The immediate tension in ZIP 91325 is that the current monthly Zillow ZORI of $2,259 sits against median household income of $87,168, while the arithmetic income needed to keep that rent at the 30% screen is $90,360. That produces a 31.1% asking-rent-to-income relationship, just above the screen rather than far beyond it. The matched ACS median gross rent is $2,060, or 9.7% below the current asking-rent index. This is a meaningful gap because the income screen is arithmetic only, not advice or an applicant qualification rule, and because asking rent and gross rent are different evidence universes.
The backward-looking rent path shows deceleration rather than a clean confirmation of its longer run. Exact same-month Zillow ZORI change was 1.29% over one-year, 1.78% annualized over three-year, and 4.50% annualized over five-year. Thus, the latest year remained positive but trailed both the medium- and longer-term rates. Monthly-return variability was 3.49% annualized, so a single current rent snapshot deserves measured confidence rather than being treated as a fixed local condition. Separately, the maximum drawdown reached 5.01%, documenting a meaningful historical setback within the observed series. Coverage was 99.15%, based on 117 observations and 115 consecutive returns. Transparent national discovery ranks were 1,745 for momentum, 2,224 for stability, and 2,293 for the balanced measure; these are discovery references among history-eligible ZIPs, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Zillow ZORI is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, not a survey of occupied households. The 91325 label is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a Census ZCTA match; a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, which explains why it should not be substituted for an asking-rent index. HUD FMR or SAFMR is instead an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent. Scaling ZIP ZORI through the local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,752 for a studio, $1,867 for one bedroom, $2,259 for two bedrooms, $2,971 for three bedrooms, and $3,438 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents. The two-bedroom HUD standard of $3,070 places the ZIP index at 73.6% of that administrative benchmark.
The matched ACS ZCTA describes a housing base of 13,736 units, including 7,173 single-family units and 5,167 large multifamily units. Its 6.13% vacancy rate is a stock-level estimate, while renters occupy 6,887 homes and represent 53.4% of occupied households. Among renter households measured for burden, 4,462, or 64.8%, reported spending at least 30% of income on rent. There were 559 vacant units classified for rent and 89 classified for sale. Those figures can frame availability and household-cost pressure across the statistical area, but they cannot prove vacancy, lease terms, condition, or burden for any particular unit. ACS estimates also carry survey uncertainty, including published margins of error for several local fields.
Wider geography offers context, not a replacement measure for the ZIP: Los Angeles city context has an asking-rent index of $2,773, Los Angeles County context has $2,808, and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro context has $2,927. The ZIP index is below each of those broader asking-rent contexts, although each geography includes a different mix of homes and rental listings. Los Angeles city context has a 64.0% renter share, while Los Angeles County context has a 54.1% renter share, compared with the ZIP’s lower renter share. The metro context reports median household income of $95,958 and a 36.61% rent-to-income measure. These city, county, and metro figures provide scale for comparison only; they do not alter the ZIP-level Zillow, ACS, HUD, history, or resale observations.
Redfin provides a separate direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation, describing the for-sale market rather than rental transactions. Its median sold price was $1,099,751, up 3.8% year over year, with 55 homes sold and median marketing time of 41 days. Redfin recorded 123 active listings, inventory of 59 homes, and 3.3 months of supply. Sale-to-list signals were firm but not uniform: the average sale-to-list ratio was 100.7%, 43.44% of sales closed above list, and 34.85% went off market within two weeks. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by Redfin median sold price produces a 2.46% cross-source screening ratio. It is only a screening ratio, not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield.
The resale evidence both confirms activity and challenges a simple rent-based reading. A rising median sold price, sales volume, and above-list share indicate an active direct ZIP resale market, yet the latest asking-rent increase was slower than the ZIP’s longer rent-history rates. At the same time, the current asking-rent screen slightly exceeds the local median-income screen and the ACS burden measure is elevated. The tension is therefore between a resale market with positive price movement and a rent record that has recently moderated amid meaningful household-cost pressure. Neither result establishes causation, and the ZORI-to-price screening ratio cannot translate resale conditions into property-level rental economics.
Decision use should remain bounded by each source’s timing, scope, and construction. Zillow does not identify a specific available home, ACS does not measure current asking terms, HUD does not measure negotiated rents, and Redfin does not provide rental comparable transactions. Property-level review should verify the advertised rent, bedroom count, utility responsibility, lease duration, concessions, condition, listing availability, and whether a home’s sale evidence is actually comparable in physical characteristics and transaction timing. It should also distinguish an owner’s operating costs and financing from the cross-source screening ratio. The unresolved property-level question is whether the specific home’s current terms resemble the broader ZIP evidence rather than merely sharing its postal label.
","findings":[{"body":"ZIP asking rent remained higher year over year, but the one-year exact same-month change of 1.29% lagged the three-year annualized rate of 1.78% and the five-year annualized rate of 4.50%. The pattern indicates recent moderation, not a forecast. Historical variability and drawdown mean one current index reading should be interpreted with caution.","title":"Rent momentum has slowed relative to the longer record"},{"body":"The current Zillow asking-rent index requires $90,360 in annual income under a 30% arithmetic screen, compared with local median household income of $87,168. Separately, ACS reports that 64.8% of measured renter households were rent burdened at 30% or more. Neither measure determines affordability for a particular household or unit.","title":"Income arithmetic and reported burden point to a cost-pressure tension"},{"body":"The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled estimates created by scaling ZIP Zillow ZORI with the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD FMR or SAFMR is an administrative standard and Zillow ZORI is a blended asking-rent index, so neither source supplies measured bedroom-specific rents for a particular available property.","title":"Bedroom figures are HUD-scaled models, not observed rent quotes"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale observation shows a higher median sold price, sales activity, a sale-to-list average above 100%, and a substantial above-list share. That for-sale evidence is distinct from rental activity. It creates tension with the slower latest-year asking-rent increase and does not convert the ZORI-to-price screen into a yield or return measure.","title":"Resale conditions are firmer than the latest rent-growth signal"}],"risks":["Zillow ZORI blends observed asking rents across rental types, so it may not match the advertised rent, concession structure, utilities, lease length, or physical condition of a specific available home.","ACS figures describe a matched ZCTA through a five-year survey period and include sampling uncertainty; the ZCTA is statistical geography rather than an exact USPS delivery ZIP boundary.","The HUD-derived bedroom ladder is an administrative benchmark used for scaling, not a measurement of current bedroom-specific asking rents, signed leases, landlord pricing, or tenant-paid utility terms.","Redfin resale statistics reflect direct rolling-three-month for-sale transactions and listings, not rental transactions; median sale price and the rent-price screening ratio omit property-specific costs and financing."],"qa":[{"a":"The $2,259 figure is Zillow ZORI, a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is useful for a current asking-rent benchmark, but it is not a lease survey, a bedroom-specific observed rent, or proof of the price and terms for a particular available unit.","q":"What does the current Zillow rent figure represent?"},{"a":"The two measures cover different universes. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, whereas Zillow ZORI tracks typical observed asking rent. A gap between them can reflect those distinct definitions, timing, and household versus listing populations without establishing a cause.","q":"Why is ACS median gross rent lower than Zillow ZORI?"},{"a":"Treat the studio, one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom amounts as modelled monthly estimates only. They scale the ZIP Zillow ZORI using the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD standards are administrative and bedroom-specific, while the resulting estimates are not measured listings, negotiated leases, or property-specific rental comparable evidence.","q":"How should the bedroom estimates be used?"},{"a":"Redfin adds direct ZIP for-sale market evidence: median sold price, price movement, homes sold, marketing time, inventory, months of supply, and sale-to-list behavior. It helps show whether resale conditions align with or differ from rent signals, but it is not rental transaction data and cannot establish a property’s operating return.","q":"What does Redfin add to the rental analysis?"}],"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":"2016-09-01","rent":1524.218747},{"period":"2016-10-01","rent":1492.61058},{"period":"2016-11-01","rent":1494.331549},{"period":"2016-12-01","rent":1486.807704},{"period":"2017-01-01","rent":1498.184999},{"period":"2017-02-01","rent":1518.367239},{"period":"2017-03-01","rent":1532.883718},{"period":"2017-04-01","rent":1539.257296},{"period":"2017-05-01","rent":1519.133168},{"period":"2017-06-01","rent":1544.471588},{"period":"2017-07-01","rent":1563.873665},{"period":"2017-08-01","rent":1562.463428},{"period":"2017-09-01","rent":1566.451258},{"period":"2017-10-01","rent":1606.553463},{"period":"2017-11-01","rent":1638.681437},{"period":"2017-12-01","rent":1632.91658},{"period":"2018-01-01","rent":1612.838787},{"period":"2018-02-01","rent":1575.470379},{"period":"2018-03-01","rent":1582.377681},{"period":"2018-04-01","rent":1578.658665},{"period":"2018-05-01","rent":1609.472458},{"period":"2018-06-01","rent":1608.400226},{"period":"2018-07-01","rent":1625.454015},{"period":"2018-08-01","rent":1628.741116},{"period":"2018-09-01","rent":1635.632281},{"period":"2018-10-01","rent":1629.287256},{"period":"2018-11-01","rent":1637.90779},{"period":"2019-01-01","rent":1667.585266},{"period":"2019-02-01","rent":1683.155622},{"period":"2019-03-01","rent":1695.703332},{"period":"2019-04-01","rent":1712.627602},{"period":"2019-05-01","rent":1712.744382},{"period":"2019-06-01","rent":1715.246547},{"period":"2019-07-01","rent":1705.512902},{"period":"2019-08-01","rent":1718.497282},{"period":"2019-09-01","rent":1724.576937},{"period":"2019-10-01","rent":1735.901825},{"period":"2019-11-01","rent":1734.494456},{"period":"2019-12-01","rent":1739.009645},{"period":"2020-01-01","rent":1764.83273},{"period":"2020-02-01","rent":1788.193399},{"period":"2020-03-01","rent":1743.656843},{"period":"2020-04-01","rent":1731.665602},{"period":"2020-05-01","rent":1715.717701},{"period":"2020-06-01","rent":1726.344439},{"period":"2020-07-01","rent":1749.817976},{"period":"2020-08-01","rent":1756.89997},{"period":"2020-09-01","rent":1759.425174},{"period":"2020-10-01","rent":1710.566491},{"period":"2020-11-01","rent":1722.129515},{"period":"2020-12-01","rent":1698.600275},{"period":"2021-01-01","rent":1745.833856},{"period":"2021-02-01","rent":1761.49673},{"period":"2021-03-01","rent":1807.838921},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":1806.771278},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":1812.465814},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":1812.867907},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":1824.109985},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":1837.54997},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":1861.605278},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":1911.493926},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":1935.702833},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":1981.863046},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":1965.544338},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1971.312375},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1972.628133},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":2005.484779},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":2019.168327},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":2020.909337},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":2042.713243},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":2049.337943},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":2090.08818},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":2102.056232},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":2108.764884},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":2091.813031},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":2095.549494},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":2105.290295},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":2103.486573},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":2095.997645},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":2121.407651},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":2142.072932},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":2140.499307},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":2145.908346},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":2117.245483},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":2102.81844},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":2105.217655},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":2123.976525},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":2146.547077},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":2146.473126},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":2134.336375},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":2133.595086},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":2128.890605},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":2144.879476},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":2154.479085},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":2175.935504},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":2199.780348},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":2219.569593},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":2209.520736},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":2188.438305},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":2187.172114},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":2183.739587},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":2200.79849},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":2205.329897},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":2244.708009},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":2230.148969},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":2232.218381},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":2224.290162},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":2223.400431},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":2223.403347},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":2239.566116},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":2259.571243},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":2260.104041},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":2270.582533},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":2272.855387},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":2278.591032},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":2252.693495},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":2258.828874}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":117,"firstPeriod":"2016-09-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":118,"coverageRatio":0.9915254237288136,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":2230.148969,"endRent":2258.828874,"change":0.012860084863685062,"cagr":0.012860084863685062},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":2142.072932,"endRent":2258.828874,"change":0.054506053578198044,"cagr":0.017848229972938556},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1812.867907,"endRent":2258.828874,"change":0.24599749671667603,"cagr":0.04496906516064714}},"maxDrawdown":-0.05010259183939647,"annualizedVolatility":0.0348727353341473,"consecutiveReturnCount":115}}