ZIP 80010’s Zillow ZORI, a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, is $1,558 and is down 1.2% from the same month a year earlier. The $1,759 Aurora city-context rent, $1,821 Arapahoe County context rent, and $1,930 Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO metro-context rent are broader comparisons, not substitutes for the ZIP observation. The current ZIP reading is therefore lower than each named surrounding benchmark, while its recent decline introduces a cooling signal rather than evidence of a stable upward asking-rent path.
The history clarifies that the latest direction breaks from the longer path. Exact same-month change is -1.17% over one year, compared with growth of 0.12% over three years and 2.97% over five years. Monthly changes annualize to 2.88% variability, which means one current asking-rent snapshot deserves moderate rather than absolute confidence. Separately, the worst peak-to-trough historical drawdown was 5.92%, showing that the index has moved materially below prior highs. The history has 122 observations and 100% coverage. National discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs place momentum at 2,587 and stability at 1,406; lower ranks are higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts, quality grades, or investment recommendations.
The ZIP 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. In the ACS 2024 five-year survey, occupied renter homes reported median gross rent of $1,485 with a $56 margin of error; that survey measure includes selected utilities and is not an asking-rent series. Zillow’s current asking-rent index is 4.9% higher. HUD’s two-bedroom Fair Market Rent/Special Area standard is $2,089, placing ZORI at 74.6% of that administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than an observed market asking rent. Scaling ZIP ZORI through the local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,225 for a studio, $1,308 for one bedroom, $1,558 for two bedrooms, $2,039 for three bedrooms, and $2,274 for four bedrooms. They are modelled estimates, not measured bedroom rents.
The income screen is close to the local income midpoint but should not be mistaken for an applicant rule. At a 30% rent-to-income arithmetic screen, annual income required for the current ZORI is $62,320. ACS median household income is $63,579, with a $4,453 margin of error, and the resulting ZIP asking-rent-to-income screen is 29.4%. That comparison does not establish affordability for a household with a particular rent, income, debt load, utility bill, or lease term. Separately, 4,759 of 8,605 renter households in the ACS survey, or 55.3%, reported spending at least the stated share of income on gross rent. This burden measure describes surveyed renter households and cannot prove the burden attached to any particular available unit.
The housing base supplies important context for that burden reading. The matched ACS ZCTA contains 15,410 housing units, of which 14,357 are occupied and 1,053 are vacant. Single-family structures account for 8,435 units, while large multifamily structures are also represented in the stock. Renter households make up 59.9% of occupied homes, a substantially renter-oriented occupancy mix. The reported vacancy rate is 6.8%, and 350 vacant units are identified as available for rent. Those figures describe aggregate stock and vacancy classifications, not current availability, concessions, condition, or leasing competition for a specific property.
Broader tenure and survey context reinforces the ZIP’s distinct profile without explaining why it differs. Aurora city context, Arapahoe County context, and Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro context each show lower renter shares than the ZIP, while their reported rents and household incomes are also higher. The city and county burden shares are both above the ZIP burden share, so a lower ZIP asking-rent level does not automatically translate into low household pressure. Metro apartment vacancy and time-on-market figures belong to the metro rental context, not to this ZIP’s Zillow index or Census ZCTA stock. Cross-geography comparisons are useful framing only when their scope remains explicit.
The direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation presents a different tension. Median sold price is $411,307, up 0.3% year over year, with 103 homes sold and a median marketing time of 24 days. Inventory is 85 homes and months of supply stands at 2.5. Sales averaged 99.2% of list price, while 28.0% sold above list price. These are for-sale market and resale-liquidity signals, not rental transactions or rental comparables. The modest price increase and active sale-to-list signals sit beside cooling asking rent, challenging any simple reading that rents and resale conditions are moving in lockstep. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price is 4.5%; it is only a cross-source screening ratio, not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield.
The evidence has several non-interchangeable timeframes and universes: Zillow captures asking-rent conditions, ACS captures surveyed occupied renter homes, HUD sets an administrative standard, and Redfin records completed ZIP resales. A property-level review should verify the exact unit’s bedroom count, quoted rent, included utilities, concessions, lease duration, availability date, condition, and comparable current listings before treating the modelled ladder or ZIP index as applicable. For a resale candidate, verify the individual sale’s property type, condition, list-price history, financing terms, and transaction timing rather than applying the ZIP median mechanically. The packet supports description of observed conditions and measurement limits, not a forecast or a recommendation.