The distinctive decision question for 80013, used here as a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a matched Census ZCTA label, is not simply whether a posted rent looks high or low against a broad benchmark. It is how the June 2026 ZIP signal, bedroom-scaled estimates, household measures, and stock composition can inform a property-level comparison without being mistaken for a quote. Zillow’s ZIP ZORI is $2,027 per month, following a 0.26% year-over-year decline. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. Its essentially unchanged reading establishes the current index level and recent direction, but it does not establish availability, concessions, lease terms, utility treatment, or the rent for any specific dwelling. The central comparison is therefore between a property’s disclosed rent and bedroom count and this ZIP reference, while preserving the distinction between an index and a listing.
Zillow, ACS, and HUD answer different questions. The ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, whereas the matched Census ZCTA’s ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent is $2,201, with a $79 90% margin of error, for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. ZORI sits 8.0% below that survey median; this is a cross-universe comparison, not a measure of change or a quality adjustment. A ZCTA is a statistical area used for Census tabulation and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. HUD’s FY2026 $2,089 two-bedroom FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent, and ZORI is 3.0% below it. Neither ACS gross rent nor HUD converts the ZIP index into a listing price.
The ZIP bedroom view is deliberately modelled, not measured: it scales the ZIP ZORI using the local HUD ladder. The resulting monthly estimates are $1,594 for a studio, $1,702 for one bedroom, $2,027 for two bedrooms, $2,653 for three bedrooms, and $2,959 for four bedrooms. Their pattern tracks the HUD schedule, which runs from $1,643 for a studio to $3,049 for four bedrooms. The equality between the ZIP index and the modelled two-bedroom estimate is a construction feature of the scaling method, not validation that observed two-bedroom asking rents equal the index. The bedroom estimates provide a consistent size-adjusted reference only; they do not measure achieved rents, condition, availability, or a property’s advertised terms.
ACS ZCTA housing counts frame vacancy as composition rather than as a current listing inventory. The 4.2% vacancy rate encompasses 1,128 units. The classifications include 521 vacant units for rent, 93 for sale, and 63 seasonal, so the total cannot be read as a count of immediately obtainable rentals. The structure mix also affects how a blended asking-rent index should be read: 22,115 units are single-family, while 1,706 are large-multifamily units. These survey classifications describe the area’s housing stock, not the characteristics of a particular property. A for-rent vacancy classification neither identifies a vacancy at a particular building nor shows that any listed home is priced at ZORI, available on a particular date, or offered under comparable lease terms.
Income and burden readings likewise describe households, not eligibility. The ZCTA’s median household income is $101,191, while renter households make up 25.1% of occupied homes. Annualizing the monthly ZORI produces a 24.0% asking-rent-to-median-household-income ratio. Separately, the arithmetic income amount associated with spending 30% of income on that monthly index is $81,080. This 30% screen is arithmetic only, not advice or an applicant qualification rule, and it uses an area-wide household median rather than a renter-specific income distribution. In ACS burden observations, 3,625 of 6,453 renter households, or 56.2%, reported gross-rent burdens of 30% or more. That observed share cannot establish the burden facing a specific household or unit.
Broader measures place ZIP signals in context but are not substitutes for ZIP or ZCTA measures. Aurora city scope has a $1,759 rent context, Arapahoe County scope has $1,821, and Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO metro scope has $1,930; all three are below the ZIP ZORI. For tenure context, Aurora city scope renter share is 37.6%, while the matched ZCTA is 25.1%. The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO metro scope reports a 21.9% rent-to-income measure and 8.3% apartment vacancy. These values are wider-area context, with their own coverage and methodology; the comparison describes differences in reported metrics and does not show why the ZIP differs.
Key limits are timing, geography, and measure design. The current Zillow figure is a ZIP-level index at its stated period, ACS is a five-year ZCTA survey with sampling uncertainty, and HUD is a standard; none reports a verified, live property quote. Before applying these reference points to a particular rental, check the advertised monthly rent, exact bedroom count, property type, whether selected utilities are included or separately billed, lease length, concession treatment, availability date, and any fees or deposits. Also confirm whether the listing’s location is within the ZIP market identifier, because the Census ZCTA match is statistical rather than a USPS delivery boundary. Compare the property’s own disclosed terms against the appropriate reference universe, while keeping the modelled ladder and arithmetic income screen separate from a landlord’s actual policies.