Michigan City, IN
Michigan City merits investigation by value-focused rental buyers who can tolerate soft labor and migration signals; investors needing strong demand momentum should avoid it.
Why this market scores where it does
Written from the figures on this page and then checked against them: every number below had to appear in the source record or recompute from two that did, or the text was rewritten.
Michigan City merits investigation by value-focused rental buyers who can tolerate soft labor and migration signals; investors needing strong demand momentum should avoid it. A $263,103 median home value and $1,137 median asking rent produce a 5.19% gross yield, while rent consumes 19.2% of median household income.
Opportunity lies in affordability and a relatively tight resale market. The price-to-income ratio is 3.7, months of supply is 2.5, and homes spend a median 33 days on market. Yet 29.93% of listings have price drops, so tight inventory does not eliminate negotiation risk.
Risk is concentrated in weak demand evidence: jobs fell 0.3% year over year, and tax filings show net migration of -104 households. New supply is not absent, with 296 permits recorded, while inland flood is the dominant hazard. Underwrite current rents conservatively and inspect property-level flood exposure before relying on the market's affordability.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
What rent and yield does the record show?
Are movers adding households and income?
What climate risk stands out?
Investor Quick Takeaways
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).
Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.
Test the market, then test the deal
Keep Michigan City as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
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.
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.
| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 33 | 30% | 9.90 |
| Rent trend | 62 | 25% | 15.50 |
| Affordability | 86 | 15% | 12.90 |
| Supply pressure | 70 | 15% | 10.50 |
| Climate risk | 94 | 15% | 14.10 |
| Published score | 63 | ||
CES jobs fell 0.3% year over year -> the labor market provides weak support for tenant demand.
Median asking rent rose 4.14% to $1,137 -> recent rent performance is positive, but it sits beside declining employment.
Rent equals 19.2% of median household income, and price-to-income is 3.7 -> affordability is the strongest economic entry signal.
Months of supply is 2.5, 29.93% of listings have price drops, and 296 permits were issued -> inventory is tight, but pricing and the supply pipeline still need scrutiny.
The annual climate loss ratio is 0.0846% of building value, with inland flood dominant -> broad loss exposure is limited, but property-level water risk remains.
What this market costs and what it earns
Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.
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.
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.
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
- Employment declined 0.3% year over year, leaving the rental market without job-growth support.
- Tax filings show 2,331 households moved out versus 2,227 moved in, for net migration of -104 households.
- Price cuts affect 29.93% of listings despite 2.5 months of supply, indicating seller-pricing friction.
Move from the metro average to local evidence
County pages carry tax, migration, listing and hazard records. City pages appear only where direct city price, rent and Census evidence pass the publication gate.
No city in this metro has passed the current city evidence gate.
Metros that behave like Michigan City
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.
| Metro | Score | Price | Rent | Yield | Job Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan City, IN (Target) | 63 | $263k | $1,137 | 5.2% | ▼ 0.3% |
| Grand Forks, ND | 65 | $282k | $1,148 | 4.9% | ▲ 0.3% |
| Janesville, WI | 63 | $300k | $1,208 | 4.8% | ▼ 0.3% |
| Staunton, VA | 54 | $339k | $1,593 | 5.6% | ▼ 0.5% |
| Mankato, MN | 55 | $313k | $1,224 | 4.7% | ▼ 0.1% |
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 | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| Census ACS 5-year — population | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS CES — payroll employment | direct | CES SM current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS LAUS — resident employment | direct | LAUS current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS QCEW — county employment and wages | direct | annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 | 2026-07-31 |
| 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 |
| 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 2025 | 2026-07-28 |
| HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy type | direct | HMDA 2024 purchase originations | 2026-07-26 |
| 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 |
| IRS SOI — county migration and mover income | direct | SOI migration 2022-2023 | 2026-07-26 |
| Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage rates | direct | week of 2026-07-23 | 2026-07-27 |
| Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-27 |
| Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory | direct | county inventory 2026-06 | 2026-07-28 |
| Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts | direct | metro tracker through 2026-05-01 | 2026-07-26 |
| 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 — ZIP market rents | direct | ZORI ZIP 2026-06 | 2026-07-26 |