ZIP 84101 begins with a cross-market tension rather than a single rent signal. At the June 2026 Zillow endpoint, ZORI, Zillow’s typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, stood at $1,578, up 1.46% from the same month a year earlier. The five-digit label is both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and a Census ZCTA match; a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. A separate Redfin direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation reported a $489,889 median sold price, down 18.35% year over year. That for-sale change does not describe rental transactions, yet it sets the central evidence tension: current asking rent edged upward while the reported resale median fell.
History puts that modest current increase in a less smooth frame. The direct Zillow ZIP series supplies exact same-month annualized changes of 1.46% over one year, 0.36% over three years, and 3.42% over five years, with 100% coverage of the supplied span. The latest positive year therefore confirms the five-year positive path, but it follows an almost flat three-year reading and does not show a uniformly accelerating route. Annualized variability in monthly returns reaches 4.19%, and this high-variability profile lowers the confidence warranted by one current ZORI snapshot. Separately, the series’ largest peak-to-trough decline was 5.85%, demonstrating that prior gains were not uninterrupted. Among history-eligible ZIPs nationally, transparent discovery ranks were 1,976 for momentum, 2,670 for stability, and 2,626 for balanced performance, where a lower rank is higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Source choice changes the meaning of rent. The matched Census ZCTA ACS five-year survey reports a $1,500 median gross rent with a ±$166 margin of error for occupied renter homes; it includes selected utilities and is not a current listing-price series. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index instead, so the closeness of the two values does not erase their different timing, populations, or rent definitions. The local HUD FMR/SAFMR two-bedroom standard is $1,494, but it is an administrative bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent. For wider context only, the Salt Lake City city rent context is $1,629.21, the Salt Lake County county rent context is $1,639, and the Salt Lake City, UT metro rent context is $1,638; none is a ZIP measurement.
The bedroom view is deliberately a model, not a separate observation set. Scaling the $1,578 ZIP ZORI by the supplied local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly ZIP estimates of $1,141 for a studio, $1,269 for one bedroom, $1,578 for two bedrooms, $2,112 for three bedrooms, and $2,507 for four bedrooms. They are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents, and their matching two-bedroom value merely anchors the ladder to the all-rental-type ZORI. HUD’s role here is proportional scaling; it does not convert its standard into a lease quote. The figures therefore cannot establish which layouts were listed, available, utility-inclusive, or transacting at those amounts.
Affordability signals split between a median-income screen and the burden distribution. The ACS ZCTA median household income is $72,735, while dividing the annualized ZIP ZORI by the 30% screen produces $63,120 of required income and an asking-rent-to-income ratio of 26.0%. That required-income screen is arithmetic, not advice, an applicant qualification rule, or a claim about a household’s actual budget. In the survey, 2,138 of 4,543 renter households, or 47.1%, paid 30% or more of gross income toward gross rent. That large aggregate burden share complicates the lower median-income screen. It neither proves that a particular tenant is burdened nor identifies a specific unit’s cost, especially because gross rent and asking rent use different source definitions.
The survey stock also tilts the ZIP evidence toward rentals without demonstrating current unit availability. The matched ZCTA contains 6,497 housing units, with renters occupying 79.3% of occupied homes; 4,947 units are in large multifamily structures. Its overall vacancy rate is 11.9%, a stock measure spanning vacant categories such as for-rent and seasonal units. Those figures describe the ACS survey universe rather than a June leasing ledger, and vacancy cannot prove a concession, an open unit, or a tenant’s eventual payment. They do, however, make the high renter share and multifamily composition important context when reading one blended ZORI level against the ACS burden results.
Resale liquidity is a separate, direct ZIP for-sale reading rather than an extension of the rent data. In Redfin’s rolling-three-month resale observation, 27 homes sold and the median marketing time was 56 days; reported inventory was 42 homes and months of supply was 4.8. The average sale-to-list ratio was 98.26%, while 11.55% of sales closed above list, both signals from completed for-sale activity rather than rental transactions. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by the Redfin median sold price equals 3.87%. This is only a cross-source screening ratio, not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. Together with the 18.35% resale-price decline noted above, the supply and sale-to-list evidence challenges a simple reading of the small current rent gain or income screen as a complete market description; it does not establish property economics.
Evidence limits matter at the property level. ZORI lacks unit-specific condition, lease duration, concessions, and utility treatment; ACS is a five-year occupied-home survey; HUD is administrative; and Redfin is a rolling resale record. A decision-level file would need to verify the property address against the delivery ZIP and matched ZCTA, compare currently advertised units with the relevant bedroom model, identify which utilities are included, and separate available listings from survey vacancy. It would also need to match size, condition, and transaction type before relating a sale record to a rental question. Those checks preserve the distinctions in this packet rather than converting broad ZIP indicators into claims about one home or a future outcome.
","findings":[{"body":"ZORI stood at $1,578 in June 2026 after a 1.46% same-month annual gain. The one-year gain fits the positive five-year record, but the 0.36% three-year rate and 4.19% annualized variability make the current level less decisive than a smooth-growth reading. Full history coverage supports measurement completeness, not a forecast.","title":"Positive rent direction, uneven path"},{"body":"ACS median gross rent and Zillow ZORI are close in level but not interchangeable: ACS surveys occupied renter homes over five years and includes selected utilities, while ZORI tracks a typical observed asking-rent index. HUD is instead an administrative bedroom standard. The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled ZIP estimates created by scaling ZORI with the local HUD ladder, not observed bedroom rents.","title":"Rent sources answer different questions"},{"body":"The $63,120 income associated with a 30% rent screen is below the ZCTA median household income, while 47.1% of surveyed renter households were burdened at or above that gross-income share. The apparent contrast is material: household medians, gross-rent definitions, and a burden distribution describe different aggregates. A renter-majority stock and 11.9% vacancy do not establish the terms or availability of any specific home.","title":"Median-income screen and renter burden diverge"},{"body":"Redfin’s rolling-three-month ZIP observation places the resale median lower year over year, with 4.8 months of supply and an average sale below list. This challenges a simple interpretation that the modest current rent increase alone characterizes local conditions. The 3.87% annualized-rent-to-price figure is a cross-source screen only; it omits property expenses, financing, and unit matching.","title":"Resale evidence challenges a simple rent reading"}],"risks":["The ZIP identifier and the Census ZCTA are matched analytical geographies, but a property address can have a USPS delivery ZIP relationship that does not resolve every statistical-boundary or listing-comparison issue.","ZORI is blended across rental types and ACS gross rent includes selected utilities; treating their difference as a pure market move could misstate both current asking terms and renter cost exposure.","The high-variability history and documented drawdown mean a single June rent reading carries less stability than its modest positive annual change might suggest; neither metric provides a forecast.","Redfin’s resale sample concerns for-sale transactions rather than rentals. Its price, supply, and sale-to-list figures cannot determine achievable rent, expenses, tenant demand, or economics for any particular property."],"qa":[{"a":"Zillow ZORI is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index that blends rental types. The matched ACS ZCTA figure is a five-year survey median for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard. Showing them together locates different evidence universes; it does not create a direct rent comp.","q":"Why are Zillow, ACS, and HUD rent figures shown together if they are not directly interchangeable?"},{"a":"No. It is a backward-looking same-month comparison. The three- and five-year records, annualized monthly-return variability, maximum drawdown, and full coverage give context. The current gain is compatible with longer positive history but follows a notably flatter three-year span, so it should not be treated as a forecast or investment conclusion.","q":"Does the positive one-year rent change establish a durable trend?"},{"a":"No. They are modelled monthly ZIP estimates built by scaling the all-rental-type ZORI with the supplied local HUD bedroom ladder. Because this method preserves a relative ladder rather than collecting bedroom-level listing observations, it cannot establish actual asking terms, availability, condition, utility treatment, or concessions for a given unit.","q":"Are the studio through four bedroom figures measured rents in 84101?"},{"a":"The 30% required-income calculation is arithmetic based on the ZIP ZORI, not advice, an affordability guarantee, or an applicant qualification rule. Annualized ZORI divided by Redfin median sold price is only a cross-source screening ratio. It is not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield and lacks property-level matching.","q":"How should the income screen and rent-to-price screen be used?"}],"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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2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"}],"history":[{"period":"2019-03-01","rent":1149.611236},{"period":"2019-04-01","rent":1155.215801},{"period":"2019-05-01","rent":1166.92494},{"period":"2019-06-01","rent":1180.221606},{"period":"2019-07-01","rent":1176.903283},{"period":"2019-08-01","rent":1187.701163},{"period":"2019-09-01","rent":1209.631124},{"period":"2019-10-01","rent":1216.822485},{"period":"2019-11-01","rent":1230.297658},{"period":"2019-12-01","rent":1229.649848},{"period":"2020-01-01","rent":1230.454164},{"period":"2020-02-01","rent":1238.006064},{"period":"2020-03-01","rent":1185.877505},{"period":"2020-04-01","rent":1181.253017},{"period":"2020-05-01","rent":1165.52172},{"period":"2020-06-01","rent":1188.355426},{"period":"2020-07-01","rent":1202.810719},{"period":"2020-08-01","rent":1217.92764},{"period":"2020-09-01","rent":1229.649562},{"period":"2020-10-01","rent":1227.433187},{"period":"2020-11-01","rent":1231.441955},{"period":"2020-12-01","rent":1216.148769},{"period":"2021-01-01","rent":1226.524573},{"period":"2021-02-01","rent":1232.929292},{"period":"2021-03-01","rent":1297.030208},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":1309.781095},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":1333.351854},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":1333.286447},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":1372.969824},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":1393.054354},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":1421.60309},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":1456.50661},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":1494.185865},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":1541.688198},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":1547.852666},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1539.89328},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1520.262165},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":1539.799235},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":1567.704513},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":1596.359768},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":1571.590391},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":1563.811789},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":1562.716193},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":1568.737095},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":1561.192069},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":1555.626957},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":1574.773059},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":1595.594488},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":1588.967393},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":1573.776692},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":1565.563648},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":1560.800391},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":1577.622434},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":1585.835331},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":1577.702464},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":1561.194306},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":1549.160972},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":1563.269356},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1568.840103},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1585.330806},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1588.17467},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1591.488618},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1595.198217},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1584.922409},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1582.483793},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1565.708662},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1566.553613},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1571.312506},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1563.162335},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1562.952512},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1548.384458},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1546.561436},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1539.247881},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1545.764071},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1544.939005},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1554.956439},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1555.039668},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1566.482877},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1570.337923},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1573.085254},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1585.770288},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1579.447799},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1584.655382},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1575.275178},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1582.43063},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1579.128102},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1579.879959},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":1577.734714}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":88,"firstPeriod":"2019-03-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":88,"coverageRatio":1,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1554.956439,"endRent":1577.734714,"change":0.01464881872488255,"cagr":0.01464881872488255},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1560.800391,"endRent":1577.734714,"change":0.010849768553139683,"cagr":0.0036035880721716484},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1333.286447,"endRent":1577.734714,"change":0.18334264744836193,"cagr":0.03424184064248359}},"maxDrawdown":-0.05854926410118133,"annualizedVolatility":0.04190459793549748,"consecutiveReturnCount":87}}