All homes and bedroom counts
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Columbus, IN
Columbus merits selective investigation by income-focused buyers prepared for weak demand signals; buyers relying on employment expansion or net in-migration should avoid it.
Median price$279k
Median rent$1,399
Gross yield6.0%
Job growth▼ 1.3%
Composite Market ScoreRank #282 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Columbus, IN?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,399 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 3.56% from a year earlier.
Occupied rental units paying rent
Two-bedroom standard
These figures are not averaged together. Zillow and Realtor describe asking-rent markets, ACS measures rent paid by surveyed households, and HUD publishes administrative bedroom standards.
Exact county schedules
HUD rent benchmarks inside Columbus
Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.
| County | Studio | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR | 4 BR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bartholomew County, INFIPS 18005 | $1,233 | $1,257 | $1,415 | $1,697 | $2,000 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Columbus merits selective investigation by income-focused buyers prepared for weak demand signals; buyers relying on employment expansion or net in-migration should avoid it. At a $278,657 median value and $1,399 asking rent, the recorded gross yield is 6.02%, while rent equals 21.01% of median household income.
Opportunity lies in tight resale availability: supply is 1.4 months and median market time is 18 days, yet 42.04% price drops show sellers are not uniformly firm. Asking rent rose 3.56%, slightly faster than the home’s 3.1% annual price gain.
Risk centers on demand quality. CES jobs fell 1.27%, tax filings show net migration of -77 households, and outgoing movers had $13,643 more average income than incoming movers. Combined with inland-flood exposure, these signals favor property-level diligence and conservative vacancy assumptions.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
What does the current rent-to-price profile look like?
The median home value is $278,657, median asking rent is $1,399 per month, recorded gross yield is 6.02%, and two-bedroom FMR is $1,415.
How much near-term supply and seller flexibility are visible?
The record shows 1.4 months of supply, an 18-day median market time, 138 permits, and a 42.04% price-drop share.
What do tax filings show about household movement and mover income?
They show 2,259 households moved in and 2,336 moved out, for net migration of -77. Average income was $59,814 for incoming movers and $73,457 for outgoing movers; the recorded incoming-minus-outgoing gap is -$13,643.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 6.0%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 3.56%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 5.0%
Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).
Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI
Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.
Put the evidence to work
Test the market, then test the deal
Keep Columbus as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
Run cash flowStarts with this market's measured price and rentSave to shortlistCompare this metro with up to four other placesCheck rent by ZIPMove from metro context to a local rent benchmarkFind a comparison marketRead a curated two-market decision analysisShare this analysisEmail the canonical link without adding page scriptsReport a data issueSend the figure, source and release period to review
Market pulse
The current market in eight signals
Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.
Months of supply1.4 mo.▼ from 1.7 mo. a year ago
Median days on market18 days▲ from 14 days a year ago
Listings with price drops42.0%▲ from 38.6% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio98.0%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 3.1%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 3.56%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield6.0%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▼ 1.3%CES · 12m to 2026-06
Release-to-release evidence
What actually changed
This comparison exists because at least one underlying source period advanced. Rebuilding the same data never creates a new observation.
Published score held steady49→49
0 ptsThe published component scores did not move in this release.
Weights were unchanged at metro-2026-07-v2-omb2023, so the movement comes from refreshed evidence and percentile ranks.
The named source periods advanced, but the measured values on this page held steady.
The one chart
Rents versus prices, indexed to 2019
Both series start at 100. The gap between the lines is the investment case, and which line is closing it tells you what kind of market this is.
Reindexed Price vs. Rent Growth
2019 = 100 · annual · 2019–2026
Since 2019, prices are up 59% and rents 44%. Prices running ahead of rents is what compresses yield. ✓ recomputed from series
Composite breakdown
What each component measures
Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
49| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 9 | 30% | 2.70 |
| Rent trend | 54 | 25% | 13.50 |
| Affordability | 76 | 15% | 11.40 |
| Supply pressure | 92 | 15% | 13.80 |
| Climate risk | 51 | 15% | 7.65 |
| Published score | 49 | ||
Columbus, IN scoreRank #282
49Job growth9/100
Job: CES employment fell 1.27% year over year -> demand underwriting should not assume job growth.
Rent trend54/100
Rent: Asking rent rose 3.56% year over year to $1,399 -> recent rent performance is positive despite weaker demand signals.
Affordability76/100
Affordability: Asking rent equals 21.01% of median income and home value is 3.49 times income -> current pricing is not the main warning signal.
Supply pressure92/100
Supply: Inventory is 1.4 months and median market time is 18 days, while price drops are 42.04% -> access is tight, but negotiation remains plausible.
Climate risk51/100
Climate: Inland flood is the dominant hazard and the annual climate loss ratio is 0.142% -> check insurance and mitigation needs property by property.
The numbers
What this market costs and what it earns
Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.
ZHVI Median Price
$279k
YoY ▲ 3.1%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,399
YoY ▲ 3.56%
Gross Rental Yield
6.0%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,399 × 12 ÷ $278,657
Job Growth (YoY)
▼ 1.3%
CES payrolls
Job signal 9/100
Median Household Income
$80k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
21.0%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
3.5x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,415
Market rent 98.9% of FMR
Historical affordability context
Compare aligned 2019 and 2024 asking-rent and nominal household-income endpoints across the direct-overlap metro set.
Independent rent evidence
One market, several legitimate rent benchmarks
These releases observe different homes and different moments. RentMarker keeps them separate: ZORI remains the scoring baseline, while the other sources test how sensitive the market story is to bedroom mix and measurement method.
Monthly benchmark4 of 4 reported values
Zero-based scale$1,399Primary RentMarker baseline
2026-06-30
All homes and bedroom counts
A smoothed metro rent index for observed rentals; it is the primary rent used by RentMarker scores and career ratios.
View source release ↗$1,257−$142 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
One-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,415+$16 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
Two-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,127−$272 vs ZORI
ACS 2024 5-year
Occupied rental units paying rent
A five-year survey estimate of contract rent plus applicable tenant-paid utilities; it is not a current asking-rent index.
View source release ↗Take the next step
Keep Columbus as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
Direct local rental evidence
Recent leases and rental-market liquidity in Columbus, IN
These Apartment List observations match the exact metro CBSA code 18020. They are kept separate from Zillow asking rent, Census occupied-home rent and property-level comparables.
Direct recent-lease rent history
Monthly overall-rent index; missing observations are not filled from another geography.
Recent-lease rent$1,3342026-07 · +1.1% year over year
Rental vacancyn/an/a
Time on marketn/an/a
Regional price level
What feels expensive inside Columbus
BEA compares each category with the United States, which equals 100. This is a 2024 price-level comparison—not annual inflation.
BEA Regional Price Parities · 2024US = 100
Occupation wage lens
How asking rent sits against major local occupations
Annualized Zillow asking rent is divided by each BLS annual median wage. This is a screening ratio for one wage, not a household budget or affordability verdict.
Six largest published major groupsannual rent ÷ median wage
Production Occupations$48,580 median wage
34.6%
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$45,350 median wage
37.0%
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations$39,940 median wage
42.0%
Sales and Related Occupations$35,270 median wage
47.6%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$28,890 median wage
58.1%
Management Occupations$124,870 median wage
13.4%
Supply pipeline
What is being built, and for whom
Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.
National supply context
Compare this authorization pipeline with asking-rent growth, jobs and for-sale liquidity across the evidence-complete metro set.
Building permits by structure type
units per year · latest year annualised
138 units authorised in 2026, 0% of them in 5+ unit buildings. This is a single-family building cycle, so the competition is other houses, not new apartments. ✓ recomputed from series
Who is arriving, and who is buying
Demand, and the competition for it
Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.
Net Household Move
−77
2,259 in vs 2,336 out (IRS SOI)
▼ 3.4% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$13,643
Arriving $59,814 vs leaving $73,457
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
5.0%
56 of 1,112 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.142% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Johnson County · Jackson County · Jennings County · Marion County · Brown County
✓ 2,259 in − 2,336 out = -77 netDirect market links
Where tax-return households moved from and to
These are the largest flows where both counties map to a RentMarker market area. They are a documented subset of the all-US IRS totals above.
Leading inbound markets
- Indianapolis, IN588 arriving
- Seymour, IN203 arriving
- Bloomington, IN56 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Indianapolis, IN755 leaving
- Seymour, IN167 leaving
- Bloomington, IN55 leaving
The other side
What would make this a bad buy
Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.
Three ways the case breaks
- CES employment fell 1.27% year over year, leaving no measured job-growth support for demand.
- Tax filings show net migration of -77 households, while incoming movers’ average income was $13,643 below outgoing movers’.
- The dominant hazard is inland flood, with a 0.142% annual climate loss ratio, leaving property-level insurance and mitigation needs unresolved.
Inside this metro area
Move from the market-area average to local evidence
Use the available county and city pages to add local price, rent, housing, migration and hazard context to the market-area view.
County records
Cities in this market
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like Columbus
Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.
| Market area | Score | Price | Rent | Yield | Job Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus, IN (Target) | 49 | $279k | $1,399 | 6.0% | ▼ 1.3% |
| Bloomington, IL | 52 | $262k | $1,374 | 6.3% | ▼ 1.5% |
| Holland, MI | 63 | $352k | $1,754 | 6.0% | ▼ 0.8% |
| Glens Falls, NY | 54 | $320k | $1,424 | 5.3% | ▼ 0.8% |
| Sioux City, IA | 39 | $227k | $1,263 | 6.7% | ▼ 1.0% |
Provenance
Where every figure came from
“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.
| Dataset Source | Method | Release Period | Pulled Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rent | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — historical household income | direct | ACS 2019 and 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — population | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent index | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| BEA County Personal Income — income and population | direct | 2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levels | direct | 2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS CES — payroll employment | direct | CES SM current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS LAUS — resident employment | direct | LAUS current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wages | direct | May 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15) | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS QCEW — county employment and wages | direct | annual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 2024 | 2026-08-02 |
| OMB/BLS delineation — metro geography | direct | OMB July 2023 delineation | 2026-07-30 |
| Census Building Permits Survey — permitted units | direct | BPS through 2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housing | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-29 |
| Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income | direct | ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA | 2026-08-08 |
| FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratios | modelled | NRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS) | 2026-07-26 |
| FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciation | direct | annual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 2025 | 2026-08-02 |
| HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy type | direct | HMDA 2024 purchase originations | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income band | direct | HUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23) | 2026-08-03 |
| HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standard | direct | FY2026 FMR | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback | direct | ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalk | direct | HUD-USPS 2026Q1 | 2026-08-09 |
| IRS SOI — county migration and mover income | direct | SOI migration 2022-2023 | 2026-07-26 |
| Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage rates | direct | week of 2026-07-30 | 2026-08-06 |
| Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-06 |
| Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory | direct | county inventory 2026-06 | 2026-07-28 |
| Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rents | direct | top-50 rental asking rents 2026-05 | 2026-08-05 |
| Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts | direct | metro tracker through 2026-05-01 | 2026-07-26 |
| Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply | direct | ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03 | 2026-08-12 |
| USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | direct | USDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | 2026-08-02 |
| Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents | direct | county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06 | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — metro home values | direct | Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — city home values | direct | zillow_zhvi_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI — metro market rents | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZORI — city market rents | direct | zillow_zori_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusted | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv | 2026-08-15 |
| Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents | direct | ZORI ZIP 2026-06 | 2026-08-08 |