Every figure on the site is computed by one module, lib/metrics.ts. The monthly build and the in-browser calculator both import it, so a ZIP page and the calculator prefilled for that ZIP give the same answer. This page is generated from the same constants.
This month
26,268 ZIP codes have published figures this month. 8,418 have a Zillow value and a Zillow rent (tier A); 17,850 have a Zillow value and use HUD's Fair Market Rent (tier B). 0 have a value but no rent from either source and get no page. 67 are flagged by the data checks, shown with a note and kept out of search indexes until the next refresh clears them. Values and rents: August 2026. Rate: 7.03% for the week of 24 September 2026, so the investor rate is 7.78%.
Formulas
| Metric | Formula | Shown as |
|---|---|---|
| Typical price | Zillow ZHVI, latest month | $, nearest $1,000 |
| Typical rent | Zillow ZORI, latest month (tier A), or HUD Small Area FMR 2-bedroom (tier B, labelled) | $ a month |
| Gross yield | rent x 12 / price | %, one decimal |
| Price-to-rent ratio | price / (rent x 12) | one decimal |
| Vacancy | 5% of gross rent | $ a year |
| Management | 8% of collected rent (gross rent minus vacancy) | $ a year |
| Property tax | effective tax rate x price | $ a year |
| Insurance | state NAIC HO-3 average x 1.2 | $ a year |
| Maintenance | 1% of price | $ a year |
| Operating expenses | taxes + insurance + maintenance + vacancy + management | $ a year, itemised |
| Net operating income (NOI) | rent x 12 - operating expenses | $ a year |
| Estimated cap rate | NOI / price | %, labelled estimated |
| Loan payment | standard amortisation, 30 years, 25% down, rate = Freddie Mac 30-year + 0.75 point | $ a month |
| Monthly cash flow | NOI / 12 - loan payment | $ a month, green or red |
| Cash-on-cash return | annual cash flow / (down payment + 3% closing costs) | % |
| DSCR | NOI / annual debt service | two decimals |
| Break-even rate | the rate at which monthly cash flow is zero, solved by bisection between 0% and 30% | % |
| Rent and price trend | 12-month percent change in ZORI and ZHVI (rent trend only from 13 unbroken months) | % |
| Rent minus price growth | rent 12-month % - price 12-month % | points; positive means yields improving |
| Supply pressure | county permits in the last 12 months per 1,000 households | number and national percentile |
The defaults, and why
- 25% down: the usual minimum for investment-property and DSCR loans.
- Freddie Mac rate + 0.75 point: the weekly survey rate is for owner-occupied loans; loans on rentals price higher. The premium is an assumption and varies by lender and borrower.
- 3% closing costs, added to cash invested.
- 1% of price a year for maintenance: the common rule of thumb. Older housing stock runs higher.
- 5% vacancy, about 18 days a year empty.
- 8% management of collected rent: a typical full-service fee. If you self-manage, set it to zero.
- Insurance: NAIC publishes the average homeowners (HO-3) premium by state (2023 data, national $1,737) but no landlord-policy average. Landlord (dwelling) policies usually cost more, so the site multiplies the state HO-3 average by 1.2. The multiplier is our assumption, shown wherever insurance appears.
- Property tax: the effective rate is median real estate taxes paid divided by median home value (Census ACS 5-year), for the ZIP code tabulation area, or the county when the ZIP figure is not published. It reflects what owners pay; a new buyer's bill can differ after reassessment, and some states tax non-homestead property at higher rates.
Publish rules
- Tier A: Zillow value and Zillow rent for the latest month, plus at least 24 months of value history. Full page, indexed, eligible for rankings.
- Tier B: Zillow value, no Zillow rent, HUD Small Area Fair Market Rent present. Full page using HUD's 2-bedroom figure, clearly labelled. Indexed, but not ranked, because HUD's 40th percentile rent is not comparable with Zillow's market rent.
- Tier C: value only. No page; listed in its county table as "rent data not published".
- Flagged: a gross yield above 25%, a one-month value move above 15%, a 12-month rent move above 30%, or a Zillow rent more than three times HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent (seasonal rental markets). Shown with a data-quality note and noindex until the next refresh clears it.
Rules we hold to
- A missing value is shown as missing, never as zero, and is left out of medians and rankings.
- Zillow rent and HUD rent are never blended into one number.
- Every figure carries its source and the month it describes.
- Places are described only by prices, rents, taxes, supply and financing, never by who lives there.
- A refresh that fails validation (published ZIP count moving more than 5%, an unflagged yield outside 0 to 30%, a non-positive price, or stale source months) is not published; the site keeps last month's data.
Known limits
- ZHVI is a typical (middle third) home value, and ZORI a typical asking rent across all home types. A specific property can differ a lot from both.
- ZIP codes and Census ZIP code tabulation areas are close but not identical.
- High gross yields usually go with low prices, older housing and higher real costs for repairs, vacancy and collections than the defaults assume.
Sources, licences and the date each was read are on the data sources page.
Current as of this build: 5.6% national median gross yield across tier A ZIPs.