endpoint, not what rents will do next. Before applying any aggregate figure to a property, resolve the advertised asking rent, bedroom count, utility treatment, lease term, concessions, availability, and whether the address is assigned to the relevant market geography. Those property-level facts can materially differ from every aggregate measure here. Given these evidence limits, does the actual listing’s rent definition and bedroom configuration match the metric being used?
","findings":[{"body":"Zillow’s June 2026 ZIP index is $1,113, below the about $1,368 Bloomington city context and the $1,374 McLean County and Bloomington, IL metro contexts. This compares a ZIP-level asking-rent index with wider-area context, not individual listings. The level gap is meaningful alongside the ZIP’s positive recent change, but it does not establish why the areas differ.","title":"Asking index trails wider context"},{"body":"Exact same-month history shows 4.8% annualized change over one year, compared with 6.3% over three years and 9.3% over five years. The continuing positive direction confirms the longer upward path, while 3.5% annualized monthly-return variability and a 4.0% maximum drawdown make any single current reading less definitive. These backward-looking measurements do not forecast a future rent level.","title":"Growth is positive but variable"},{"body":"ACS reports a five-year, utility-inclusive median gross rent for occupied renter homes in the matched ZCTA, while Zillow reports a current typical asking-rent index blended across rental types. HUD FMR/SAFMR is a bedroom-specific administrative standard. The three measures can be compared for context, but their different populations, timing, and purposes mean they should not be treated as interchangeable rent prices.","title":"Rent measures answer different questions"},{"body":"The bedroom sequence is modelled by scaling ZORI with the local HUD ladder; it is not a set of measured studio through four-bedroom rents. The income threshold is also arithmetic rather than an underwriting rule. ACS burden and vacancy figures are aggregate ZCTA estimates, so neither can verify affordability, availability, or characteristics for a specific property.","title":"Bedroom and burden figures are not unit data"}],"risks":["The Zillow asking index blends rental types and does not identify the rent, utility package, lease term, concessions, or availability of a particular property, even when its geography matches the ZIP label.","The ACS ZCTA survey has a five-year lookback, estimates occupied renter homes rather than current listings, and carries sampling uncertainty; its statistical geography is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP.","HUD FMR/SAFMR values and the resulting bedroom figures are administrative scaling inputs rather than measured bedroom rents, so a studio or larger home can differ materially from the modelled estimate.","Vacancy and rent-burden totals describe aggregated categories. They cannot establish that a particular unit is vacant, affordable to a particular household, or available at the displayed asking rent."],"qa":[{"a":"The $1,113 reading is the June 2026 Zillow ZORI for the ZIP market identifier. It is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is not a listing quote, a lease transaction, a median rent paid by current tenants, or a bedroom-specific observation.","q":"What does the current Zillow figure measure?"},{"a":"The ACS figure comes from a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, whereas ZORI is a current ZIP-level asking-rent index. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard. Different dates, population bases, utility treatment, and administrative purposes make differences expected; they are not proof that any source is wrong.","q":"Why are ZORI, ACS gross rent, and HUD different?"},{"a":"The estimates take the ZIP-wide ZORI and apply relative levels from the local HUD ladder, yielding a modelled studio-through-four-bedroom schedule. They are not measured rents sampled from listings. Their value is a transparent size-oriented reference, while an actual unit still requires its own advertised rent, bedroom count, utility terms, lease terms, and availability to be checked.","q":"How were the bedroom estimates formed?"},{"a":"The high-variability category means the historical monthly index changes were uneven enough that a single current reading is not a fixed market fact. Positive same-month growth does not erase the recorded drawdown. High coverage helps the measurement, but this history remains backward-looking and cannot establish any future asking-rent level.","q":"What does high variability mean for the rent history?"}],"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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