Students from Indiana University make up a large share of Bloomington's 83,000 or so residents, which gives this college town in the rolling limestone hills of southern Indiana, about 50 miles from Indianapolis, a young, international mood. The movie Breaking Away was set here, and the Little 500 bicycle race in April is a beloved tradition.
A visit might mean walking the campus and Sample Gates, eating along Kirkwood Avenue, checking the art museum, or catching a game or concert. The B-Line Trail and Switchyard Park are great for a stroll, and Lake Monroe, Hoosier National Forest and Brown County are nearby for hiking and fall color. Costs are moderate, though student demand keeps rents firm and the housing market fairly competitive. Crime is low to moderate, and the usual issues are bike and car theft. Downtown gets rowdy on game weekends, spring storms can produce tornadoes, and ticks live in the woods.
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- Known as
- Home of Indiana University; Gateway to Hoosier National Forest and Lake Monroe; Setting of the film Breaking Away; Limestone and college town of southern Indiana
- Founded
- 1818 founded and platted as county seat of Monroe County; 1904 incorporated as a city
- Languages
- English; Chinese (Mandarin); Korean; Spanish; Hindi and other South Asian languages; Arabic (large international student population)
- Airports
- Monroe County Airport (BMG) has limited or no scheduled service (check current airlines), about 5 miles southwest; Indianapolis International (IND), about 55 miles north; Louisville Muhammad Ali International (SDF), about 80 miles southeast; Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (CVG), about 125 miles east
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20%; bars $1-2 per drink; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-5 per bag; food delivery 15-20%; counter service optional
About this data
Population and land area (23.23 sq mi), median value and rent are from Census QuickFacts (Vintage 2025 and ACS 2020-2024); Redfin data is July 2026. Metro figure (Bloomington MSA, Monroe and Owen counties) is an approximate recent estimate, not taken from a Census table in this pass. Elevation, coordinates, founding, event months (some not verified as current), hotel ranges, tipping, cost-of-living index, airport service and distances, 1BR rent, neighborhood list and crime context are approximate or from general knowledge and not verified. Confidence is medium. URLs were seen in search results but not load-tested
