At 65804, Zillow’s June 2026 ZORI is $1,367 per month. It is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, not a quote for a particular vacant dwelling or a median lease payment. The index is 4.58% above its exact same-month reading a year earlier. For wider context only, the City of Springfield rent at city scope is about $1,230, the Greene County rent at county scope is $1,264, and the Springfield, MO rent at metro scope is $1,268; each sits below the ZIP reading. This relationship gives the local index a higher current level than these broader comparators, but it neither identifies the units behind each series nor establishes what an individual property will charge.
The conspicuous asking-index level should not be merged with the ACS 2024 five-year matched-ZCTA median gross rent of $960, which carries a $53 ACS margin of error. The asking index is 42.40% above that survey median, yet the measures answer different questions. ACS describes occupied renter homes across its survey period and its gross-rent concept includes selected utilities; ZORI reflects typical observed asking rents across blended rental types. The five-digit label serves both as Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and as the Census ZCTA match. A ZCTA is a statistical area, not an identical boundary to a USPS delivery ZIP, so this is a matched statistical comparison rather than a delivery-address definition.
Bedroom sizing is useful only as a modelled translation of that ZIP index. Scaling the ZIP ZORI with the local FY2026 HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,095 for a studio, $1,102 for one bedroom, $1,367 for two bedrooms, $1,870 for three bedrooms, and $2,124 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents. The associated HUD Fair Market Rent benchmark for a two-bedroom unit is $1,095. HUD FMR or SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent; it supplies the proportional ladder rather than evidence that a listed unit rents at any of these amounts.
Affordability looks different depending on whether the lens is index arithmetic or household survey experience. Applying the stated 30% screen to the $1,367 monthly asking index yields $54,680 in annual required income. The matched-ZCTA ACS median household income is $62,301, above that arithmetic benchmark. This screen is arithmetic only: it is neither advice nor an applicant qualification rule. Separately, ACS records 8,726 renter households, of which 3,578, or 41.00%, reported spending at least that share of income on gross rent. That burden statistic concerns surveyed households and selected-utility gross rent; it cannot show the payment burden of a particular unit or household.
The matched-ZCTA ACS inventory totals 20,511 housing units, including 994 vacant, for a 4.85% vacancy rate. The stock contains 14,098 single-family units and 3,380 large multifamily units. This reports housing composition and vacancy categories rather than a count of live supply. In particular, 158 units classified vacant for rent are not evidence of live advertisements, immediately leasable homes, or units comparable with the ZORI mix. The inventory can frame the size and composition of this statistical area, but it does not establish conditions at a particular building.
The historical record supplies continuity but cannot become a projection. Exact same-month ZORI change was 4.58% over one year, 4.05% annualized over three years, and 5.84% annualized over five years through the stated endpoint. The recent gain confirms the longer upward direction, although it is slower than the longer-period annualized pace. Annualized monthly-return volatility was 2.98%, maximum drawdown was -1.89%, and coverage was 99.21% across 125 observations. These figures bound the confidence available from one snapshot: coverage limits missing-observation uncertainty, while observed variation and a past decline mean the index remains distinct from a property quote. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs, where lower is higher, are 510 for momentum, 1,594 for stability, and 612 for the balanced measure. The rank pattern is stronger for momentum than stability. These backward-looking measurements are not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Every conclusion is limited by the source windows and definitions: ZORI tracks an index of observed asks, ACS surveys occupied homes, and HUD supplies an administrative standard rather than a market quote. Before applying a ZIP signal to a property, verify the exact advertised rent, bedroom count, unit type, availability date, lease duration, concessions, mandatory fees, deposits, and which utilities are included. Also establish whether the listing belongs to the ZIP market identifier used here rather than merely sharing a mailing convention. Those property-level checks address questions that the index, survey, modelled ladder, burden results, and vacancy categories cannot answer. Does the actual offered home’s all-in payment and lease terms align with the modelled category being considered?