South Bend, IN
South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, South Bend ranks 266th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 252nd for income. A household earns $63,894 a year while median rent runs $1,101/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 7% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (4th of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (266th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 85th and home prices 49th 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 South Bend, your take-home is worth about $63,606 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
- 252nd of 300↑19.5%$63,894
- 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.
- 112th of 30093 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $68,808
- Per-capita income
- $34,963
- Full-time pay
- $41,210
Housing
- Median rent
- 85th of 300↑28.9%$1,101/mo
- Home value
- 49th of 300↑53.9%$216,500
- Property tax
- $1,965/yr · 0.9%
- Sales tax
- 7.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 263rd of 3006.1%
- Bachelor's+
- 185th of 30031.1%
- Avg commute
- 68th of 30021.8 min
People
- Population
- 325,294
- Population change
- +0.5%
- Median age
- 37.8 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 6.9%
- Broadband
- 92.1%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 141st of 30045
- Natural-hazard loss
- 4th of 300$6/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 209th of 30020.4%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 9%
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
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Job market
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — s bend ap.
What jobs pay in South Bend
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $219,260
- Pharmacists
- $144,030
- Financial managers
- $128,370
- IT managers
- $126,810
- General & operations managers
- $104,500
- Lawyers
- $103,050
- Civil engineers
- $96,180
- Software developers
- $95,500
- Registered nurses
- $93,540
- Accountants & auditors
- $77,940
- Police officers
- $77,070
- Plumbers
- $74,190
- Electricians
- $74,150
- Web developers
- $69,090
- Carpenters
- $61,690
- Secondary school teachers
- $60,280
- Elementary school teachers
- $58,180
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $56,820
- Construction laborers
- $50,870
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,950
- Customer service reps
- $40,420
- Janitors
- $35,820
- Retail salespersons
- $30,930
- Cashiers
- $28,970
- Waiters & waitresses
- $28,740
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 South Bend 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.
- Illinois1,770
- Florida713
- Ohio591
- Texas517
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like South Bend
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
South Bend metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the South Bend metro?
- Median gross rent across the South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI Metro Area is $1,101 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of South Bend.
- What is the median household income in the South Bend metro?
- A typical household in the South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI Metro Area earns $63,894 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is South Bend expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI Metro Area runs about 7% 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 South Bend metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $68,808 (versus its face value of $63,894). CityLedger rates the South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the South Bend metro?
- The median home value across the South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI Metro Area is $216,500 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the South Bend metro?
- The unemployment rate in the South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI Metro Area is 6.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).