All homes and bedroom counts
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Muncie, IN
Muncie merits investigation by yield-focused buyers who can tolerate weak employment momentum; buyers relying on job growth or affluent in-migration should avoid it.
Median price$174k
Median rent$979
Gross yield6.8%
Job growth▼ 0.3%
Composite Market ScoreRank #63 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Muncie, IN?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $979 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 5.98% 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 Muncie
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware County, INFIPS 18035 | $803 | $845 | $1,043 | $1,349 | $1,685 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Muncie merits investigation by yield-focused buyers who can tolerate weak employment momentum; buyers relying on job growth or affluent in-migration should avoid it. A $173,817 median home value and $979 median asking rent correspond to a 6.76% gross yield, while rent rose 5.98% year over year.
The opportunity is the purchase-to-rent math and limited new supply: price-to-income is 2.99, months of supply is 1.8, and permits total 82. Yet homes are not uniformly firm, with price drops on 34.7% of listings.
Risk sits in demand quality and property-level exposure. Employment fell 0.34% year over year, migration was only slightly positive, and incoming movers had lower average income than outgoing movers. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, so underwriting should test each asset’s insurance and loss exposure rather than rely on the metro-level result.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
How affordable is the current asking rent for local households?
Median asking rent is $979 per month, equal to 20.2% of the $58,127 median household income.
What do current for-sale conditions show?
Months of supply is 1.8, median time on market is 13 days, and 34.7% of listings have price drops.
How significant is investor participation?
Non-occupants account for 11.22% of purchase mortgages; total purchases were 1,328.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 6.8%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 5.98%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 11.2%
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 Muncie as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
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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 supply1.8 mo.▼ from 1.9 mo. a year ago
Median days on market13 days▼ from 22 days a year ago
Listings with price drops34.7%▼ from 41.9% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio97.3%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 4.4%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 5.98%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield6.8%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▼ 0.3%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 steady67→67
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 78% and rents 57%. 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
67| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 31 | 30% | 9.30 |
| Rent trend | 83 | 25% | 20.75 |
| Affordability | 80 | 15% | 12.00 |
| Supply pressure | 98 | 15% | 14.70 |
| Climate risk | 70 | 15% | 10.50 |
| Published score | 67 | ||
Muncie, IN scoreRank #63
67Job growth31/100
CES employment fell 0.34% year over year -> labor-market support for tenant demand is weak.
Rent trend83/100
Median asking rent rose 5.98% to $979 -> recent rent performance is the clearest operating-strength signal.
Affordability80/100
Rent is 20.2% of median household income and price-to-income is 2.99 -> housing appears affordable on both tenant and buyer measures.
Supply pressure98/100
There were 82 permits and 1.8 months of for-sale supply -> both construction and current listings are limited.
Climate risk70/100
The annual climate loss ratio is 0.1185%, with inland flood the dominant hazard -> water exposure requires property-level review.
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
$174k
YoY ▲ 4.4%
ZORI Median Rent
$979
YoY ▲ 5.98%
Gross Rental Yield
6.8%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$979 × 12 ÷ $173,817
Job Growth (YoY)
▼ 0.3%
CES payrolls
Job signal 31/100
Median Household Income
$58k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
20.2%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
3.0x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,043
Market rent 93.8% 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$979Primary 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 ↗$845−$134 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 ↗$1,043+$64 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 ↗$906−$73 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 Muncie as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
Regional price level
What feels expensive inside Muncie
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
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$28,110 median wage
41.8%
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$41,540 median wage
28.3%
Sales and Related Occupations$34,160 median wage
34.4%
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations$77,560 median wage
15.1%
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations$36,850 median wage
31.9%
Educational Instruction and Library Occupations$59,240 median wage
19.8%
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
82 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
+23
2,758 in vs 2,735 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 0.8% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$6,651
Arriving $43,323 vs leaving $49,974
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
11.2%
149 of 1,328 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.119% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Madison County · Marion County · Henry County · Randolph County · Hamilton County
✓ 2,758 in − 2,735 out = 23 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, IN873 arriving
- New Castle, IN156 arriving
- Marion, IN83 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Indianapolis, IN940 leaving
- New Castle, IN108 leaving
- Fort Wayne, IN76 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 was down 0.34% year over year, leaving weak labor-market support for occupancy and rents.
- Net migration was just 23 households, and incoming movers’ average income was $6,651 below outgoing movers’ average income.
- Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the annual climate loss ratio is 0.1185% of building value.
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 Muncie
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muncie, IN (Target) | 67 | $174k | $979 | 6.8% | ▼ 0.3% |
| Anniston, AL | 52 | $173k | $1,022 | 7.1% | ▼ 0.5% |
| Weirton, WV | 70 | $137k | $781 | 6.9% | ▲ 0.1% |
| Shawnee, OK | 47 | $197k | $1,149 | 7.0% | ▼ 0.5% |
| Gadsden, AL | 46 | $189k | $1,137 | 7.2% | ▼ 0.1% |
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 |