For ZCTA 02301, the decision question is whether a quoted lease is consistent with the current local asking-rent signal or is being judged against a mismatched benchmark. Zillow’s June 2026 ZORI is $2,334 per month, up 0.99% year over year. That is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, not a listing guarantee or a bedroom-specific average. The five-digit label is also a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a matched Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a Census statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP, so users should verify the property’s actual mailing ZIP before applying this area profile. The useful first screen is therefore the property’s all-in quote versus the index, with unit details kept explicit.
The sharpest interpretive signal is the gap between datasets that answer different questions. ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent for occupied renter homes in the matched ZCTA is $1,659, with a $53 margin of error at the 90% confidence level; gross rent includes selected utilities. Zillow’s current index is 40.7% higher, but that spread does not measure same-unit rent growth because ACS covers occupied homes over a survey window while ZORI tracks observed asking rents. FY2026 HUD’s two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR is $2,311, making ZORI about 1.0% higher. That closeness is contextual only: HUD is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent, while Zillow is blended across rental types.
Bedroom sizing changes the practical comparison. Scaling ZIP ZORI with the local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,647 for a studio, $1,779 for one bedroom, $2,334 for two, $2,918 for three and $3,090 for four. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents. The method preserves the local HUD ladder’s relative spacing while anchoring the two-bedroom result to ZIP ZORI; it does not establish what any specific landlord charges. For a unit-level decision, bedroom count is therefore indispensable, and differences in included utilities, condition, mandatory fees, lease terms or concessions can still separate a property’s effective price from either the modelled ladder or the administrative HUD standard.
Affordability signals are substantial but population-level. The ACS 2024 five-year median household income is $74,214, with a $5,680 margin of error. Annualizing ZORI and applying a 30% rent-to-income screen yields $93,360 in required income; against the median, the indexed asking rent equals 37.7% of annual income. This screen is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule. Renters occupy 11,822 of 23,726 occupied homes, or 49.8%. ACS also estimates that 6,464 renter households spend at least 30% of income on gross rent, equal to 54.7% of renter households. That observed burden describes households in aggregate, not the affordability of a particular available unit.
Supply composition helps interpret the market without proving current availability. The ZCTA has 24,975 housing units, of which 1,249 are vacant, yielding a 5.0% overall housing vacancy rate. Only 286 vacant units are classified as for rent; other vacancies include units classified for sale, seasonal use and additional reasons. Because the categories describe survey status rather than live listings, overall housing vacancy should not be treated as a rental availability rate. The stock includes 10,328 single-family units and 2,520 units in large multifamily structures. Those counts show that the aggregate covers more than one structure type, but neither category identifies the size, price, condition, availability or lease terms of a unit under review.
Broader asking-rent context places the ZIP below each supplied comparison: ZIP-scope ZORI is $2,334, versus $2,406.23 for the Brockton city scope, $2,754 for the Plymouth County scope and $3,210 for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro scope. These wider-area composites are context, not substitutes for the ZIP measure. Tenure differs as well: the ZIP renter share is 49.8%, compared with 42.6% in the Brockton city scope and 22.4% in the Plymouth County scope. The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro-scope apartment vacancy context is 6.7%, but that apartment-market measure belongs to a different evidence universe from ACS overall housing vacancy and should not be read as the ZIP’s available-rental rate.
The report’s main limits are timing, geography, aggregation and definition. Zillow reflects its stated observation month, ACS pools a five-year survey, and HUD publishes a fiscal-year administrative schedule; none supplies a live property inventory. Confirm that the exact address falls in both the intended statistical area and the relevant USPS delivery ZIP. For a specific lease, check the bedroom count, advertised base rent, mandatory recurring charges, deposits, included utilities, lease duration, move-in concessions and whether any concession changes effective monthly rent. Compare a final all-in quote with the appropriate modelled bedroom estimate while retaining HUD only as an administrative reference and ACS as occupied-household background. Recalculate the arithmetic income screen for the actual quote, and do not infer unit availability or applicant affordability from aggregate vacancy or burden.