Bloomington, IN
Bloomington, IN Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Bloomington, IN Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Bloomington ranks 247th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 221st for income. A household earns $67,243 a year while median rent runs $1,153/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 5% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is education (32nd of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (247th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 116th and home prices 156th 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 $62,117 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
- 221st of 300↑28%$67,243
- 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.
- 150th of 30095 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $70,720
- Per-capita income
- $39,680
- Full-time pay
- $33,130
Housing
- Median rent
- 116th of 300↑24.6%$1,153/mo
- Home value
- 156th of 300↑68%$311,100
- Property tax
- $2,179/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 7.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 72nd of 3003.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 32nd of 30044.6%
- Avg commute
- 39th of 30020.9 min
People
- Population
- 162,553
- Population change
- -3.9%
- Median age
- 32.6 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 6.6%
- Broadband
- 88.9%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 106th of 30043
- Natural-hazard loss
- 70th of 300$10/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 164th of 30018.9%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.4%
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
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — bloomington monroe co ap.
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
- $165,680
- Pharmacists
- $140,670
- Financial managers
- $134,540
- Lawyers
- $103,460
- Civil engineers
- $102,600
- General & operations managers
- $101,310
- Software developers
- $99,990
- Plumbers
- $96,980
- Registered nurses
- $80,370
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,640
- Police officers
- $68,170
- Electricians
- $65,660
- Carpenters
- $61,360
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,700
- Secondary school teachers
- $58,630
- Elementary school teachers
- $58,410
- Construction laborers
- $48,710
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,200
- Janitors
- $39,680
- Customer service reps
- $39,660
- Retail salespersons
- $30,890
- Cashiers
- $29,120
- Waiters & waitresses
- $28,540
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 Indiana are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Illinois1,224
- Ohio454
- California449
- Texas410
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, IN Metro Area is $1,153 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, IN Metro Area earns $67,243 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Bloomington expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Bloomington, IN Metro Area runs about 5% 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 $70,720 (versus its face value of $67,243). CityLedger rates the Bloomington, IN Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Bloomington metro?
- The median home value across the Bloomington, IN Metro Area is $311,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Bloomington metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Bloomington, IN Metro Area is 3.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).