Cooling is the central tension in ZIP 80219: Zillow's June 2026 ZORI is $2,314 per month, while the latest exact same-month record is down 2.2% over 1 year. Yet the same series still shows annualized gains of 2.1% across 3 years and 4.1% across 5 years. ZORI is a ZIP-level, typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, not a lease-specific quote or a measure of every occupied home. It does not distinguish the payment terms or physical attributes associated with individual listings. Thus, the current level is a listing-market benchmark: the short-term decline breaks from, rather than confirms, the positive multi-year path, without establishing a future direction.
The sharpest level comparison is with a different evidence universe. Matched Census ZCTA ACS 2024 five-year data place median gross rent at $1,539; the estimate has a $82 margin of error, and the current asking index is 50.4% higher. ACS is a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and its gross-rent measure includes selected utilities; it is not an asking-rent series. The ZCTA is a statistical area matched to the label and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. Survey estimates describe the survey period rather than the same current listing month. This gap frames different populations, tenures, vintages, and measurement designs rather than a verified premium for any particular available unit.
Bedroom comparisons should also be read as a model, not a local rent survey. Scaling ZIP ZORI by the FY2026 local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,820 for a studio, $1,943 for one bedroom, $2,314 for two bedrooms, $3,028 for three bedrooms, and $3,377 for four bedrooms. The associated HUD two-bedroom FMR is $2,089, so the ZIP ZORI benchmark is 10.8% higher. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent; these figures are modelled estimates rather than measured bedroom rents. They organize comparisons across sizes but do not describe an individual unit's condition, utilities, or availability. Nor does the scaling establish that a unit with a stated bedroom count will transact at the indicated level.
Arithmetic pressure emerges from combining current asking rent with household income, while keeping the two sources distinct. At a 30% rent-to-income screen, $2,314 monthly implies $92,560 in annual income, compared with a ZCTA median household income of $68,415; the implied asking-rent share is 40.6%. Separately, ACS reports that 4,149 of 8,770 renter households, or 47.3%, spent at least the screen share on gross rent. The screen is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule. Household median income is likewise an area statistic, not the income distribution of current rental shoppers. The burden statistic concerns occupied renter households and cannot prove affordability or burden for a particular unit.
Housing evidence provides scale but not a direct listing supply count. The ZCTA has 22,056 housing units, with a 3.3% overall vacancy rate; that rate covers all recorded vacant units rather than only homes currently offered to renters. A separately reported for-rent vacancy category is not equivalent to active listings. In structural terms, 17,003 units are single-family and 1,417 are in larger multifamily buildings. These counts describe the surveyed area's stock composition and occupancy categories. Vacancy status does not report advertised price, marketing exposure, or lease readiness. They neither identify suitable rentals nor determine the terms, condition, timing, or price of any listing.
Broader figures are context only, not substitutes for the ZIP measure. In the same comparison, Denver city context rent is $1,876.92, Denver County context rent is $1,889, and the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO metro context rent is $1,930; each is a wider-geography context figure rather than a ZIP asking-rent observation. The ZIP's ZORI is above each of those context rents. City, county, and metro scopes cover different geographies, so the comparison describes relative benchmarks rather than a resident's actual payment or a particular listing. It should not be used to infer a difference in quality, landlord practice, or tenant experience.
History quality supports a complete backward-looking read, not a forecast or investment recommendation: the series has 112 monthly observations, 111 consecutive monthly returns, and 100% stated coverage. Annualized monthly-return volatility is 2.9%, and maximum drawdown is -4.2%, which means a single current ZORI snapshot warrants measured confidence even with complete coverage. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs are 2,365 for momentum, 1,471 for stability, and 2,326 for the balanced measure; lower rank is higher. The data do not identify reasons for changes, and ranking is a comparative discovery device rather than a performance verdict. Before using any benchmark, check a property's asking price, bedroom count, included utilities, lease terms, availability date, and whether it is actually comparable.
","findings":[{"body":"The latest ZIP asking-rent reading has declined over the short comparison window even though the longer same-month history remains positive. That conflict is more informative than either result alone: it identifies a current cooling phase within a historically rising series. The evidence records prior index behavior only; it does not say whether the next observation will rise, fall, or stabilize.","title":"Recent cooling interrupts a longer gain path"},{"body":"The gap between Zillow's asking-rent index and ACS median gross rent should not be treated as a unit-level spread. Zillow summarizes typical observed asking rents across rental types, whereas ACS describes occupied renter homes over a multi-year survey and includes selected utilities. The geographic match is also statistical: a ZCTA supports comparison but is not the same thing as a delivery ZIP.","title":"Current asking benchmark and ACS rent answer different questions"},{"body":"Studio through four-bedroom figures are derived by applying the local HUD bedroom ladder to the ZIP asking-rent index. They are useful for preserving relative bedroom scaling, but they are modelled estimates, not observed bedroom rents. HUD's standard is administrative and bedroom specific, rather than a market asking-rent measure. Unit utility treatment, quality, and availability remain unobserved in the ladder.","title":"Bedroom ladder is a sizing model"},{"body":"The income screen translates an index rent into a benchmark income, while the burden result summarizes occupied renter households in the ZCTA. Neither determines what an applicant can pay. Overall and for-rent vacancy categories likewise describe area-level housing status, not live availability. Use the named city, county, and metro values only as broader context because their scopes are not the ZIP listing market.","title":"Affordability and vacancy remain area-level indicators"}],"risks":["ZORI is a blended typical asking-rent index, so it can differ from a property's advertised price, concessions, utility billing, furnished status, lease length, or availability on the date checked.","ACS rent, income, tenure, vacancy, and burden figures characterize a matched ZCTA survey universe over multiple years; they cannot establish the current terms, costs, or availability of a particular rental property.","HUD FMR/SAFMR and the derived bedroom ladder are standards and modelling tools. They do not measure unit-level asking rents, and utility inclusion or bedroom labeling may differ when an actual listing is reviewed.","Full historical coverage does not remove index-method or market-composition limits. Short-run decline, variability, drawdown, and comparative discovery ranks are descriptive backward-looking records, not assurances about a future rent or lease outcome."],"qa":[{"a":"The two figures cover different evidence universes. Zillow ZORI is a current ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. ACS median gross rent is a multi-year survey measure of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. The ZCTA geographic match is statistical, not a USPS delivery ZIP, so the comparison is contextual rather than a unit-level price difference.","q":"Why is the current Zillow reading above ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"They are modelled monthly estimates produced by scaling the ZIP ZORI using the local HUD bedroom ladder. They preserve the ladder's relative sizing but are not measured bedroom rents or quoted listings. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not an asking-rent series. Confirm the actual bedroom count, utilities, condition, and availability for any property.","q":"What do the bedroom figures represent?"},{"a":"The required-income figure is simple arithmetic: it converts the ZIP asking-rent benchmark at a thirty-percent rent-to-income screen. It is not advice, a credit standard, or an applicant qualification rule. The ACS burden share instead describes occupied renter households paying at least that share of income toward gross rent; neither statement determines affordability for a given household or unit.","q":"How should the income screen and burden statistic be used?"},{"a":"No. The same-month change rates, monthly-return volatility, maximum drawdown, coverage, and discovery ranks describe the Zillow ZIP series through its endpoint. They show that recent movement differed from the longer record, but do not identify reasons, predict future asking rents, or recommend an investment decision. A current property check remains necessary.","q":"Does the history establish a forecast?"}],"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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