Bloomington IN rent increase 2026 Bloomington, Indiana has no rent control of any kind in 2026. Indiana’s Dillon’s Rule (IC §36-1-3-8) bars every Indiana municipality from exercising powers not expressly granted by the state — and the Indiana General Assembly has never authorized local rent control. IC §32-31-3-12: 45-DAY DUAL-TRIGGER deposit return (tenant must BOTH vacate AND provide written forwarding address before the 45-day clock starts); 2× wrongful-withholding damages. IC §32-31-1-6: 10-day pay-or-quit notice. Monroe County Circuit Court (301 N. College Ave., Bloomington, IN 47404; (812) 349-2612). Indiana University Bloomington: ~47,000 students; Jacobs School of Music (top-3 US); Kelley School of Business (top-20 undergraduate); 5 national basketball championships; founded 1820 (oldest public university in Indiana); endowment $4.5B+. Cook Group: Bill Cook founded 1963 above a Bloomington jewelry store with $1,500; grew into one of the world’s largest privately held medical device companies (~$4–5B revenue; ~13,000 worldwide employees). IU Health Bloomington Hospital: Level II Trauma; ~2,500 employees. NSWC Crane: 6,300+ civilian employees (not active-duty; SCRA does not apply); 25–30 miles SW. Catalent: biopharmaceutical manufacturing; ~800–1,000 Bloomington employees; taken private by Novo Holdings 2024.

Indiana rent control status: why no Bloomington ordinance can cap rents

Indiana Code §36-1-3-8, the codification of Dillon’s Rule for Indiana municipalities, provides that a municipality “may exercise only those powers that are expressly granted by statute, are necessarily implied by a statute, or are necessary to carry out an enumerated power.” The Indiana General Assembly has never granted cities or counties the power to regulate the price of privately owned residential rental housing. Without an express grant of power, the City of Bloomington’s Common Council has no authority to enact a rent control or rent stabilization ordinance — not by simple vote, not by emergency declaration, and not by any form of local ordinance.

This is a particularly notable feature of Bloomington’s legal environment because Bloomington is a classically left-leaning college town — Indiana University’s political culture, the presence of ~47,000 students, and a large academic faculty and staff population tend to produce strong political interest in tenant protections and housing affordability policies. Yet Indiana’s Dillon’s Rule makes the Bloomington Common Council legally incapable of enacting rent control even if the political will to do so existed. The state statutory framework functions as a structural barrier independent of local politics.

Compare other major US college towns: Berkeley, California (UC Berkeley) has had rent stabilization since 1978 under the Berkeley Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Good Cause Ordinance. Ann Arbor, Michigan (University of Michigan) enacted rent control briefly in the 1970s before Michigan’s 1988 preemption statute (MCL §123.411) prohibited it. Madison, Wisconsin (UW-Madison) is preempted by Wis. Stat. §66.1015. Cambridge, Massachusetts (MIT and Harvard) has rent control preemption under Massachusetts Gen. Laws c. 40P (enacted 1994 referendum). Bloomington, Indiana — regardless of any political preference — is constitutionally incapable of enacting rent control under Indiana’s Dillon’s Rule framework. No Indiana city has ever had rent control.

The practical result for Bloomington landlords is a fully market-rate environment where lease-to-lease rent increases are limited only by what the market will bear — and with near-campus vacancy consistently below 4%, the market bears substantial annual rent increases. Near-campus 2BR rents have risen approximately 50–73% from their 2019 baseline ($800–$1,100) to the 2026 range ($1,200–$1,900), with no regulatory constraint on that trajectory.

Indiana landlord-tenant law: key statutes for Bloomington landlords

Security deposit: 45-day dual-trigger return (IC §32-31-3-12) and 2× damages

Indiana Code §32-31-3 governs security deposits for all Bloomington and Monroe County residential tenancies. Indiana imposes no statutory maximum on deposit amounts — a landlord may collect any agreed amount. Bloomington market norms in 2026 are typically 1–2 months’ rent. Near-campus landlords renting large houses to groups of students (3–5 unrelated IU students) sometimes collect 2 months’ rent, reflecting the higher expected wear and turnover from student occupancy.

Indiana’s defining deposit feature is the 45-day dual-trigger return rule (IC §32-31-3-12): the landlord’s 45-day return deadline does NOT begin until BOTH of the following have occurred:

1. The tenant has terminated the rental agreement and vacated the premises; AND
2. The tenant has made a written demand for return and provided a written forwarding address to the landlord.

This is a genuine dual trigger — both conditions must be satisfied before the 45-day clock begins. If a student tenant moves out on June 30 and goes home to their parents’ house but never provides a written forwarding address, the 45-day clock technically never begins. This mechanic is particularly significant in Bloomington’s student rental market, where thousands of tenants turn over simultaneously in May and June and where students scatter to hometowns, summer internship cities, and study-abroad programs without always thinking to provide a formal written forwarding address.

Practical comparison: Florida (15-day or 30-day single trigger from termination notice); California (21-day single trigger from possession restoration); Washington State (21-day single trigger); Missouri (30-day single trigger from vacancy); Virginia (45-day single trigger). Indiana’s dual-trigger approach is structurally more landlord-favorable than any of these.

Best practice for Bloomington landlords in the high-volume May/June turnover season: include a move-out checklist form in the lease that requires the tenant to provide a written forwarding address to the landlord at or before key surrender on the final day of the lease. This simultaneously satisfies Indiana’s forwarding-address condition and starts the 45-day clock on a specific, documented date — protecting the landlord from disputes about when (or whether) the clock began.

Itemized deduction statement: The landlord must provide an itemized written list of any deductions, along with the deposit balance (or written explanation of a zero return), within 45 days of both triggers being satisfied. Normal wear and tear is not deductible in Indiana. Actual damages must be documented with time-stamped photographs and itemized contractor invoices or repair receipts showing work was performed after the tenant vacated.

2× wrongful-withholding damages (IC §32-31-3-12(a)(2)): If the landlord fails to return the deposit within 45 days of both triggers, or makes deductions not supported by actual damage documentation, the tenant may recover double the wrongfully withheld amount plus reasonable attorney’s fees. On a $1,600 near-campus Bloomington 2BR deposit, 2× damages = $3,200 plus attorney fees. For the many small individual landlords in Bloomington’s cottage-industry student rental market, this exposure is a serious compliance risk without proper documentation practices.

Non-payment eviction: 10-day notice (IC §32-31-1-6)

For non-payment of rent, the Bloomington landlord must serve a written notice to the tenant stating the specific amount of rent owed and that the tenant has TEN DAYS to pay in full or vacate the premises. Indiana’s 10-day notice is one of the longest non-payment notice periods in the country — significantly longer than Florida (3-day), Missouri (3-day), California (3-day), Illinois (5-day, 735 ILCS 5/9-209), Wisconsin (5-day), and Michigan (7-day, MCL §600.5720). Only Minnesota (14-day, Minn. Stat. §504B.285) exceeds Indiana’s period among Midwest states.

In the Bloomington student context, the 10-day notice period is particularly relevant at the beginning of fall semester (August) and spring semester (January), when student tenants may miss a rent payment while awaiting IU financial aid disbursement — IU financial aid is typically distributed within the first week of each semester. A landlord who serves a 10-day notice on August 1 for missed rent may find the tenant cures the deficiency by August 8 after aid disburses, avoiding the need to file in court.

After 10 days without full payment or surrender, the landlord files a complaint for possession at Monroe County Circuit Court, 301 N. College Ave., Bloomington, IN 47404; (812) 349-2612. Filing fees are approximately $88–$150. A hearing is typically scheduled within 3–4 weeks. IU Student Legal Services (502 N. Jordan Ave., Bloomington; free to enrolled IU students) provides free legal representation to students facing eviction, meaning Bloomington landlords should expect a higher proportion of represented student tenants than landlords in other Indiana markets.

Month-to-month termination (IC §32-31-1-1): At least one rental period’s advance written notice (1 month for monthly tenancies) is required to terminate a month-to-month tenancy by either the landlord or the tenant.

Entry notice (IC §32-31-5-6): Indiana statute requires only “reasonable notice” before landlord entry — no specific number of hours is mandated. Market practice in Bloomington is 24 hours. Emergency entry (fire, flooding, burst pipe, gas leak) requires no advance notice. In a non-emergency, enter during normal business hours or a mutually agreed time.

Habitability (IC §32-31-8-5): Indiana law requires landlords to maintain rental units in a habitable condition consistent with applicable housing codes, including functional heating (essential in Bloomington winters — average January low approximately 22°F; average January high approximately 35°F; lake-effect fronts from the Great Lakes can produce significant snowfall), plumbing, electrical systems, structural integrity, and extermination of pests. A tenant who gives 14 days’ written notice of a material habitability breach and the landlord fails to cure may terminate the tenancy or seek a rent reduction.

No self-help eviction: Locking out a tenant, cutting utilities, removing tenant property without a court order, or other self-help eviction methods are prohibited in Indiana and expose the Bloomington landlord to actual damages and injunctive relief. Always proceed through Monroe County Circuit Court.

Indiana University Bloomington: how ~47,000 students define the Bloomington rental market

IU Bloomington at a glance: Indiana’s oldest public university and its rental market dominance

Indiana University Bloomington (IU; founded 1820 by Indiana’s Territorial Legislature, making it the oldest public university in Indiana and one of the oldest public universities in the US; current enrollment ~47,000 total including ~37,000 undergraduates and ~10,000 graduate and professional students; one of the largest single-campus universities in the United States) is the economic engine of Monroe County and the overwhelmingly dominant force in Bloomington’s rental market. IU is not merely Bloomington’s largest employer (approximately 6,000 full-time employees plus thousands of part-time student workers) — IU effectively is Bloomington’s economy.

IU’s nationally recognized schools and colleges include: the Jacobs School of Music (consistently ranked top-2 or top-3 among US music schools alongside Juilliard and Curtis; Jacobs attracts elite undergraduate instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers from across the US and internationally, many of whom need affordable housing near the Musical Arts Center [MAC] on E. 3rd St.); the Kelley School of Business (top-20 US undergraduate business program; nationally significant MBA and PhD programs; large undergraduate enrollment drives significant demand in the near-campus east Bloomington submarket); the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs (formerly SPEA — School of Public and Environmental Affairs — renamed O’Neill School in 2020 following a major gift; top-20 US public policy school; MPA and PhD programs); the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering (informatics [IU’s distinctive interdisciplinary tech/human program], computer science, intelligent systems engineering; strong pipeline to tech industry and NSWC Crane research partnerships); IU Maurer School of Law (Bloomington campus law school; top-30 US law school; strong IP, tax, and constitutional law programs); and the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies (Area Studies and foreign language programs; named for Indiana’s Lee Hamilton and Richard Lugar).

IU’s endowment exceeds $4.5 billion as of recent reports. Physical campus landmarks include: the Indiana Memorial Union (one of the largest student unions in the US at approximately 190,000 square feet; includes hotel, bank, barber, bookstore, multiple dining facilities, conference spaces, and the Indiana University Art Museum [renamed Eskenazi Museum of Art]); Memorial Stadium (“The Rock”; 52,929 seats; home of the Indiana Hoosiers Big Ten football team; renovated 2017); Assembly Hall (Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall; 17,222 seats; IU men’s basketball — 5 national championships in 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987; head coach Bob Knight achieved 3 of those titles); Wells Quad (central residential quad named for Herman B Wells, IU’s transformational president 1937–1962 and chancellor until his death in 2000 at age 97); and the Musical Arts Center (MAC), IU’s opera and orchestral performance venue.

The Bloomington student rental market: 11-month leases, sub-4% vacancy, and the IU academic cycle

Bloomington’s rental market operates on a fundamentally different rhythm from other Indiana cities because of IU’s academic calendar. The key features landlords must understand:

11-month leases as the Bloomington standard: In most US rental markets, leases run 12 months. In Bloomington, the dominant form for student housing is the 11-month lease (approximately August 1 to June 30): students avoid paying July rent when they return home for summer, and landlords retain July for cleaning, repairs, and turnover preparation before the next August move-in. This convention is a Bloomington market standard.

Why near-campus vacancy runs sub-4%: IU enrolls approximately 47,000 students, of whom ~12,000–14,000 live in residence halls (Foster, Teter, McNutt, Eigenmann, Collins, Forest, Briscoe, Willkie, Read, Wright, Sycamore, and others), leaving 33,000+ competing in the private market. New construction near campus has been limited by zoning and land constraints. Cook Group professionals, IU Health staff, and Crane commuters also compete for downtown and near-campus units. Near-campus vacancy routinely falls below 3–4% during the academic year and approaches zero by February for the following August’s leases.

The Bloomington leasing calendar: Unlike most US cities where apartment hunting begins 60–90 days before move-in, Bloomington’s near-campus leasing runs 9–10 months ahead:

• October–November: Best near-campus units begin leasing for the FOLLOWING August. Student groups sign leases before Thanksgiving.
• December–January: Peak leasing season. Most desirable units lease out during this window.
• February–March: Secondary season; remaining units lease; late-arriving international and graduate students find tighter selection.
• April–May: Near-campus market largely spoken for; sublet market activates for summer.
• June–July: High-volume simultaneous move-out; turnover peak; 45-day dual-trigger clock mechanics most critical to manage.
• August: Mass move-in; one of the most intense move-in weekends of any US college town.

High proportion of single-family homes as student rentals: A defining feature of Bloomington is the high proportion of single-family houses rented to student groups — far higher than comparable college towns. Neighborhoods north, south, and east of IU’s academic core consist largely of older 3–4BR houses (built 1940s–1970s) converted to student rentals, often owned by small individual landlords (1–4 units) holding as long-term investments tied to IU enrollment stability. Student premium zones: Wells Quad area; E. 3rd St. corridor (near Jacobs School Musical Arts Center); N. Jordan Ave. (fraternity/sorority row); Dunn Meadow; and the Sample Gates / Kirkwood corridor.

Cook Group: Bill Cook’s 1963 founding and a global medical device empire rooted in Bloomington

The founding story: $1,500, a one-room apartment, and a steel wire guide

Cook Group — the parent company of Cook Medical, one of the world’s largest privately held medical device manufacturers — was founded in 1963 by William Alfred “Bill” Cook (born January 27, 1936; died March 24, 2011, in Bloomington, Indiana, at age 75) under circumstances that have become legendary in Indiana business history.

In 1963, Bill Cook was 27 years old, recently arrived in Bloomington, and had exactly $1,500 in personal savings. He rented a one-room apartment above a jewelry store on Bloomington’s courthouse square — in the commercial district surrounding the Monroe County Courthouse on Kirkwood Avenue — and began manufacturing medical devices by hand at his kitchen table with his wife Gayle’s assistance. His first product was a steel wire guide (now known as a guidewire), a precision medical instrument designed for use by radiologists and cardiologists to navigate catheters through the blood vessels of the human body.

Cook recognized that the field of interventional radiology — then an emerging technique pioneered by Charles Dotter at the University of Oregon in the early 1960s (Dotter is credited with performing the world’s first percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in 1964) — required precise, high-quality guidewires and catheters that were in chronically short supply from the small number of existing manufacturers. Cook believed he could manufacture these instruments better and at lower cost from Bloomington, Indiana — a college town with a highly educated workforce drawn from Indiana University, strong logistical connections through the Midwest, and manufacturing costs lower than coastal cities. His initial production was literally by hand: crafting guidewires at his kitchen table from materials purchased on credit from medical suppliers, then selling them directly to hospitals and physician offices by phone and mail-order catalog. The $1,500 was enough to purchase initial raw materials; Cook bootstrapped the company entirely from reinvested revenue, without venture capital, bank loans, or outside equity.

Growth into a global medical device company

Cook’s company grew steadily through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s alongside the growth of interventional radiology and cardiology. Key product expansions from the original guidewire included: vascular stents (Cook’s ZILVER® PTX drug-eluting peripheral stent became one of the most widely implanted peripheral stents in the world); inferior vena cava (IVC) filters (Günther Tulip and Celect filters; subject of mass tort litigation in the 2010s); urology products (ureteral stents, nephrostomy catheters — a Cook core line since the 1970s); biliary drainage and endoscopy accessories; respiratory and critical care products (tracheostomy tubes, percutaneous dilational tracheostomy kits); and embolization products.

Throughout this growth, Cook maintained his headquarters in Bloomington. Unlike many medical device startups that relocate to the Boston Route 128 corridor, the Minneapolis device corridor (Medtronic/St. Jude), or San Diego, Cook resisted relocation — believing Bloomington offered the right combination of IU-educated workforce, Midwest logistics advantages, and lower costs. Cook was also a major Indiana philanthropist, personally financing the $400M+ restoration of the historic West Baden Springs Hotel and French Lick Springs Hotel in Orange County (approximately 60 miles SW of Bloomington) — two Gilded Age spa resorts whose rescue from demolition beginning in 1993 is one of Indiana’s most celebrated preservation stories. The West Baden atrium dome (200 feet in diameter; the largest free-span dome in the world when built in 1902; National Historic Landmark) was fully restored.

Bill Cook’s death and the succession: Gayle Cook and Carl Cook

Bill Cook died on March 24, 2011, at age 75, after a period of illness. His death was mourned broadly in Bloomington and across Indiana. Forbes estimated his net worth at approximately $1.5–2.5 billion at the time of his death, making him one of Indiana’s wealthiest individuals and among the most significant self-made entrepreneurs in Indiana’s history.

Gayle Karch Cook, Bill’s wife, was present from the very beginning — she helped sew the first guidewires at the kitchen table in 1963 — and has remained deeply involved in Cook Group, particularly in the real estate, hospitality, and arts ventures (including French Lick and West Baden Springs, and the restoration of the Greenbriar Inn in Bloomington). Gayle Cook has been recognized as one of Indiana’s most significant civic and cultural philanthropists.

Their son, Carl Cook (born 1959), is now CEO of Cook Group and manages the Bloomington-headquartered medical device empire with the same private, long-term ownership philosophy his father established. Cook Group has never issued public equity and shows no indication of pursuing an IPO. The company’s headquarters remains at 1 Geddes Way, Bloomington, IN 47408, employing several hundred white-collar professionals in Bloomington (engineering, regulatory affairs, quality assurance, marketing, finance, legal, and executive functions) and approximately 13,000 total employees worldwide. Estimated annual revenue: $4–5 billion. The Bloomington headquarters drives demand for professional rental units in south Bloomington, the College Mall corridor, the Tapp Road / Kinser Pike area, and downtown units convenient to the 1 Geddes Way campus.

IU Health Bloomington Hospital: Level II Trauma and the healthcare rental demand

IU Health Bloomington Hospital (601 W. 2nd St., Bloomington, IN 47404; formerly Bloomington Hospital, Inc., a community hospital founded in 1905 as Monroe County’s first general hospital; now fully integrated into Indiana University Health, Indiana’s largest health system with 16 hospitals and approximately 35,000 total employees statewide) is a Level II Trauma center with approximately 2,500 employees — the second-largest non-IU employer in Monroe County after Cook Group.

The Level II Trauma designation means IU Health Bloomington provides 24/7 trauma surgeon coverage, comprehensive orthopedic trauma, neurosurgery on call, critical care capabilities, and the full range of trauma resuscitation services — but refers the most complex multi-system trauma cases to Level I centers in the IU Health network (IU Health Methodist Hospital, 1701 N. Senate Blvd., Indianapolis; approximately 50 miles north of Bloomington on SR 37/I-69). The hospital serves Monroe County plus a multi-county trauma catchment area including Brown, Lawrence, Owen, Martin, and Greene Counties.

IU Health Bloomington’s approximately 2,500 employees include physicians (employed and affiliated medical staff), RNs, LPNs, surgical technologists, imaging technologists (CT, MRI, nuclear medicine), respiratory therapists, physical and occupational therapists, and a large administrative and support workforce. Clinical employees represent Bloomington’s most stable year-round high-income renter demographic — independent of IU’s academic calendar (which causes dramatic summer vacancy in student areas). Nurses, respiratory therapists, and imaging staff working 12-hour rotating shift schedules prefer convenient access to the W. 2nd St. hospital from the near south side, Bryan Park neighborhood, and downtown Bloomington. Physicians affiliated with IU Health Bloomington often prefer premium units near Bryan Park or in downtown Kirkwood corridor condos and apartment buildings.

IU Health Bloomington has a close academic relationship with IU’s medical education programs, particularly IU School of Medicine’s Bloomington campus (one of nine IU School of Medicine regional campuses statewide; first-year medical students in Bloomington before completing clinical rotations in Indianapolis). IU medical students represent a small but distinctive Bloomington renter demographic, typically seeking 1BR units or shared housing near campus for their first year.

NSWC Crane: federal civilian workforce and Bloomington commuter demand

Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane; Crane, Indiana; Martin County; approximately 25–30 miles southwest of Bloomington via SR 37 and SR 45) is one of the most significant federal employers in Indiana. The base covers more than 100,000 acres of forested southern Indiana terrain and is one of the largest US naval installations by land area. Crane’s 6,300+ civilian employees develop and test electronic warfare systems, special operations forces (SOF) equipment, strategic weapons systems, and energetics/ordnance. Crane is part of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and is the Navy’s primary center for SOF acquisition and EW system testing.

SCRA NOTE FOR BLOOMINGTON LANDLORDS: NSWC Crane’s workforce consists overwhelmingly of federal CIVILIAN employees (GS-scale and wage-grade civil servants), not active-duty military personnel. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA, 50 U.S.C. §§ 3901–4043) applies only to active-duty servicemembers, not federal civilian employees. Crane civilian employees are NOT entitled to SCRA lease termination rights (50 U.S.C. §3955), interest rate caps (§3937), or civil action stays (§3931). However, some Crane employees may hold Reserve or National Guard status and are periodically called to active duty, triggering SCRA coverage during that activation. Landlords should verify status if a tenant asserts SCRA rights.

IU-Crane partnership: Indiana University and NSWC Crane maintain a formal research and workforce collaboration — the IU-Crane Collaborative — focused on cybersecurity, electronic warfare, data analytics, and applied informatics. IU’s Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering provides technical education complementary to Crane’s mission; IU graduates in informatics and engineering are a significant pipeline into Crane’s civilian workforce. Many Crane employees live in Bloomington and commute 25–30 miles each way (approximately 35–45 minutes on SR 37), preferring Bloomington for its Monroe County schools, IU Health Hospital, and urban amenities unavailable in rural Martin County. Crane commuters typically seek 2–3BR family units in south Bloomington, the Tapp Road/Smith Pike area, and outer suburban Bloomington near the SR 37 commute corridor.

Catalent Bloomington: biopharmaceutical manufacturing and Novo Holdings acquisition

Catalent, Inc. operates a significant biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Bloomington, Indiana. The facility was originally built by Baxter International as a sterile injectable drug plant; later became Cook Pharmica (a Cook Group subsidiary); then was acquired by Catalent in 2017 for approximately $950 million. Under Catalent, the Bloomington facility specialized in sterile injectables (prefilled syringes, lyophilized biologics), softgel capsules, and clinical supply services, employing approximately 800–1,000 workers in manufacturing, QC, regulatory affairs, and engineering.

In 2024, Novo Holdings A/S (the investment arm of the Novo Nordisk Foundation) acquired Catalent for approximately $16.5 billion, taking the company private from NYSE: CTLT. The Bloomington facility continues operations under Novo Holdings. Catalent Bloomington employees — skilled pharmaceutical technicians, QC scientists, regulatory specialists, and engineers — are a professional renter demographic in south Bloomington, particularly in the College Mall corridor and Tapp Road area.

Bloomington rental market history and 2026 outlook

Year	Metro avg 2BR/mo	Near campus / Wells Quad 2BR	Downtown / Kirkwood 2BR	South Bloomington / Cook Medical 2BR	Market notes
2019	$800–$1,100	$900–$1,300	$850–$1,200	$750–$1,000	Pre-pandemic baseline; IU enrollment stable ~43,000–44,000; Cook Group steady; Catalent (acquired from Cook Pharmica 2017) growing; NSWC Crane steady federal employment; no new major near-campus supply; Bloomington affordable vs. comparable college towns
2020	$800–$1,100	$900–$1,300	$850–$1,200	$750–$1,000	COVID disruption meaningful for student market: IU went partly remote spring 2020; some student leases broke/vacated early; summer 2020 vacancy above normal; fall 2020 partial in-person return; Catalent Bloomington saw COVID-vaccine manufacturing interest (mRNA fill-finish demand); NSWC Crane continued essential federal operations; Cook Group maintained manufacturing
2021	$850–$1,200	$1,000–$1,500	$950–$1,400	$800–$1,100	IU full in-person return fall 2021; pent-up student demand; enrollment growth; post-COVID surge in near-campus demand; Cook Group expansion at 1 Geddes Way; IU Health Bloomington post-COVID staffing ramp; vacancy tightens near campus; 11-month lease prices begin rising materially; Catalent Bloomington COVID biologics manufacturing surge
2022	$1,000–$1,500	$1,100–$1,700	$1,050–$1,600	$900–$1,200	Post-COVID surge sustained; IU enrollment ~46,000–47,000 (enrollment growth initiative); Cook Group ongoing expansion; IU Health Bloomington capital projects; NSWC Crane workforce expansion (Congressional SOF technology investment); new Cook Medical urology and endoscopy product lines driving HQ hiring; Catalent Bloomington peak biologics employment ~950; Bloomington near-campus 2BR up ~22–30% from 2019
2023	$1,050–$1,600	$1,150–$1,800	$1,100–$1,650	$900–$1,200	Sustained elevated market; IU enrollment at ~47,000 (near all-time high); near-campus vacancy sub-3%; Cook Group (Carl Cook CEO) continued Bloomington investment; Catalent moderating from COVID peak but Bloomington facility retained; NSWC Crane stable GS workforce; IU Health Bloomington nurse staffing normalizing; no meaningful new near-campus supply delivered
2024	$1,050–$1,650	$1,200–$1,900	$1,100–$1,700	$900–$1,200	Cook Group Bloomington HQ expansion continues; Catalent taken private by Novo Holdings ($16.5B; 2024) — Bloomington facility maintained; NSWC Crane cyber/EW mission expansion; IU Luddy School expansion drives informatics enrollment; IU Health Bloomington Level II Trauma retained; Monroe County housing stock not meaningfully expanding near campus; near-campus vacancy 2–3%
2026F	$1,100–$1,700	$1,200–$1,900	$1,100–$1,700	$850–$1,200	+2–4%; IU enrollment stable ~47,000; no rent control; fully market-rate; Cook Group HQ investment continuing; IU Health Bloomington stable; NSWC Crane federal employment stable; Catalent (Novo Holdings) Bloomington operations continuing; near-campus vacancy expected sub-4%; Indiana dual-trigger deposit rule (IC §32-31-3-12) most important compliance element for Bloomington landlords managing May/June mass turnover

Bloomington IN rental neighborhoods 2026

Neighborhood / Area	2026F 2BR/mo	Primary demand drivers
Near Campus / Wells Quad / E. 3rd St. / N. Jordan Ave.	$1,200–$1,900	IU undergraduates (dominant); Jacobs School students near MAC; Kelley Business students; fraternity/sorority adjacent; highest IU student density; sub-3% vacancy; 11-month leases; student premium pricing
Downtown / Kirkwood Ave. / Sample Gates area	$1,100–$1,700	Upper-level IU students; IU grad students; young Cook Group and IU Health professionals; Kirkwood restaurant/bar scene walkability; Monroe County Courthouse professionals
East Bloomington / Towers / Eigenmann area	$950–$1,400	IU graduate and international students; Towers/Eigenmann residential complex vicinity; east-campus academic departments (chemistry, biology, psychology); slightly lower student density than Wells Quad core
Near IU Health / Bryan Park	$900–$1,300	IU Health Bloomington clinical staff (nurses, therapists, imaging); IU medical students; upper-level IU students seeking lower rent; family-oriented rentals; Bryan Park amenities; older craftsman housing stock
South Bloomington / College Mall / Cook Medical area	$850–$1,200	Cook Group / Cook Medical HQ professionals (1 Geddes Way); Catalent biopharmaceutical workers; NSWC Crane commuters (SR 37 access); Bloomington family rentals; newer Class B apartments with amenities
Outer / Suburban Bloomington / Ellettsville	$800–$1,100	NSWC Crane commuters; manufacturing/service workers; households priced out of near-campus; Ellettsville (Richland Twp.; 7 mi. west on SR 46; Richland-Bean Blossom schools); most affordable Monroe County submarket

Indiana landlord compliance checklist for Bloomington 2026

1. No rent control (IC §36-1-3-8 Dillon’s Rule): raise rent by any amount at lease expiration. No registration, no rent board, no hearing. For month-to-month tenancies, provide 1 month’s advance written notice (IC §32-31-1-1). For fixed-term leases (the dominant form in Bloomington’s student market), rent is set for the lease term and cannot be unilaterally changed during the term.
2. No deposit cap (IC §32-31-3): collect any agreed amount. Bloomington market norm 1–2 months’ rent; near-campus student houses sometimes 2 months. Document deposit amount in the written lease.
3. DUAL-TRIGGER — require written forwarding address at move-out (IC §32-31-3-12): the 45-day return clock does NOT start until the tenant has BOTH vacated the premises AND provided a written forwarding address. Include a lease provision and a move-out checklist form requiring written forwarding address delivery at key surrender on the final day of the 11-month lease. This is critical during Bloomington’s May/June mass student move-out when thousands of tenants vacate simultaneously.
4. Return deposit within 45 days of both triggers (IC §32-31-3-12): provide deposit balance plus itemized written statement of any deductions. Normal wear and tear is not deductible. Use time-stamped move-in and move-out photographs and itemized contractor invoices for all claimed deductions.
5. 2× wrongful-withholding exposure (IC §32-31-3-12(a)(2)): wrongful withholding or failure to meet the 45-day deadline triggers double the wrongfully withheld amount plus attorney’s fees. IU Student Legal Services (502 N. Jordan Ave., Bloomington; free to enrolled IU students) actively pursues deposit disputes on behalf of student tenants. Maintain meticulous documentation.
6. Serve 10-day pay-or-vacate notice for non-payment (IC §32-31-1-6): specify exact amount owed; give tenant 10 days to pay in full or vacate. In Bloomington’s student market, non-payment at the start of fall (August) or spring (January) semester may be cured within the 10-day period when IU financial aid disburses. After 10 days without payment or surrender, file at Monroe County Circuit Court, 301 N. College Ave., Bloomington, IN 47404; (812) 349-2612.
7. MTM termination (IC §32-31-1-1): 1 month’s advance written notice by either party to terminate a month-to-month tenancy.
8. Reasonable entry notice (IC §32-31-5-6): provide reasonable advance notice (market standard 24 hours) before non-emergency entry. Emergency entry (fire, flooding, burst pipe, gas leak) permitted without advance notice. During the busy August move-in weekend, coordinate access with student tenants’ move-in schedule.
9. Habitability (IC §32-31-8-5): maintain habitable conditions; comply with Bloomington housing codes; maintain heating (average January low ~22°F; average January high ~35°F), plumbing, electrical, and structural components. Tenant who gives 14 days’ written notice of material breach and landlord fails to cure may terminate or seek rent reduction.
10. No self-help eviction: lockouts, utility shutoffs, or removal of tenant property without a court order are prohibited. Bloomington’s IU Student Legal Services office actively represents student tenants in self-help eviction claims against landlords. Proceed through Monroe County Circuit Court (301 N. College Ave., Bloomington, IN 47404; (812) 349-2612) in all cases.

Further reading

• Indianapolis IN rent increase 2026 — Indiana Dillon’s Rule; IC §32-31; Eli Lilly; IU Health; Salesforce Tower; Marion County
• Fort Wayne IN rent increase 2026 — Indiana Dillon’s Rule; IC §32-31; Parkview Health Level I Trauma; Steel Dynamics HQ; Sweetwater Sound HQ; Allen County
• South Bend IN rent increase 2026 — Indiana Dillon’s Rule; Notre Dame; St. Joseph County; IC §32-31; 45-day dual-trigger deposit
• Columbus OH rent increase 2026 — Ohio preemption; ORC §1923; Ohio State University; Nationwide; JPMorgan Chase Columbus campus; Franklin County
• Madison WI rent increase 2026 — Wis. Stat. §66.1015 preemption; ATCP 134; UW-Madison; Epic Systems; Dane County
• Ann Arbor MI rent increase 2026 — Michigan MCL §123.411 preemption; University of Michigan; Washtenaw County; ATCP; 30-day security deposit return