At $3,085 in June 2026, the 11374 Zillow Observed Rent Index, or ZORI, is the central current asking-rent signal, up 7.74% from the prior year. This 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. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, so it is neither a lease quote for every home nor a measured bedroom series. The key tension is that the index implies $123,400 in annual household income under a 30% screen, while the ACS five-year median household income is $90,631. That screen is arithmetic, not advice or an applicant qualification rule.
History places the current increase in a fully observed, backward-looking path rather than an outlook. Exact same-month ZORI changes through the stated endpoint were 7.74% over one year, 5.70% annualized over three years, and 6.98% annualized over five years. Recent direction therefore confirms rather than breaks from the longer upward path, and its one-year pace exceeds both multi-year measures, matching the supplied accelerating classification. Stated coverage is 100%. Monthly index movements translate to 2.83% annualized variability; even a complete series leaves reasonable uncertainty around what one current snapshot represents. The maximum peak-to-trough drawdown was 4.70%, showing prior declines within the observed path. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs place momentum at 90 and stability at 1,302. These ranks and returns are backward-looking measurements, never forecasts or investment recommendations.
A matched Census geography supplies an older, different lens. ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent in the 11374 ZCTA is $1,958 with a published $67 margin of error. It surveys occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, unlike ZORI's observed asking-rent index. The current ZORI is 57.6% above that survey median; the spread is a source-universe difference, not evidence that any particular home's rent changed by that amount. HUD's FY2026 two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR standard is $2,616. It is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent. Neither HUD FMR/SAFMR nor ACS gross rent substitutes for a ZIP asking-rent observation.
The bedroom ladder is intentionally a model, not a rental survey. Applying the local HUD ladder's ratios to ZIP ZORI produces modelled monthly estimates of $2,238 for a studio, $2,596 for one bedroom, $3,085 for two bedrooms, $3,779 for three bedrooms, and $4,354 for four bedrooms. These estimates retain a common ZORI anchor and HUD-derived bedroom spacing. They are never measured bedroom rents, and the HUD values that shape them remain administrative standards rather than property advertisements. The ladder can organize a consistent size-based comparison, but actual unit rent, floor area, advertised bedroom designation, and lease terms are not observed in this dataset.
Stock data adds a separate survey-based view of occupancy and burden. The ACS ZCTA records 21,152 housing units, with large multifamily structures outnumbering single-family units. Of all stock, 1,527 units are vacant, a 7.2% vacancy rate. Renter households represent 58.2% of occupied homes. The ACS burden measure places 50.4% of renter households at or above its standard threshold. This is evidence about aggregate occupied-renter survey responses and housing stock, not proof that any specific unit is vacant, attainable, available for rent, or burdened. It should therefore not be translated into a particular household outcome.
Broader geographies position the ZIP below their current rent measures, but only as context. For wider context, the New York City city-context asking-rent index is $4,133, the Queens County county-context asking-rent index is $3,256, and the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA metro-context asking-rent index is $3,573. The ZIP index is lower than each of these broader-scope figures. This does not alter the ZCTA survey or HUD interpretations: city, county, and metro values describe their named scopes, not a substitute rent observation for 11374 or a statement about a comparable unit.
The resale record produces the report's clearest counterweight to the accelerating rent path. In Redfin's direct rolling-three-month ZIP for-sale observation, the median sold price is $447,398, up 4.53% year over year; 68 homes sold, and median marketing time is 80 days. Inventory is 189 homes with 8.5 months of supply. Average sale-to-list is 96.42%, while 7.58% of sales closed above list. Those are direct ZIP resale liquidity and pricing signals, not rental transactions, rental comparables, or property economics. The price increase is directionally consistent with the longer rent history, but the supply and sale-to-list readings challenge a simple translation from an accelerating asking-rent and income screen into uniformly tight resale liquidity. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price is an 8.27% cross-source screening ratio only, not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield.
Several limits keep the analysis from becoming a property conclusion. ZORI, the ACS ZCTA survey, the HUD standard, and the Redfin resale series have different observation designs and reporting periods; the published ACS uncertainty further limits point-to-point precision. Property-level review should verify the current advertised rent, bedroom count, included utilities, availability status, and lease charges before comparing any listing with the index or modelled ladder. When examining a sale, check the closed price, list price, marketing history, and basic unit characteristics against the direct ZIP resale record. These aggregate figures cannot establish a unit's vacancy, a renter's burden, a household's qualification, a property's costs, or a future rent or resale result. Which missing lease and transaction details would materially change the comparison?