Last updated: October 29, 2026. By the Apartments Club Editorial Team.
This page explains where the numbers on Apartments Club come from, how often we update them, and how we handle corrections. Our goal is that any reader can trace a figure back to its original public source.
Primary data sources
Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)
For typical market rents by ZIP code, city and metro, we use the ZORI series published on Zillow Research. We use the “all homes plus multifamily, smoothed” series. ZORI measures typical asking rents for listings across unit sizes, so it is best used to compare areas and trends, not to price a specific apartment. We always state the month of the value we report (for example, “September 2026”) and the date we downloaded the file.
HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) and Small Area FMRs (SAFMR)
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes Fair Market Rents for metro areas and Small Area FMRs for ZIP codes. These are gross-rent estimates (rent plus basic utilities) by bedroom count, used to set Housing Choice Voucher payment standards. We report the fiscal year and, when HUD revises a year’s figures, which version we used.
U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
For income, rent burden and household data, we use ACS tables from data.census.gov. ACS 5-year estimates carry margins of error, which we mention when they matter for small areas.
Official agencies and law
Rules on rent increases, deposits and tenant rights come from the agency or statute itself, such as the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD), the California Department of Real Estate, and the California Legislative Information site. Building profiles use each property’s own published information, and we note when prices or features may have changed.
How we update
- Rent data: we refresh ZORI-based figures when Zillow publishes new monthly data, and at least once each quarter on our main data pages.
- HUD figures: we update when HUD publishes a new fiscal year (usually effective October 1) or a revision.
- Rules and laws: we review rent-control and tenant-law pages when an agency announces a change. For example, LAHD’s allowable RSO increase is checked each year before July 1.
- Every data page shows a “Last updated” date and a sources note.
What we do not do
- We do not invent statistics, quotes, reviews or experts.
- We do not present estimates as quotes for a specific apartment.
- We do not give legal or financial advice. Calculators are estimates only.
Images
We use photos from Pexels, Unsplash or Wikimedia Commons under their licenses, with credit, or images we create ourselves.
Corrections
If you find an error, please tell us through our contact page. We fix confirmed errors promptly and change the “Last updated” date. Significant corrections are noted on the page.