Market Benchmarking Against Public Data
See how your rents and vacancy compare with asking rents of public listings nearby and with the U.S. Census American Community Survey for each ZIP code — grouped by city and home size, with every figure's source named.
Market benchmarking groups your homes by city and size and puts each group beside public market data. It is in Lease Center → Market benchmark on the website, and under Market benchmark in the Tools hub on the iPhone and Android apps. It reads your records and changes nothing.
Compared only with public data: the asking rents of live public listings on Seayora, and the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. No other landlord's private rents, leases or occupancy are used.
What each group shows
| Figure | What it is |
|---|---|
| In-place rent | Your in-place rent is the median rent on the signed leases running today for these homes. |
| Asking on vacant listings | The median asking rent of your homes in the group that are listed and vacant. |
| Your vacancy | The share of the group's homes with no signed lease running today. |
| New leases, 12 months | The median rent on leases that started in the last 12 months, against the 12 months before. |
| Asking rents nearby | The median asking rent of live public listings of the same size in the same area, with how many listings it is over and its 90-day change. |
| Census median gross rent | From the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey for the group's ZIP code, for the same number of bedrooms, with its margin of error. |
| Census rental vacancy | The Census rental vacancy rate is the share of rental homes in the ZIP code that were empty and for rent, from the same five-year survey. |
Two public sources, never blended
Asking rents nearby are what landlords advertise today, not what renters signed, and are not seasonally adjusted.
Census median gross rent is what renters reported paying, including utilities, pooled over five years of survey responses. It lags today's market and is an estimate with a margin of error, so it is shown beside asking rents, never blended with them.
Below, in line, above
A group is "in line" when your in-place rent is within 5% of asking rents nearby either way, and below or above it past that. Filter the list to any of them.
| Label | Means |
|---|---|
| Below | Your in-place rent is more than 5% under asking rents nearby. |
| In line | Within 5% either way. |
| Above | More than 5% over. |
| No comparison | Too few public listings like these nearby to publish a median. That is a gap in the data, not a flat market. |
The headline at the top averages the groups that have a comparison, weighted by how many of their homes are rented. Groups with no comparison are left out of it rather than counted as in line.
When Census figures are missing
Census figures are not switched on yet — Seayora needs a free key from the Census Bureau. Everything else on this report works without it.
The Census Bureau does not publish figures for every ZIP code, or for every bedroom count in a small one; those say so instead of showing a number. Census figures are kept for 90 days per ZIP code and then read again.
Related
Pricing suggestions turn the same asking-rent comparison into a suggested asking rent for each vacant listing, with your own weights. The rent-increase advisor does the same for a renewal, capped by the rent law that applies.
Asking your assistant
A connected assistant can read your benchmark (market_benchmark), including which groups have no comparison and whether Census figures are switched on.
Related features and guides
- Rent Estimates for Any Address — Documentation. Type any US address and a bedroom count to see Seayora's estimate from comparable public listings nearby, with the Census median gross rent and the HUD Fair Market Rent beside it under their own names.
- Pricing Suggestions for Vacant Listings — Documentation. A suggested asking rent for each vacant listing, built from asking rents nearby, your own similar leases and the home's last rent, moved by demand and time on the market — with every reason shown, your own weights and limits, and nothing ever changed for you.
- Where Your Listing Appears on Seayora — Documentation. The city, neighborhood, size, budget and feature pages a published listing shows up on automatically, the rent report your asking price feeds, and how to check.
- Rental Listing Software — 60 Days Free, Then $9/Month — Feature. Advertise apartments, houses, condos, and townhomes for rent. Every listing gets its first 60 days free, then $9/month while the unit stays vacant — charged a month ahead, with the unused days refunded the moment it rents. No brokerage fee, no setup fee, no subscription.
- Listing Performance Analytics — Feature. Track views, saves, and applications per listing so you know whether a vacancy needs a better photo, a lower price, or more reach — instead of guessing.
- Promoted Listing Placement — Feature. Boost a listing into promoted placement so it surfaces ahead of standard results in browse and search, filling vacancies faster without paying a brokerage fee.