This is SignalPoint Intelligence's first monthly Clearwater Rent Snapshot: a free, citable look at typical rents across ten Clearwater-area ZIP codes, built only from public data we could fetch and verify. Figures below are not invented, not averaged from private scrapes, and not a substitute for property-specific comps.
Primary asking-rent measure: Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI) for September 2026 (file dated through 2026-09-30, accessed November 10, 2026 Eastern). Administrative rent standards: HUD FY2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents by ZIP. Occupied-unit context: Census ACS 2020–2024 median gross rent. Days on market are omitted because no free, ZIP-level rental DOM series was available on the access date.
Key findings
- Across the ten ZIPs, September 2026 ZORI typical rents ranged from $1,489 in 33760 (Highpoint / East Clearwater) to $3,945 in 33767 (Clearwater Beach) — a $2,456 spread, the widest in this series. Excluding the beach ZIP, the mainland range is $1,489 to $2,034 (33764, Countryside), a $545 spread.
- The Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metro ZORI was $1,991 in September 2026, up +0.2% month over month and +0.4% year over year — essentially flat at the metro level.
- The City of Clearwater ZORI was $1,975, up +0.8% month over month and +0.7% year over year. Pinellas County was $2,028 (+0.4% MoM, +1.7% YoY).
- Seven of the ten ZIPs rose month over month; five rose year over year and five fell. Downtown Clearwater (33761) is the standout in this set: up +8.8% year over year and +4.4% month over month. Highpoint / East Clearwater (33760) shows the largest year-over-year decline at -2.4%.
- HUD FY2026 countywide Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom in Pinellas County is $1,977. ZIP-level Small Area FMRs for 2-bedrooms in this set run from $1,720 (33755) to $2,640 (33767, Clearwater Beach).
- Read the beach ZIP separately. Clearwater Beach (33767) is a different rental market from mainland Clearwater — short-term and luxury stock dominate, and its ACS median gross rent carries a very large margin of error (±$1,586). Do not use it as a comp for a mainland unit.
Typical rent by Clearwater ZIP
ZORI is a smoothed measure of typical observed asking rent across rental types in the ZIP, weighted toward the rental stock — not the rent of any one listing, and not a signed lease. Area labels are informal neighborhood shorthand for the ZIP, not official boundaries.
| ZIP / area | ZORI typical rent (Sep 2026) |
MoM | YoY | HUD FY2026 SAFMR 2BR |
ACS median gross rent (2020–24) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33767 Clearwater Beach |
$3,945 | +1.5% | +2.3% | $2,640 | $2,539 |
| 33764 Countryside |
$2,034 | -0.7% | +0.5% | $2,120 | $1,797 |
| 33759 Harbor Oaks / North Clearwater |
$1,996 | +1.1% | +3.2% | $2,330 | $1,890 |
| 33755 Downtown / North Greenwood |
$1,993 | -0.9% | -0.4% | $1,720 | $1,462 |
| 33761 Downtown |
$1,984 | +4.4% | +8.8% | $2,220 | $1,806 |
| 33763 Skycrest / Morningside |
$1,872 | +1.6% | +0.7% | $1,860 | $1,497 |
| 33756 Countryside / North Clearwater |
$1,832 | +2.4% | -1.2% | $1,770 | $1,557 |
| 33765 South Clearwater / Highland |
$1,742 | +0.5% | -0.6% | $2,060 | $1,641 |
| 33762 East Clearwater / Del Oro |
$1,701 | +0.1% | -1.1% | $2,300 | $1,792 |
| 33760 Highpoint / East Clearwater |
$1,489 | -1.1% | -2.4% | $2,020 | $1,631 |
MoM compares September 2026 to August 2026 ZORI. YoY compares September 2026 to September 2025 ZORI. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities; it is usually lower than current asking-rent indices and is shown for context, not as a current list price.
Metro, city and county context
| Geography | ZORI Sep 2026 | MoM | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metro | $1,991 | +0.2% | +0.4% |
| City of Clearwater | $1,975 | +0.8% | +0.7% |
| Pinellas County | $2,028 | +0.4% | +1.7% |
Pinellas County HUD Fair Market Rents for FY2026 (countywide, not ZIP): studio $1,593, 1BR $1,696, 2BR $1,977, 3BR $2,527, 4BR $3,077.
HUD FY2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents
Small Area FMRs are HUD's ZIP-level rent standards used for Housing Choice Voucher payment standards in the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater MSA. They are administrative benchmarks, not asking rents.
| ZIP | 0 BR | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR | 4 BR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33755 | $1,390 | $1,480 | $1,720 | $2,200 | $2,680 |
| 33756 | $1,430 | $1,520 | $1,770 | $2,260 | $2,750 |
| 33759 | $1,880 | $2,000 | $2,330 | $2,980 | $3,630 |
| 33760 | $1,630 | $1,730 | $2,020 | $2,580 | $3,140 |
| 33761 | $1,790 | $1,900 | $2,220 | $2,840 | $3,460 |
| 33762 | $1,850 | $1,970 | $2,300 | $2,940 | $3,580 |
| 33763 | $1,500 | $1,600 | $1,860 | $2,380 | $2,890 |
| 33764 | $1,710 | $1,820 | $2,120 | $2,710 | $3,300 |
| 33765 | $1,660 | $1,770 | $2,060 | $2,630 | $3,210 |
| 33767 | $2,130 | $2,260 | $2,640 | $3,380 | $4,110 |
What this means for landlords
- Price to your ZIP, not the metro headline. A flat metro ZORI hides a $545 gap across mainland Clearwater ZIPs — and a $2,456 gap once the beach is included. Comps from the wrong side of town will mis-set rent.
- Treat ZORI as a market temperature, not a list price. Your unit's beds, baths, condition, parking, laundry and pet policy still decide where you sit inside the ZIP's range.
- Watch MoM and YoY together. A ZIP that is soft year over year but ticking up month over month (or the reverse) calls for fresher active comps before you renew or list.
- Do not confuse HUD SAFMR with market rent. SAFMR is built for voucher standards. In several Clearwater ZIPs, current ZORI sits above or below the 2BR SAFMR for different reasons — stock mix, utilities, and survey timing all differ.
- When the ZIP index is not enough, pull active and recently leased comps for your exact bed count and finish level. SignalPoint's landlord pricing guide walks through that process, and the $99 Rental Market Analysis is the done-for-you version with a recommended rent range and pricing strategy.
Need a rent range for one Clearwater property — not a ZIP average?
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How to read these numbers
- ZORI (Zillow Observed Rent Index): smoothed typical observed asking rent for the geography, quality-adjusted and weighted to the rental stock. Dollar-denominated using the middle of the rent distribution. Source file:
Zip_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv(and metro/city/county counterparts). - HUD SAFMR / FMR: fiscal-year administrative rents. FY2026 figures shown here. Not the same as what a landlord should list tomorrow.
- ACS median gross rent: five-year survey estimate for occupied renter households; includes utilities when paid by the renter. Lagged and different population than current listings.
- Neighborhood names next to ZIPs are approximate labels for readability. Always confirm comps against the property's actual street and building type.
What we could not include
- Days on market: omitted. No free, citable ZIP-level rental days-on-market series was fetchable on November 10, 2026. (Zillow's free research CSVs for days-to-pending are sale-side, not rental.)
- Bedroom-level asking rents by ZIP: ZORI in the public ZIP file is an all-homes blend, not a 1BR/2BR/3BR split. HUD SAFMR provides bedroom breaks for voucher standards only.
- Apartment List / Redfin rental medians: not included in the tables because a stable, ZIP-level public CSV matching these ten ZIPs was not retrieved on the access date.
- This snapshot does not price any specific address. Condition, amenities and lease terms still dominate.
Sources
- Zillow Research, Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), public CSV downloads — ZIP, metro, city and county files (
*_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv). Latest month in file: 2026-09-30. Accessed November 10, 2026 (America/New_York) from zillow.com/research/data / files.zillowstatic.com. Zillow revises history with each release; this snapshot reflects the file as downloaded on the access date. - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FY2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents for the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater, FL MSA (ZIP table) and FY2026 Fair Market Rents for Pinellas County (countywide), from HUD's FY2026 FMR files (
fy2026_safmrs.xlsx,fy26_fmrs.xlsx) via huduser.gov. Accessed November 10, 2026. - U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Median Gross Rent (table B25064), for ZIP Code Tabulation Areas matching the ten ZIPs above, via the Census Reporter API. Accessed November 10, 2026. ACS figures are survey estimates with margins of error; they are not current asking rents.