At $2,063 in June 2026, the ZIP-level Zillow ZORI sits 13.5% above the matched ZCTA's $1,818 ACS median gross rent. That difference is the central measured tension in 19146: the current asking-rent index exceeds the occupied-renter-home survey benchmark, while the ZIP's aggregate rent-burden rate is lower than Philadelphia city context. The figures do not establish what any particular listing costs or includes, but they do separate a live asking-rent signal from a slower survey measure of households already occupying homes.
The longer Zillow history points to steady, backward-looking rent growth rather than a recent break from its prior path. The one-year exact same-month annualized change was 4.8%, compared with 3.8% over three years and 4.7% over five years; recent direction therefore broadly confirms the five-year path and runs faster than the three-year measure. Annualized monthly-return variability was 2.1%, a relatively limited fluctuation measure that supports more confidence in a single current index reading than a highly erratic series would. Separately, the maximum drawdown was 1.9%, indicating the largest historical decline was modest. Coverage was 100% across 138 observations. On transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs, momentum placed 525th, stability 177th, and the balanced measure 76th, where lower ranks are stronger. These are historical measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
The five-digit label 19146 is both Zillow's ZIP market identifier and a Census ZCTA match; a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than a census of every available unit. For wider context in the same June 2026 period, Philadelphia city context rent was about $1,814, Philadelphia County context rent was also about $1,814, and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro context rent was $1,928; each is a wider-geography comparison, not a ZIP substitute. The ZIP index therefore stands above all three contextual rent figures, but that comparison does not make those broader values local rental comps.
Bedroom figures are modelled estimates, not measured bedroom rents. Scaling the ZIP ZORI through the local HUD ladder produces estimates of $1,594 for a studio, $1,735 for one bedroom, $2,063 for two bedrooms, $2,470 for three bedrooms, and $2,762 for four bedrooms. The local HUD two-bedroom standard is $2,330, putting the ZIP ZORI at 88.5% of that benchmark. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent, so this ladder is useful for consistently sizing the all-type index but cannot verify the rent, condition, utility package, or availability of an individual bedroom category.
Affordability indicators are more restrained than the elevated asking-rent-versus-ACS comparison alone suggests. Median household income was $103,059, while the arithmetic income associated with spending 30% of income on the current monthly ZORI was $82,520; annualized ZORI equals 24.0% of that income measure. This 30% screen is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule. In the ACS five-year survey of occupied renter homes, which includes selected utilities in gross rent, 3,805 of 9,504 renter households, or 40.0%, reported paying at least 30% of income toward rent, below the 52.3% Philadelphia city-context share. The median-gross-rent margin of error was $75 and the burdened-household margin of error was 495, so the burden comparison is an aggregate signal with survey uncertainty, not proof about a given lease.
Housing-stock evidence adds another constraint on how far the rent index can be generalized. The matched ZCTA contained 22,365 housing units and had a 12.9% vacancy rate. Renter households represented 48.8% of occupied households, while the structure mix included 15,687 single-family units and 2,563 units in large multifamily buildings. There were 698 vacant homes classified as for rent, but that category does not establish the number, quality, price, bedroom count, or immediate availability of listings comparable with Zillow ZORI. Likewise, aggregate vacancy is not evidence that a particular property will be easy to lease or that a specific unit has no competing supply.
Redfin's direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation describes a different market universe: for-sale transactions, not rental transactions. The median sold price was $505,886, up 6.5% year over year, with 246 homes sold and a median 45 days on market. Inventory was 291 homes and months of supply measured 3.6. Sale-to-list signals were measured in the same resale universe: the average sale-to-list ratio was 98.6%, and 25.1% of sales closed above list price. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by the median sold price produces a 4.9% cross-source screening ratio only; it is not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. Rising resale prices and the positive rent-history readings align directionally, yet below-list average sale terms and available supply challenge any simple reading of uniformly aggressive market conditions.
Several source limits remain material. Zillow supplies a blended asking-rent index; ACS supplies a five-year survey of occupied renter homes with selected utilities; HUD supplies administrative standards; and Redfin supplies direct ZIP resale observations. None identifies lease renewals, concessions, unit condition, listing status, or the operating costs behind a home sale. Property-level review can therefore reconcile the advertised contract rent, included utilities, bedroom configuration, availability date, concessions, active competing listings, and the distinction between a listed asking rent and a completed resale. The evidence supports a measured comparison of current rent, historical stability, aggregate affordability, stock, and resale liquidity, but not a conclusion about a specific unit's economics.