Bloomington, IL
Bloomington, IL Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Bloomington, IL Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Bloomington ranks 83rd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 106th for income. A household earns $81,240 a year while median rent runs $1,034/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 6% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is commute (5th of 300), while hazard safety is the soft spot (136th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 56th and home prices 69th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Bloomington, your take-home is worth about $61,581 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 106th of 300↑18.1%$81,240
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 130th of 30094 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $86,853
- Per-capita income
- $43,879
- Full-time pay
- $45,853
Housing
- Median rent
- 56th of 300↑26.9%$1,034/mo
- Home value
- 69th of 300↑38.8%$231,600
- Property tax
- $4,693/yr · 2%
- Sales tax
- 8.89%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 72nd of 3003.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 22nd of 30048.1%
- Avg commute
- 5th of 30018.2 min
People
- Population
- 172,069
- Population change
- +0.3%
- Median age
- 34.8 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 7.3%
- Broadband
- 94.2%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 116th of 30044
- Natural-hazard loss
- 136th of 300$12/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 34th of 30015.8%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.1%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Commute
- + Health
Watch-outs
- —
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — rantoul.
What jobs pay in Bloomington
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $169,720
- Financial managers
- $156,240
- Pharmacists
- $139,050
- Lawyers
- $124,100
- Software developers
- $123,320
- Civil engineers
- $97,070
- General & operations managers
- $93,250
- Police officers
- $80,480
- Registered nurses
- $79,970
- Electricians
- $79,430
- Plumbers
- $77,700
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,510
- Carpenters
- $75,470
- Secondary school teachers
- $66,280
- Elementary school teachers
- $65,590
- Construction laborers
- $60,650
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $54,610
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $48,070
- Customer service reps
- $39,120
- Janitors
- $36,660
- Retail salespersons
- $31,670
- Waiters & waitresses
- $31,200
- Cashiers
- $31,200
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Bloomington metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Illinois are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Missouri460
- Michigan228
- Colorado186
- Indiana158
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Bloomington
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Bloomington metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Bloomington metro?
- Median gross rent across the Bloomington, IL Metro Area is $1,034 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Bloomington.
- What is the median household income in the Bloomington metro?
- A typical household in the Bloomington, IL Metro Area earns $81,240 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Bloomington expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Bloomington, IL Metro Area runs about 6% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Bloomington metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $86,853 (versus its face value of $81,240). CityLedger rates the Bloomington, IL Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Bloomington metro?
- The median home value across the Bloomington, IL Metro Area is $231,600 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Bloomington metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Bloomington, IL Metro Area is 3.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).