For ZIP 89117, the central tension is that the current asking-rent signal sits below the survey measure that is often mistaken for the same thing. Zillow ZORI is $1,620 per month at the June endpoint: a ZIP-level, typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than a lease ledger or a universal unit price. The matched Census ZCTA ACS five-year survey reports median gross rent of $1,802, 11.2% above ZORI. That ACS figure describes occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities; it is not a current asking-rent measure. The five-digit label is both Zillow's market identifier and a Census ZCTA match, but a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. The gap therefore establishes a source-universe difference, not a contradiction or evidence that any listed apartment is mispriced.
Recent direction is mildly negative even though the multi-year record remains positive. The exact same-month annualized change is -0.4% over one year, while the equivalent rates are +0.5% over three years and +2.8% over five years. This cooling breaks from the longer positive path, although it does not erase it. The record contains 138 monthly observations with 100% coverage. Annualized variability of monthly returns is 2.7%, and maximum drawdown is -3.2%, so a current reading merits more confidence than a thin series but still should be read as an index snapshot rather than a point estimate for every unit. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs are 1,030 for stability, 2,445 for momentum, and 2,135 for the balanced score, where lower ranks are higher. These are backward-looking measurements through the stated endpoint, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Bedroom detail should be treated as a scaling exercise, not a local measurement. Applying the ZIP ZORI to the local HUD bedroom ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,245 for a studio, $1,380 for one bedroom, $1,620 for two bedrooms, $2,253 for three bedrooms, and $2,581 for four bedrooms. The local HUD two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR standard is $1,735 and anchors that proportional ladder. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent; Zillow ZORI is the blended asking-rent index. Accordingly, these are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents, and they should not be used to declare the asking price of a particular size, building, or lease term.
At the index level, multiplying the current monthly asking signal across a year and applying a 30% rent-to-income screen yields required gross household income of $64,800. The matched ZCTA ACS median household income is $75,145, and the same arithmetic places ZORI at 25.9% of that median income. This is a population-level comparison, not advice, a budget prescription, or an applicant qualification rule; household incomes, utilities, debt, and lease terms are not represented by a median. The ACS burden tabulation provides a separate occupied-renter-home view: 7,148 of 12,426 renter households, or 57.5%, report paying 30% or more of income toward gross rent. Because it uses gross rent and survey households, that share neither proves a particular unit is burdensome nor translates the ZORI index into a tenant-level outcome.
The housing base clarifies why neither the index nor a vacancy figure substitutes for a listing search. The matched ZCTA has 25,538 housing units, of which 23,313 are occupied and 2,225 vacant, for an 8.7% vacancy rate. Among reported vacant categories, 931 units are for rent and 583 are seasonal; those counts describe a survey classification, not contemporaneous availability, condition, or a viable option for a given household. The stock includes 14,576 single-family units and 2,827 large multifamily units, showing that the area's structure mix reaches beyond one rental form. Vacancy can coexist with rents, different unit conditions, and lease constraints without establishing cause. It cannot prove that a particular unit will be available, discounted, or affordable, and it should not be read as a property-specific negotiating signal.
Relative to wider geographies, the ZIP's current index is below every supplied rent context, but the scopes must remain explicit. Las Vegas city-wide context rent is $1,722, while Clark County context rent and Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV metro context rent are each $1,748; these city, county, and metro figures are context only, not ZIP estimates. The index is 5.9% below the city figure and 7.3% below the county and metro figures. These comparisons reinforce that the ZIP-level asking index is lower than broader-area context at this endpoint, but they do not harmonize the different ACS, HUD, and Zillow universes. In particular, a city or metro average cannot identify a building's bedroom mix, utilities, concessions, or actual availability.
The practical reading is a cooling ZIP asking-rent index that remains below the reported ACS gross-rent median and the wider-area rent contexts, alongside a housing inventory picture that is informative only in aggregate. Zillow's blended rental-type coverage, ACS's five-year occupied-home survey with selected utilities, and HUD's administrative bedroom standards answer different questions, so none should be substituted for another. Before evaluating a property, check its advertised asking rent and date, actual bedroom count and floor plan, included and excluded utilities, lease duration, fees, deposits, concessions, availability date, and whether the listing remains active. Compare those facts with the relevant benchmark only after matching the unit's attributes. The unresolved decision question is not whether the ZIP benchmark is universally correct, but which verified property terms align with the household's own rent, utility, timing, and qualification circumstances?
","findings":[{"body":"Zillow's June ZIP asking-rent index is $1,620. Same-month change is -0.4% over the latest year, compared with annualized gains of 0.5% over three years and 2.8% over five years. With 138 observations, full coverage, 2.7% annualized monthly-return variability, and a -3.2% maximum drawdown, the history supports a cautious reading of the current index, not a forecast. Lower discovery ranks favor stability more than momentum.","title":"Cooling signal versus longer record"},{"body":"The matched Census ZCTA ACS five-year survey places median gross rent at $1,802, compared with $1,620 Zillow ZORI. ACS describes occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, whereas ZORI is a blended typical observed asking-rent index. The five-digit label aligns the Zillow market identifier with a ZCTA match, but a ZCTA is a statistical area, not the same as a USPS delivery ZIP. The difference is therefore not a like-for-like pricing spread.","title":"Different data answer different rent questions"},{"body":"The $1,245 studio, $1,380 one-bedroom, $1,620 two-bedroom, $2,253 three-bedroom, and $2,581 four-bedroom figures scale ZIP ZORI by the local HUD ladder. HUD's $1,735 two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR is an administrative standard, not asking rent. These outputs are modelled monthly estimates rather than measured bedroom rents. Actual listings can differ by building, unit condition, lease terms, utility responsibility, and timing.","title":"Bedroom ladder is modelled, not observed"},{"body":"ACS reports 57.5% of 12,426 renter households paying at least 30% of income toward gross rent, while the matched ZCTA vacancy rate is 8.7%. That burden share does not establish affordability for a specific household, and vacancy does not prove an available or discounted unit. At the property level, verify current advertised rent, fees, concessions, utilities, bedroom count, floor plan, lease term, and availability date.","title":"Aggregate burden and vacancy need unit checks"}],"risks":["ZORI is a blended observed asking-rent index across rental types, so it may not match a particular building, bedroom count, lease structure, utility package, or actively advertised listing.","The ACS five-year ZCTA survey covers occupied renter homes and selected utilities, not current listings; its statistical geography is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP and cannot resolve unit-level terms.","HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, and the displayed bedroom ladder merely scales the ZIP index; it is not measured rent evidence for any property, condition, or lease.","Vacancy classifications and city, county, or metro context are aggregate signals only. They cannot establish availability, concessions, affordability, or the correct comparability of a specific unit."],"qa":[{"a":"At the stated June endpoint, it is Zillow's ZIP-level ZORI: a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It does not mean every available unit asks that amount, it does not identify a bedroom class, and it does not include a property-specific statement about utilities, concessions, lease terms, or availability.","q":"What does the Zillow figure represent?"},{"a":"ACS median gross rent comes from a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Zillow reports a current asking-rent index, not survey gross rent. The geography is a matched Census ZCTA, which is a statistical area rather than a USPS delivery ZIP. The figures describe different universes and should be compared only as context.","q":"Why does ACS gross rent differ from Zillow ZORI?"},{"a":"No. The bedroom values are modelled monthly estimates generated by scaling ZIP ZORI with the local HUD FMR/SAFMR ladder. HUD is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not an asking-rent collection. A reader should verify the actual advertised rent, bedroom count, layout, utility responsibilities, fees, lease terms, and availability for the specific property.","q":"Are the bedroom estimates actual observed rents?"},{"a":"The history measures past same-month movement, variation, drawdown, coverage, and discovery ranks; it does not forecast rents or recommend an investment. The 30% income screen is arithmetic, not advice or an applicant qualification rule. ACS burden and vacancy results are aggregate survey measures, so they cannot establish a particular household's affordability or a particular unit's availability.","q":"What do the history and burden figures prove?"}],"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 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