At the June 2026 endpoint, Zillow ZORI puts the ZIP’s typical observed asking-rent index, blended across rental types, at $1,820 per month. Its exact same-month annualized change was 1.9% over one year, 1.3% over three years, and 3.5% over five years. The latest pace therefore confirms a positive long-run direction, but it is faster than the middle period and still breaks from the older, faster five-year path. The direct history has 101 observations with 100% coverage. Annualized monthly-return variability was 3.0% and maximum drawdown was -3.7%, so coverage supports continuity while variation limits the confidence warranted by one current index snapshot. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations. Transparent national discovery scores were 42.1 for momentum, 46.7 for stability, and 43.9 for balanced performance, ranked 1,684, 1,548, and 1,813 among history-eligible ZIPs, respectively.
Comparison starts with scope, not an assumed conflict. The five-digit label 84106 is both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and a match to a Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. Zillow’s June index is an asking-rent measure; it should not be substituted for the ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent of $1,682, which is a survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. The asking index is 8.2% above that ACS median, but part of the difference can reflect definitions, survey versus index construction, and timing rather than a contradiction. The ACS value describes existing occupied renter households in the matched ZCTA; Zillow describes typical observed asking rents for the ZIP market.
The supplied FY2026 local HUD ladder provides a useful sizing mechanism, but a different universe again. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent. Scaling the ZIP ZORI by that local ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,316 for a studio, $1,463 for one bedroom, $1,820 for two bedrooms, $2,436 for three bedrooms, and $2,892 for four bedrooms. They are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents, and they carry the ZORI’s blended-rental-type premise into each size. The two-bedroom estimate sits 21.8% above the supplied local two-bedroom HUD standard of $1,494. That gap cannot establish what any advertised or leased two-bedroom charges, because HUD’s administrative benchmark is designed for a different purpose.
An affordability screen should likewise remain arithmetic. Annualizing the Zillow index at a 30% share yields $72,800 of required household income; it is not advice, a household budget, or an applicant qualification rule. Relative to the matched ZCTA’s ACS median household income of $101,551, that annualized asking-rent screen equals 21.5% before any household-specific expenses or lease terms. In the ACS occupied-renter sample, 2,498 of 6,208 renter households, or 40.2%, reported gross-rent burdens at or above the threshold. Gross rent’s selected-utility treatment matters here. This population measure identifies a material burden share in the survey, but it cannot prove burden, eligibility, or affordability for any person or particular unit.
The matched ZCTA’s ACS housing counts provide stock context rather than listings. Of 17,306 housing units, 1,356 were vacant, a 7.8% vacancy rate; this is an area-wide count, not evidence that a particular property is available. Renter occupancy represents 38.9% of occupied homes, and 555 vacant units were classified for rent. The stock spans reported structure categories: 11,547 units were single-family structures, while 2,485 were in large multifamily structures. These categories describe the area’s reported housing composition and vacancy status in the ACS survey; they do not reveal condition, rent, concessions, bedroom count, turnover timing, or the availability of a specific unit.
Against wider benchmarks, ZIP rent is elevated, but the comparisons remain context only. The Salt Lake City city-context rent is $1,629, the Salt Lake County county-context rent is $1,639, and the Salt Lake City, UT metro-context rent is $1,638; each sits below the ZIP’s Zillow index. Those city, county, and metro figures cover broader geographies and should not be treated as alternate measurements of this ZIP. The local matched-ZCTA household-income and renter-share profile may differ from each larger scope, as may rental types represented in their rent measures. Thus the comparison frames the ZIP’s current index within named city, county, and metro contexts without converting broad averages into a property-level price or a claim about why the difference exists.
Before relying on a listing, verify the advertised monthly rent, unit bedroom count, included and excluded utilities, lease length, deposits and recurring fees, concession timing, availability date, furnished status, and whether the address lies within the market identifier used here. Compare those property facts with the appropriate source universe: Zillow for a blended asking-rent index, ACS for survey-based occupied-household conditions, and HUD for an administrative bedroom standard. Treat ACS figures as survey estimates with their own margins of error. Recheck the listing directly because none of these sources confirms a specific unit’s current terms. The central practical question is which benchmark matches the decision being made and what the actual property documentation shows.