At $2,628, Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI sets the current typical observed asking-rent index for 02150. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, so it is an index rather than a lease-price observation for one specified unit. It rose 2.7% from the same month a year earlier. The five-digit 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. The matched Census ZCTA’s ACS five-year median gross rent is $1,956 for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. ZORI is 34.4% above that survey median, a cross-universe comparison rather than evidence that like-for-like rents changed by that amount.
At the 2026-06-01 endpoint, exact same-month annualized change was 2.7% over one year, 3.0% over three years, and 5.7% over five years. The recent series therefore continues the longer upward direction but at a slower pace: it confirms the direction while breaking from the longer-run rate of advance. History contains 110 observations and 100% coverage. Annualized variability of monthly returns is 3.7%, while the observed maximum drawdown is 9.5%. That high-variability profile means one current rent snapshot deserves less confidence as a stable market summary than it would in a steadier series, even though the index itself is directly observed. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs are 1,054 for momentum, 2,367 for stability, and 1,779 for balanced performance; lower ranks are higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Bedroom reporting requires a separate construct. The local FY2026 HUD FMR/SAFMR ladder is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent. Scaling the ZIP ZORI by that local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly ZIP estimates of $1,855 for a studio, $2,003 for one bedroom, $2,628 for two bedrooms, $3,285 for three bedrooms, and $3,480 for four bedrooms. The two-bedroom estimate is the base scaling rung. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents: they translate one blended ZIP index through a standard rather than observe asks by unit size. Their apparent precision should not be mistaken for a bedroom-level rent survey.
The clearest arithmetic tension is income. Applying the 30% required-income screen mechanically to the current monthly index produces $105,120 in annual income, compared with ZCTA median household income of $72,179. The annualized index amount is 43.7% of that median income. This screen is arithmetic, not affordability advice, an applicant qualification rule, or a household budget. ACS reports 5,864 renter households with rent burdens of at least 30% out of 10,148 renter households, a 57.8% share. That burden measure is a five-year survey result for occupied renter homes, not a statement about the current circumstances or payment capacity of any particular household or unit.
The matched ZCTA housing stock totals 14,165 units, including 13,716 occupied units and 449 vacant units, for a calculated 3.2% vacancy rate. The vacancy inventory includes 302 units classified as vacant for rent. Renter-occupied homes are the larger tenure category, and the stock includes both single-family and large-multifamily units. These figures describe aggregate housing stock and a survey-era vacancy classification, not the condition, price, turnover, bedroom count, or immediate availability of an individual rental. In particular, the vacant-for-rent count cannot prove that a specific listing is open, competitively priced, or comparable with the ZORI index.
As wider rental context, the Chelsea city-context rent is $2,627.71, the Suffolk County context rent is $3,423, and the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro-context rent is $3,210. The city-context reading is nearly equal to the direct ZIP index, while the county and metro context values are higher. City, county, and metro values are context only; they are not alternate ZIP observations and do not replace the direct 02150 ZORI, the matched ZCTA ACS survey, or the local HUD ladder. Their differing geographic scopes make them useful for framing relative levels, but not for revising the ZIP bedroom model or inferring the rent of a particular property.
The source limits remain material. Zillow ZORI summarizes current observed asking-rent conditions across rental types; ACS summarizes occupied renter homes over a five-year survey period and includes selected utilities; HUD supplies an administrative bedroom standard. None substitutes for listing-level terms. Before comparing a property with these aggregates, check its advertised monthly asking rent, bedroom count, which utilities are included, mandatory fees, concessions, availability date, lease term, and whether the quoted price applies to the actual unit. Neither aggregate vacancy nor aggregate rent burden proves anything about a specific home. The practical closing question is whether the listing’s documented terms make comparison with ZORI, ACS gross rent, or the HUD ladder appropriate at all.