The central tension in this ZIP is not a single quoted rent but the gap between a current asking-rent signal and an occupied-home survey. In June 2026, Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI is $1,439 per month. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, so it identifies the current ZIP asking-rent level rather than the price of a specified vacant unit. That distinction matters because a prospective lease may differ in bedroom count, utility treatment, condition, or concessions. The comparisons below keep the evidence systems separate instead of treating any one figure as a universal market rent.
The matched Census ZCTA’s ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent is $1,176, placing the current ZORI 22.4% higher. ACS is a survey of occupied renter homes, and its median gross rent includes selected utilities; it is not a current asking-rent series. The five-digit label 83401 is both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and the match used for the Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. In a third universe, the FY2026 HUD FMR/SAFMR two-bedroom standard is $1,305. HUD’s bedroom-specific standard is administrative, not asking rent, so these comparisons cannot establish that an individual listing is mispriced.
To translate the ZIP-wide index into a unit-size frame, the local HUD ladder scales ZORI by each bedroom standard relative to the HUD two-bedroom point. The resulting modelled monthly estimates are $1,140 for a studio, $1,207 for one bedroom, $1,439 for two bedrooms, $2,001 for three bedrooms, and $2,414 for four bedrooms. They are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents: the method preserves local HUD bedroom relationships while anchoring them to the blended ZIP ZORI. A precise listing can land elsewhere because actual utilities, furnishings, lease length, and incentives are not inputs to this calculation. Use the ladder as a consistent comparison tool, not as a substitute for listing-specific terms.
An arithmetic affordability screen converts the monthly index to $57,560 of annual income at a 30% rent share. This is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule; it omits taxes, debts, household composition, deposits, and utility details. The ZCTA’s median household income is $78,497, useful only as a broad benchmark rather than a tenant-income reading. Separately, ACS records 1,322 of 3,875 renter households, or 34.1%, with gross-rent burdens at or above that threshold. That survey burden does not establish the costs, income, availability, or affordability of a particular unit today.
The ACS ZCTA housing stock contains 16,447 units, including 733 vacant units, for a 4.5% vacancy rate. Renter households make up 24.7% of occupied units. The structure count includes 12,477 single-family units and 347 units in larger multifamily buildings, a composition relevant to interpreting a blended rent index but not a count of rental listings. Among vacancies, 147 units are classified for rent. That category does not prove a current unit is available, comparable, priced at ZORI, or suitable for a given household; neither does the overall vacancy measure.
For wider context only, the Idaho Falls city-context rent value is $1,382.64, the Bonneville County-context rent value is $1,415, and the Idaho Falls, ID metro-context rent value is $1,414. Each is below this ZIP’s index, but the city, county, and metro values have wider geographic scopes and cannot redefine the ZIP observation. Their roles are comparative rather than evidentiary for a property. Keeping the scope in view is particularly important where a city or metro summary may contain locations and rental mixes not represented by the ZIP index.
The Zillow history is complete for 67 observations and 66 consecutive monthly returns through the stated endpoint. Exact same-month ZORI changes annualize to 1.5% over one year, 1.8% over three years, and 4.2% over five years. The latest one-year direction remains positive, but its slower pace breaks from the longer path’s faster annualized growth. Annualized monthly-return variability was 3.2%, and maximum drawdown was 2.3%, which quantifies past movement around an index snapshot. Together with complete coverage, those measurements provide a bounded historical basis for confidence in one current snapshot, while leaving listing-specific uncertainty unresolved. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 1,707 for momentum, 1,964 for stability, and 2,091 for balanced history; lower ranks are higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations. Before relying on the index, check the property’s live advertised and concession-adjusted rent, bedroom count, lease term, included utilities, recurring fees, deposit, availability date, and address. Does that all-in property-level evidence fit the relevant modelled comparison?