ZIP 11377 functions as both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and the match to a Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. In June 2026, Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI was $2,939 per month, up 8.0% from a year earlier. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, so it supplies a current market signal rather than a lease ledger or a bedroom-specific quote. The key tension begins with that increase: asking-rent momentum is strong, while the rest of the packet requires caution when translating one current index reading into household affordability or a conclusion about a particular property.
The backward-looking ZORI record confirms an upward longer path rather than breaking from it. Exact same-month annualized changes were 8.0% over 1 year, 5.1% over 3 years, and 6.8% over 5 years; the most recent pace is faster than both longer comparison windows. The history has full coverage across 70 monthly observations. Its annualized monthly-return variability is 3.6%, placing this ZIP in the supplied high-variability category and reducing confidence that a single current rent snapshot is fully representative of near-term conditions. Separately, the largest recorded peak-to-trough decline was 2.6%, a comparatively contained historical retreat. Discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs place momentum at 133, stability at 2,314, and the balanced measure at 704, where lower rank is stronger. These are retrospective measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Affordability looks materially different in the matched ZCTA’s ACS five-year survey. ACS median gross rent was $1,804, a survey measure for occupied renter homes that includes selected utilities, while median household income was $73,073. Those figures are not interchangeable with Zillow’s current asking-rent index: they describe different populations, timing, and rent concepts. Applying the 30% required-income screen mechanically to the current ZORI produces $117,560 of annual income, and the same comparison puts asking rent at 48.3% of the reported median household income. This is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule. In the ACS renter-home universe, 12,158 of 23,705 renter households, or 51.3%, reported gross-rent burdens at or above that threshold; that does not establish burden for any one unit or household.
The bedroom ladder should also be read as a model, not as a set of measured ZIP rent comps. Scaling ZIP ZORI with the local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $2,132 for a studio, $2,473 for one bedroom, $2,939 for two bedrooms, $3,600 for three bedrooms, and $4,148 for four bedrooms. The local HUD two-bedroom standard is $2,616, which places the ZIP ZORI benchmark 12.3% above that administrative standard. HUD FMR or SAFMR is bedroom-specific and useful for constructing the local ladder, but it is not asking rent. The modelled estimates therefore organize the current ZORI signal by bedroom size; they do not measure achieved rents, advertised rents, utilities, concessions, or unit condition.
The ZCTA housing-stock evidence describes a renter-heavy base, but not live availability. ACS estimates show 35,254 housing units, of which 33,612 were occupied and 1,642 were vacant, yielding a 4.7% vacancy rate. Renters accounted for 70.5% of occupied homes, and large multifamily structures were the leading identified structure category. These counts provide context for the broad housing base behind the rent and burden measures, yet they cannot show whether a specific building has vacant apartments, what terms are attached to an advertised unit, or whether the counted vacancy is suitable for a given household. ZCTA vacancy is an area-level estimate, not proof that any particular rental is available.
Broader comparisons show that the ZIP index sits below wider asking-rent context, despite its recent local acceleration: the citywide New York context rent is $4,133, the Queens County context rent is $3,256, and the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro context rent is $3,573. Each is a wider geographic context rather than a substitute for the ZIP reading. The difference matters because city, county, and metro figures can contain different rental mixes and market conditions than 11377. They support the conclusion that the ZIP’s current asking-rent index is lower than these named benchmarks, but they do not revise the ZIP’s ACS burden estimates, HUD standards, or history record.
The direct rolling-three-month Redfin ZIP resale observation introduces a meaningful counterweight to the rent story. Median sold price was $654,852, up 11.2% year over year, with 50 homes sold and a median 49 days on market. At the same time, inventory was 203 homes and months of supply stood at 12.2, while the average sale-to-list ratio was 98.7% and 26.6% of sales closed above list. This is for-sale market evidence, not rental transactions or rental comps. Rising sold prices broadly confirm upward market pressure suggested by rent history, but the substantial supply reading, marketing time, and below-list average challenge any simple interpretation of uniformly tight conditions. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price is a 5.4% cross-source screening ratio only; it is not a cap rate, property yield, net return, or expected return.
Important limits remain. ZORI does not identify bedroom mix, lease signing date, included utilities, or concessions; ACS is a multi-year survey of occupied homes; HUD is an administrative standard; and Redfin measures resale activity rather than rental economics. Concrete property-level checks include the actual asking rent by legal bedroom count, utilities paid by tenant or owner, concessions and lease duration, current marketing status, unit condition, building-level availability, and directly comparable closed sales where a resale comparison is relevant. The historical record can describe prior movement but cannot establish future rent direction, and area vacancy or burden cannot establish the circumstances of a particular unit. Can the specific property’s current terms and comparables support the broad signals without treating any one source as a substitute for unit-level evidence?