WHAT THE STATE DISTRIBUTION SAYSThe published-report distribution shows material within-state dispersion in Zillow’s observed asking-rent index: $1,306 at the low end, $2,468 at the high end, and a $1,162 span around a $1,735.50 median. This is a useful warning against treating the statewide midpoint as a quote or as a universal household budget. The practical comparison is local: whether the current asking-rent level aligns with household income capacity, and how its recent monthly path compares with other areas in the published set. The range describes current direct-evidence ZIP reports, rather than a complete map of every delivery ZIP, neighborhood, or rental property. It frames a screening question, not a substitute for a particular listing’s terms.
Affordability and renter burden answer related but different questions. The current ZORI asking-rent-to-ACS median-household-income ratio runs from 19.0% in 89511 to 39.9% in 89512, with a 26.6% published-report median. At 89119, the ratio is 34.9%; the income required to hold the index at a 30% share is $54,640, compared with ACS median household income of $46,960. The ACS five-year ZCTA estimate places the share of renter households paying 30% or more of gross rent at 57.1% there. The first lens combines a current asking-rent index and area income; the second summarizes surveyed renter households’ gross-rent burden. It is important to read the two together, but neither converts directly into the other.
The direct monthly ZORI series separates momentum from volatility, even though each measure is calculated from the same observed index. One-year annualized growth ranges from -2.7% to 10.9%, while annualized volatility ranges from 2.1% to 4.7%. The low-volatility Fernley report recorded recent growth, whereas the most volatile displayed Las Vegas report had a -0.4% one-year change and a maximum drawdown of -7.7%. Those are counter-signals: a recent gain does not determine the amount of variation, and a decline does not specify the full historical path. The series supports comparison of measured movement and fluctuation across reports, not a forecast of future asking rents or a claim about an individual property.
HUD FMR/SAFMR is a separate, bedroom-specific administrative comparison rather than a market-rent observation. The HUD two-bedroom standard is $1,735 in Clark County and $1,870 in Washoe and Lyon Counties. In 89521, the ZORI level equals 132.0% of that HUD amount; in 89169 it is 75.3%, while the published-report median is 95.5%. The result is a benchmark gap, not evidence that a particular two-bedroom unit will list, lease, or be available at either figure. ZORI’s index value and HUD’s standard have different constructions, and neither resolves an address’s bedroom count, listing terms, or property-level asking rent. Those details require direct verification for any specific home and cannot be supplied by these area-level measures.
