ZIP 70117’s central measured tension is that the current Zillow ZORI asking-rent index is $1,509 per month while the matched-area ACS median household income is $45,764. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than a lease-by-lease measure or a bedroom-specific quote. Annualizing that index and comparing it with income produces a 39.6% asking-rent-to-income screen; the 30% required-income calculation equals $60,360. This is arithmetic only, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule. The current index was 3.8% higher than the same month a year earlier, so the latest reading is rising even as the income screen remains comparatively tight.
The ACS 2024 five-year estimate provides a different evidence universe: it surveys occupied renter homes in the matched Census ZCTA, and its $1,269 median gross rent includes selected utilities. That gross-rent median is 18.9% below the ZIP asking-rent index, a gap that can reflect the distinct populations and measures rather than a direct contradiction. Among 5,627 estimated renter households, 3,080, or 54.7%, were rent burdened at 30% or more of income. Survey uncertainty applies to these ACS estimates. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP, even though the five-digit label is used here as both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and the Census ZCTA match.
Backward-looking Zillow history confirms a positive longer path, but with a modest recent deceleration. The exact same-month one-year change was 3.8%, the three-year change was 3.7% annualized, and the five-year change was 4.9% annualized. Thus, the latest annual gain supports the direction of the multiyear record but does not match its fastest measured pace. Monthly-return variability was 3.7% annualized, meaning one current rent snapshot deserves less confidence as a stable point estimate than its level alone might imply. Separately, the maximum drawdown of 4.4% shows that the series has experienced meaningful declines within its broader rise. Coverage was 99% for the usable history. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 688 for momentum, 2,388 for stability, and 1,419 for the balanced score; lower ranks are higher, and these are descriptive discovery measures, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
The bedroom view is deliberately modelled rather than measured. Scaling ZIP ZORI through the local HUD ladder produces monthly modelled estimates of $1,093 for a studio, $1,262 for one bedroom, $1,509 for two bedrooms, $1,928 for three bedrooms, and $2,263 for four bedrooms. These figures are not observed bedroom rents or quoted asking-rent comps. HUD’s FY 2026 FMR/SAFMR ladder is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent; its two-bedroom standard is $1,331. The modelled two-bedroom estimate therefore stands 13.4% above that HUD benchmark. The ladder is useful for sizing the ZIP-wide index across unit sizes, while neither source establishes the rent of a particular home or apartment.
Housing-stock evidence adds a separate supply-side tension. The matched ZCTA had an estimated 15,488 housing units, of which 3,709 were vacant, producing a 23.9% overall vacancy rate. Renters represented 47.8% of occupied households. The stock was led by 9,877 single-family units, while large-multifamily structures accounted for 721 units. Vacant housing includes units classified for rent, for sale, and seasonal use, so the aggregate vacancy reading is not proof that a particular unit is rentable, available, suitably priced, or in comparable condition. It does, however, place the rent index and burden measures beside a notably large pool of housing not counted as occupied in the ACS snapshot.
Broader geography provides context rather than substitutes for ZIP evidence: the City of New Orleans context rent was $1,664, Orleans Parish county context rent was $1,664, and the New Orleans-Metairie, LA metro context rent was $1,617, all above ZIP 70117’s $1,509 index. The ZIP index was therefore about 9.3% lower than the city and county context measures and 6.7% below the metro context measure. Those comparisons do not convert city, county, or metro data into ZIP conditions. They instead show that this ZIP’s current asking-rent index sits below each broader benchmark while its local ACS income and rent-burden screen still warrant separate attention.
Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation presents a different tension from the rent series. Median sold price was $263,515, down 5.9% year over year; 88 homes sold, and median days on market were 70. Inventory stood at 281 homes with 9.6 months of supply. Sale-to-list evidence was also restrained: the average sale-to-list ratio was 94.4%, 10.5% of sales closed above list, and 16.5% went off market within two weeks. This is for-sale market evidence, not rental transactions, rental comps, or property economics. The annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price is a 6.9% cross-source screening ratio only, not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. Falling resale price alongside positive rent history challenges any simple reading of the rent index or screening ratio as a unified market signal.
These sources answer different questions and have different timing, populations, and construction rules. ZORI is a ZIP-level asking-rent index; ACS describes surveyed occupied homes in a matched statistical area; HUD provides administrative standards; and Redfin records direct ZIP resale activity. None identifies lease concessions, utilities paid by the tenant, actual bedroom count, renovation level, occupancy status, property condition, list-price history, or terms of a specific sale. A property-level review would need to verify those facts against the relevant listing, lease, and sale records before using the ZIP indicators to interpret one address. The measured picture is therefore a rising but variable asking-rent history, an affordability gap against local survey income, substantial aggregate vacancy, and slower resale signals.
","findings":[{"body":"The $1,509 ZIP Zillow ZORI is 3.8% above its same-month year-earlier level, but annualized asking rent equals 39.6% of the matched ZCTA median household income. The $60,360 income figure is only the arithmetic income associated with a 30% rent share. It is not an affordability recommendation, underwriting conclusion, or applicant-screening threshold.","title":"Asking-rent growth meets a tight income screen"},{"body":"Same-month rent changes were positive over one year, three years, and five years, with the five-year annualized pace exceeding the latest annual pace. The 3.7% annualized variability and 4.4% maximum drawdown indicate that the current ZORI level should be read as a moving index, not as a permanently fixed rent point. Historical measurements do not forecast future rents.","title":"History is positive, but the snapshot is not frictionless"},{"body":"ACS estimates show a 23.9% overall vacancy rate alongside a 54.7% rent-burden share among renter households. These measures cannot establish availability or affordability for any individual unit because vacancy includes multiple classifications and burden summarizes occupied renter households. Together, they describe a ZIP with substantial nonoccupied stock and a large share of renters facing high reported gross-rent burdens.","title":"Vacancy and burden describe different parts of the market"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale data show a 5.9% year-over-year decline in median sold price, 70 median days on market, and 9.6 months of supply. Those for-sale conditions contrast with positive asking-rent history. The 6.9% annualized-rent-to-sold-price figure is only a cross-source screening ratio, not a measure of net operating performance or property return.","title":"Resale evidence tempers a simple rent-price reading"}],"risks":["Zillow ZORI blends observed asking rents across rental types, so it may not match the rent, unit mix, condition, utilities, concessions, or lease terms of a specific available property.","ACS figures describe occupied renter homes in a five-year ZCTA survey and include selected utilities in gross rent; the ZCTA match is statistical and not identical to USPS delivery geography.","A high aggregate vacancy rate cannot demonstrate that an individual home is available for rent, appropriately maintained, legally rentable, comparable in bedroom count, or affordable to a specific household.","Redfin resale measures describe rolling ZIP for-sale activity rather than rental transactions; sold-price changes, marketing time, and supply should not be converted into rent forecasts or property-level economics."],"qa":[{"a":"The two measures cover different universes. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index across rental types, whereas ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. The difference can reflect timing, household tenure, unit mix, utility treatment, and survey versus listing-based construction.","q":"Why does the asking-rent index exceed the ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. The studio through four-bedroom figures are modelled estimates created by scaling the ZIP-wide Zillow ZORI using the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD FMR or SAFMR values are administrative standards rather than asking-rent observations. Neither the modelled ladder nor HUD alone establishes a measured asking rent for a particular bedroom count or address.","q":"Are the bedroom figures actual observed rents for ZIP 70117?"},{"a":"It is a mechanical calculation: annualized ZIP ZORI divided by 30% produces the income associated with that rent-share threshold. It does not account for taxes, debt, household size, utility obligations, assistance, savings, lease concessions, or applicant-specific circumstances. It is not advice and does not indicate whether anyone would qualify for a unit.","q":"What does the 30% required-income figure mean?"},{"a":"It divides annualized ZIP ZORI by Redfin’s median ZIP sold price, so it is useful only as a cross-source screening comparison. It excludes expenses, financing, taxes, insurance, repairs, vacancy, property condition, and lease terms. Positive rent history alongside weaker resale signals demonstrates why the ratio cannot be treated as a cap rate, yield, or expected return.","q":"How should the Redfin screening ratio be interpreted alongside 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 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":"2018-02-01","rent":1026.133774},{"period":"2018-03-01","rent":1036.277792},{"period":"2018-04-01","rent":1052.833564},{"period":"2018-05-01","rent":1065.914964},{"period":"2018-06-01","rent":1063.721598},{"period":"2018-07-01","rent":1059.515459},{"period":"2018-08-01","rent":1055.344014},{"period":"2018-09-01","rent":1049.338123},{"period":"2018-10-01","rent":1044.903527},{"period":"2018-11-01","rent":1046.50328},{"period":"2018-12-01","rent":1054.954541},{"period":"2019-01-01","rent":1054.237644},{"period":"2019-02-01","rent":1061.813202},{"period":"2019-03-01","rent":1056.081497},{"period":"2019-04-01","rent":1059.955278},{"period":"2019-05-01","rent":1065.05806},{"period":"2019-06-01","rent":1065.424353},{"period":"2019-07-01","rent":1075.396678},{"period":"2019-08-01","rent":1075.605768},{"period":"2019-09-01","rent":1096.765508},{"period":"2019-10-01","rent":1102.084331},{"period":"2019-11-01","rent":1118.491296},{"period":"2019-12-01","rent":1113.258848},{"period":"2020-01-01","rent":1121.931233},{"period":"2020-02-01","rent":1114.013752},{"period":"2020-03-01","rent":1109.66616},{"period":"2020-04-01","rent":1082.65202},{"period":"2020-05-01","rent":1072.347825},{"period":"2020-06-01","rent":1084.386575},{"period":"2020-07-01","rent":1126.325819},{"period":"2020-08-01","rent":1142.118748},{"period":"2020-09-01","rent":1155.26142},{"period":"2020-10-01","rent":1134.616957},{"period":"2020-11-01","rent":1142.668664},{"period":"2020-12-01","rent":1157.192091},{"period":"2021-01-01","rent":1170.938338},{"period":"2021-02-01","rent":1179.324987},{"period":"2021-03-01","rent":1171.713072},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":1181.67964},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":1187.068655},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":1189.192997},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":1221.595307},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":1230.304295},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":1262.932128},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":1267.589041},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":1263.666419},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":1265.873005},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1268.068504},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1297.40883},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":1332.305484},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":1382.971353},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":1397.531396},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":1383.699787},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":1356.175015},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":1361.47613},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":1379.363929},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":1370.393698},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":1376.88773},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":1372.775667},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":1386.341564},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":1374.852851},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":1351.283487},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":1336.371718},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":1353.853373},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":1369.594893},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":1380.531756},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":1375.534521},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":1374.142442},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":1387.39537},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":1403.405824},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1414.137052},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1414.679706},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1407.322319},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1422.720879},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1427.902037},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1420.796322},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1408.28311},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1405.525086},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1427.602697},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1433.468411},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1437.036785},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1435.398651},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1439.616412},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1443.581591},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1454.429868},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1458.087178},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1460.438408},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1453.373954},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1466.292243},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1475.886253},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1468.158996},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1468.224628},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1469.358272},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1470.674958},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1472.339253},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1475.86538},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1482.354635},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1486.06149},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1493.820585},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":1509.201299}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":100,"firstPeriod":"2018-02-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":101,"coverageRatio":0.9900990099009901,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1453.373954,"endRent":1509.201299,"change":0.038412237157787965,"cagr":0.038412237157787965},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1353.853373,"endRent":1509.201299,"change":0.11474501530085579,"cagr":0.03687207845083429},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1187.068655,"endRent":1509.201299,"change":0.2713681661487388,"cagr":0.04919029950479148}},"maxDrawdown":-0.044194694417603375,"annualizedVolatility":0.03668042611131758,"consecutiveReturnCount":98}}