At the June 2026 reading, Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI for 19121 is $1,628 per month, a 4.47% year-over-year rise. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types rather than a lease-specific quote. 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 Philadelphia city context and Philadelphia County context each have rent figures rounding to $1,814, while the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro context is $1,928. Those city, county, and metro measures are wider-area context only, not substitutes for the ZIP observation.
The matched ACS 2024 five-year ZCTA survey places median gross rent at $1,187. It surveys occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, so it is neither Zillow’s current asking index nor an estimate of a newly advertised unit. The asking index is 37.2% above that survey median, a source-universe contrast rather than proof of a change in any one home. ACS reports median household income of $38,516. Under a 30% rent-to-income screen, the current monthly asking figure arithmetically requires $65,120 of annual income. Separately, annualized asking rent equals 50.7% of the reported median income. The screen boundary means income at or above that amount places this rent at no more than the threshold; it is arithmetic, not advice, an applicant qualification rule, or a conclusion about a household’s capacity.
HUD supplies a third, separate universe. The supplied FY2026 local HUD FMR/SAFMR ladder is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent; its two-bedroom figure is $1,570. Applying that local ladder’s proportions to ZORI produces modelled monthly ZIP estimates of $1,255 for a studio, $1,369 for one bedroom, $1,628 for two bedrooms, $1,949 for three bedrooms, and $2,178 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents, because they scale one blended ZIP asking-rent index with HUD relationships. They can organize a bedroom comparison, but they do not identify an actual listing’s condition, utilities, lease terms, or rent.
The backward Zillow history is stable growth, not a forecast: the exact same-month annualized changes were 4.47% in the 1-year window, 4.36% in the 3-year window, and 3.53% in the 5-year window. The latest direction therefore modestly confirms, rather than reverses, the longer path. Its 138 observations provide 100% coverage through June 2026, giving a complete available monthly series rather than a projection. Annualized variability in monthly returns is 2.65%, which supports measured confidence in the broad direction but not false precision in one current snapshot. Separately, the 3.94% maximum drawdown marks the deepest recorded peak-to-trough decline. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs are 479 for momentum, 975 for stability, and 293 for the balanced score; lower ranks are stronger. They organize past measurements only and offer no investment recommendation.
ACS stock classifications show more single-family units than units in large multifamily structures. The ZCTA’s 13.5% vacancy rate and 68.1% renter share describe a renter-heavy survey housing base, not a real-time count of available homes. Within the vacant stock, 355 units are classified as vacant for rent. That classification does not establish a particular home’s condition, actual availability, or comparability. Among renter households, 54.0% report spending 30% or more of income on gross rent. This burden measure reflects surveyed renter homes, whereas the current asking index tracks a different universe. Neither the burden share nor vacancy categories prove pressure or affordability for a particular unit.
Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation is a for-sale market record, not rental transactions. Median sold price was $235,847, up 0.42% year over year; 77 homes sold, and median marketing time was 74 days. Inventory was 286 homes, 33.02% higher than a year earlier, with 11.2 months of supply. Its sale-to-list signals were a 98.89% average sale-to-list ratio, a 30.7% sold-above-list share, and a 23.56% share going off market within two weeks. The combination of transaction count, marketing time, inventory, and supply describes ZIP resale liquidity only. Relative to the steadier rent history, the nearly flat price change and reported supply challenge any simple reading of rent strength as a uniform market signal.
Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by Redfin’s median sold price creates an 8.28% cross-source screening ratio. It is only a screening ratio: not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. The sharp difference between rent movement and much flatter resale-price movement does not resolve the income screen or burden measure, because each source addresses a different population or transaction universe. It instead flags a decision tension: past rent momentum and a current asking index coexist with resale evidence that does not show matching price acceleration. No ratio here measures property-level economics or predicts an outcome.
The limits are material. ZORI remains blended across rental types, ACS is a five-year survey of occupied homes, HUD is an administrative standard, and Redfin is a rolling resale window. ACS estimates also carry survey margins of error. A property-level review would need the actual advertised rent, bedroom count, utilities included, lease term, concessions, condition, and present availability rather than an area average. For a resale comparison, relevant checks include property type, closing date, listing history, and whether sale-to-list and marketing-time evidence pertains to the same kind of home. Those checks preserve the difference between source universes; neither a survey vacancy category nor a burden statistic establishes facts about one unit. The packet supplies backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or a substitute for those checks.