The five-digit label 78414 serves as both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and the matched Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a statistical area, not the same thing as a USPS delivery ZIP. In June 2026, Zillow ZORI is $1,625 per month: a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than the quoted rent of a particular home. Against wider context only, the Corpus Christi city context and Nueces County context are each about $1,415, while the Corpus Christi, TX metro context is $1,422. The ZIP index is therefore above each named wider-area measure, but those scopes should frame comparison only; they do not establish a premium for any unit or identify a cause.
History supplies the stronger near-term tension. At the stated endpoint, exact same-month annualized ZORI changes were 4.6% over one year, 1.4% over three years, and 2.5% over five years. The recent direction confirms the longer positive path rather than breaking from it, yet the one-year pace is materially faster, fitting an accelerating label without implying continuation. Annualized monthly-return variability was 2.1%, and the maximum peak-to-trough drawdown was 2.7%. The series has complete 100% coverage, with 138 monthly observations and 137 consecutive monthly returns. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 1,058 for momentum, 211 for stability, and 320 for balance, where lower is higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations; modest past variability lends more confidence to the index snapshot as a baseline, while the recent acceleration limits confidence that a single reading will persist.
The index’s closeness to a survey rent should not erase source boundaries. In the ACS 2024 five-year survey for the matched ZCTA, median gross rent was $1,643 with a $68 90% margin of error. That is a survey statistic for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, while ZORI tracks typical observed asking rents. The current index equals 98.9% of the ACS median, a narrow numerical difference that can reflect the distinct timing, utility treatment, surveyed occupied homes, and index construction. It is not evidence that a newly advertised unit will include the same costs or transact at the ACS median. The ACS figure also describes the ZCTA statistical area, not every USPS delivery address using the ZIP label.
Bedroom detail is deliberately modelled rather than directly observed. HUD’s FY 2026 FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent; the local two-bedroom standard is $1,366. The estimates scale the ZIP ZORI by that local HUD ladder, producing modelled monthly ZIP estimates of $1,226 for a studio, $1,329 for one bedroom, $1,625 for two bedrooms, $2,137 for three bedrooms, and $2,443 for four bedrooms. They are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents. The ladder is useful for preserving the local HUD bedroom relationship around the ZIP index, but it cannot report an actual property’s layout, condition, included utilities, lease terms, concession treatment, or advertised availability.
Income and burden give a second, non-equivalent affordability lens. The ZCTA’s median household income is $98,771; annualizing the current index produces a $65,000 household-income screen at 30% of income. That screen is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule, and the area-wide median household income is not renter-specific income. Separately, ACS estimates that 2,880 of 7,270 renter households, or 39.6%, paid at least 30% of income toward gross rent. This burden estimate is a group-level survey measure and cannot establish that a particular household can or cannot afford a particular unit. Its coexistence with the index-based screen underlines why household income, actual recurring housing costs, and source definitions must not be substituted for one another.
Housing stock data show scale, not a live inventory. The ZCTA records 20,680 housing units: 19,199 occupied and 1,481 vacant, a 7.2% vacancy rate. Of recorded vacancies, 875 were classified as for rent. The structure count includes 13,813 single-family units and 2,446 large multifamily units, alongside a renter share of 37.9% among occupied homes. These stock and tenure counts help define the area-level setting behind the index, but a vacancy category does not prove a specific unit is vacant, marketed, affordable, or available on a given date. Nor can it indicate how many current listings match a required bedroom count or lease condition.
Decision use depends on checks that the aggregate sources cannot perform. For a specific property, confirm the advertised base rent and observation date, bedroom count and usable space, included utilities, deposits and recurring fees, lease length, concession conditions, move-in timing, and whether the unit remains available. Compare those details with the ZORI’s blended rental-type scope rather than treating the index, ACS median, HUD standard, or modelled ladder as a quote. Also verify that the property’s stated geography is appropriate to the market label, because the ZCTA match is statistical rather than a USPS delivery boundary. Historical stability and acceleration describe prior index behavior only, not a promise about this listing’s next price. Which property-level fact most changes the effective monthly amount relative to the ZIP-level baseline?
","findings":[{"body":"At $1,625, the June ZIP asking-rent index exceeds the roughly $1,415 city and county contextual rents and the $1,422 metro context. This gap is a scope-based comparison, not proof that every property carries the same difference. The ZCTA label is a statistical match for ACS analysis and does not replace a USPS delivery ZIP.","title":"ZIP index exceeds wider-area context"},{"body":"Recent historical performance is faster than the longer record: one-year same-month growth was 4.6%, compared with 1.4% over three years and 2.5% over five years. Yet annualized monthly variability of 2.1% and a maximum drawdown of 2.7% indicate relatively limited past movement. The result is an accelerating but backward-looking index pattern, not a prediction.","title":"Recent growth is faster than the longer record"},{"body":"ACS median gross rent and ZORI nearly align numerically, but they answer different questions. The $1,643 ACS figure is a five-year survey estimate for occupied renter homes that includes selected utilities; ZORI is a typical asking-rent index. The bedroom figures are additionally modelled by scaling ZORI with HUD standards, so none should be read as observed rents for a bedroom type.","title":"Near matching rent figures use different universes"},{"body":"A $65,000 income amount follows mechanically from applying a 30% screen to the current index; it is not eligibility guidance. ACS nevertheless estimates 39.6% of renter households paid at least 30% of income toward gross rent. With 7.2% area-wide vacancy and 875 vacancies classified for rent, neither broad burden nor vacancy can confirm affordability or availability for an individual listing.","title":"Area-level burden and vacancy do not resolve a listing"}],"risks":["Zillow ZORI is a blended asking-rent index, so its ZIP-level movement can differ from the advertised price, utilities, concessions, lease terms, and availability of an individual property.","The ACS estimates are survey-based, cover occupied renter homes rather than current listings, include selected utilities in gross rent, and carry margins of error that should temper fine distinctions.","HUD FMR/SAFMR values are administrative standards, and the bedroom amounts derived from them preserve a scaling relationship rather than measuring rents actually asked for comparable units.","The recorded vacancy rate and renter burden share summarize broad ZCTA conditions; neither measures the marketing status, household finances, physical features, or effective cost of any particular home."],"qa":[{"a":"Because the sources use different universes and construction. ZORI measures typical observed asking rents across rental types. ACS reports a five-year survey median for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Their near match is informative for context, but it cannot make either series a property-specific quoted rent.","q":"Why can Zillow ZORI and ACS median gross rent be close without being interchangeable?"},{"a":"No. The studio-through-four-bedroom amounts are modelled monthly ZIP estimates generated by scaling the ZIP index with the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD’s standards are administrative, not asking-rent observations. A listing may differ because the model cannot observe its exact features, utilities, terms, concessions, or current availability.","q":"Are the bedroom amounts observed rents for studio through four-bedroom listings?"},{"a":"The one-year same-month increase of 4.6% was larger than the three-year and five-year annualized changes, so the latest direction is accelerating while remaining positive over each longer horizon. Low historical variability and a limited maximum drawdown describe prior series behavior. They improve confidence in the historical baseline, not confidence that next year’s movement will repeat.","q":"Does the historical record show an acceleration in asking rents?"},{"a":"Check the exact advertised rent, date observed, bedroom count, included utilities, deposits, recurring fees, lease term, concession rules, move-in date, and availability. Confirm the property’s geography is appropriate to the ZIP market label. These facts permit a property-specific comparison against aggregate measures without treating a ZCTA statistic or HUD standard as a listing quote.","q":"What should be checked before comparing a specific property with these area-level measures?"}],"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 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