Clewiston, FL

Clewiston, FL presents a decision problem of level-versus-change evidence rather than a simple direction call. The market population is 54,945, and the packet places Zillow's asking-rent index at $2,108 and its home-value index at $275,366 on 2026-06-30. The 12-month Zillow rent change is unavailable, so this report does not assign a score or rank. The useful tension is between a documented rent level, a negative home-value comparison, affordability benchmarks, and current for-sale measures—not a claim that any series predicts the next result. For renters, landlords, and small investors alike, the immediate issue is whether asking-rent economics can be corroborated with actual current terms and costs before a decision relies on an index level.

Zillow measures asking-rent and home-value indexes, making the supplied figures a pricing screen rather than evidence of completed leases, individual sales, or operating performance. At the stated date, the reported gross yield is 0.0918, while the home-value index has a year-over-year change of -0.0355. Those observations are compatible with several conditions; they do not supply a rent trend. A rent level and a home-value change answer different questions, and no conclusion that rent is rising, flat, or falling can be drawn from them. Nor is gross yield a net-return measure in this packet, because it includes no operating-cost evidence. The highest-value Zillow follow-up is series coverage and methodology, alongside current advertised and signed-rent evidence that can test the index level.

Census ACS places median household income at $53,559, with reported rent-to-income and price-to-income ratios of 0.4722 and 5.14. HUD's FY2026 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is $1,261.5, while Zillow asking rent is 1.671 times that benchmark; the stated rent exceeds it by $846.5, a calculation from the two supplied levels. This is an affordability boundary, not a household burden finding. Census ACS describes household income, HUD provides a Fair Market Rent benchmark, and Zillow supplies an asking-rent index. The packet does not link a particular household, lease type, or signed payment to those measures. Lease terms, household composition, and verified current rents are therefore the missing evidence needed to determine how the cross-source gap applies to a particular decision.

Labor and supply evidence does not resolve into a single directional signal. BLS LAUS reports metro job change of 0.0231 in the 12 months to 2026-05. Census Building Permits reports 706 permitted homes through 2026 M06, a reported permits-per-1k rate of 12.85, and 0.0 in both the reported 5+ total and 5+ percentage fields. Redfin, as of 2026-05-01, shows 8.3 months of supply both currently and previously, median days on market of 84 versus 133, a sale-to-list ratio of 0.9565, and price drops of 0.2713 versus 0.234. Stable reported supply, faster market time, and more price reductions are a real tension in the readings. Permits are new permitted supply and Redfin is for-sale market evidence; neither identifies completed rental availability or establishes future pricing. Permit stage detail and current listing records are the relevant next checks.

IRS and HMDA describe participation through different lenses. IRS county-to-county tax-return migration aggregated to the market records 1,912 moved in and 1,435 moved out, for reported net migration of 477. The associated AGI figures are $50,416 for in-movers and $49,757 for out-movers, a reported gap of $659. HMDA's 2024 purchase-mortgage occupancy evidence lists 763 total purchases, 44 investor purchases, and an investor share of 0.0577. The migration data do not measure all rental demand, and the HMDA share does not measure every buyer or investor acquisition. In particular, a mortgage-occupancy dataset is not a census of cash transactions or of the full ownership base. The key unresolved issue is how much of the observed activity is represented by these respective scopes.

FEMA adds a separate exposure screen, not a cash-flow estimate. Its National Risk Index expected annual loss evidence reports a climate loss ratio of 0.002335 and a risk score of 71.7; the identified top hazard is inland flood, within the water hazard type. FEMA does not supply an insurance premium, deductible, repair bill, tax bill, utility bill, or an individual-property risk determination in this packet. The available cost-level evidence instead consists of Zillow's asking-rent and home-value indexes, HUD's Fair Market Rent, and Census ACS income measures. None converts FEMA's risk indicators into a renter's monthly expense or an owner's operating cost. A decision file needs separate insurance and flood-cost documentation rather than treating the risk score as a quoted cost.

Taken together, the direct evidence supports disciplined investigation rather than a market call. A renter's analysis can compare current signed terms with the Zillow asking-rent index, HUD benchmark, and household income context; a landlord or small investor can separately reconcile asking rent, gross yield, price movement, and all operating costs. The shared diligence file would also separate permits from completions, active listings from rental availability, IRS migration from tenancy, and HMDA mortgage evidence from the wider investor universe. FEMA's inland-flood signal belongs in that file with actual insurance and flood-cost records. This approach tests the observed cross-source tensions without treating any aggregate indicator as a property result. It also preserves the central limitation: unavailable 12-month Zillow rent history prevents a score, rank, or rent-momentum conclusion.