At June 2026, Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI for this label is $1,190 per month, a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. The five-digit label 35805 is both the Zillow ZIP market identifier and the matched Census ZCTA; a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. Using ZORI, the 30% required-income screen computes to $47,600 annually. That arithmetic exceeds the ACS 2024 five-year matched-ZCTA median household income of $35,385 and places the simple asking-rent-to-income relation at 40.4%. It is not advice, a household budget, or an applicant qualification rule; it simply exposes the difference between an area-level income median and a current asking-rent index.
Different data universes prevent the current index from being treated as a lease comparable. ACS reports a median gross rent of $909 for occupied renter homes in the matched ZCTA; it is a five-year survey measure and includes selected utilities. Current ZORI is 30.9% above that survey median, a gap that may reflect timing, rent concepts, housing mix, or utilities rather than a change in any particular unit. Wider context also sits above the ZIP index: the City of Huntsville context rent is $1,322, Madison County context rent is $1,371, and the Huntsville, AL metro context rent is $1,381. Those city, county, and metro figures provide wider-area context only, not ZIP rental comps.
Bedroom labels need a separate, explicitly modelled treatment. The supplied local HUD FMR/SAFMR ladder is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent. Scaling ZIP ZORI by that ladder produces modelled monthly ZIP estimates of $936 for a studio, $1,032 for one bedroom, $1,190 for two bedrooms, $1,535 for three bedrooms, and $1,916 for four bedrooms. The corresponding HUD two-bedroom standard is $1,310, which is distinct from both the modelled two-bedroom estimate and an observed lease price. These modelled figures are useful for displaying a relative bedroom ladder, but they are never measured bedroom rents and do not confirm what is currently available at any bedroom count.
The matched ACS ZCTA profile shows 10,953 housing units and a 13.1% vacancy rate. Renter-occupied homes total 5,656, representing a 59.4% renter share among occupied homes. The stock includes 5,378 single-family units and 710 units in large multifamily structures, indicating that the area-level housing base is not confined to one building form. Among surveyed renter households, 3,334 meet or exceed the burden threshold, equal to 58.9% of renter households. That burden statistic and the vacancy rate describe aggregates, not a particular household or address: neither demonstrates that a specific vacancy is for rent, that a unit is affordable, or that an occupant faces the reported burden.
Backward-looking Zillow history shows a sharp change in pace: exact same-month annualized ZORI change was 0.01% over one year, compared with 1.44% over three years and 5.74% over five years. The recent flat direction therefore breaks from, rather than confirms, the longer positive path. The record has full coverage, with 61 observations producing 60 consecutive monthly returns and a 100% coverage ratio. Monthly returns annualize to 4.24% variability, which reduces the confidence that a single current index reading represents a smooth trend. Separately, the maximum drawdown was 3.26%, documenting a prior decline from a historical peak. National transparent discovery ranks are 2,180 for momentum, 2,688 for stability, and 2,700 for the balanced score, where lower ranks are higher; they are discovery measures, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Redfin supplies a different direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation, entirely within the for-sale market rather than rental transactions. Median sold price was $179,959, up 2.83% from a year earlier, with 48 homes sold and a median 55 days on market. The same ZIP resale window reports 134 active listings and inventory of 82 homes, with inventory 45.91% higher year over year and 5.1 months of supply. Sale-to-list evidence also remained below full list realization: the average sale-to-list ratio was 95.78%, while 14.91% of sold homes went above list. These measures describe resale liquidity, pricing, and marketing conditions; they are not rental comparables or evidence about lease terms.
The strongest cross-source tension is that ZIP resale prices rose while the one-year asking-rent path was effectively flat and the income screen remained strained. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by the median sold price creates a 7.94% screening ratio, but it is only a cross-source screen. It is not a cap rate, net return, expected return, property yield, or measure of property-level economics. The resale price advance challenges any simple reading that past rent growth is still moving in lockstep with the for-sale market, while higher resale inventory and below-list average sales show that price growth alone does not summarize ZIP resale conditions. None of these contrasts establishes causation between the rental and resale series.
Property-level review remains necessary because each source is area-level or index-based. Concrete checks include confirming that the property address aligns with the relevant Zillow ZIP market and Census geography; recording the actual advertised rent, bedroom count, property type, included utilities, and availability; and distinguishing a unit’s lease terms from ACS gross-rent survey results. For a property being sold, the relevant checks are its own list history, sale status, and condition rather than the ZIP median sold price or rent-price screen. The remaining question is whether the property’s address, bedroom count, advertised rent, utility treatment, availability, and sale record actually match the definitions used in this report.