Monroe County, Indiana Eviction Risk: Elevated
6 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Bloomington (5.9) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #1 of 92 IN counties
91k residents · 6 cities · 33 tracts
Monroe County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
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Tenant beats landlord31.9%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for Monroe County, IN, tenants prevail in roughly 31.9% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
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Timeline35dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Monroe County, IN until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 35 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
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Cost range$1.2–3.6klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in Monroe County, IN costs landlords $1,233 to $3,610 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
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Average rent$1,16938% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in Monroe County, IN is $1,169 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 38% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
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Renters59.6%of households59.6% of occupied housing units in Monroe County, IN are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
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Poverty27.7%5.8% unemp.27.7% of Monroe County, IN residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 5.8%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
Monroe County averages 5.6/10 across 6 cities, ranging from 5.6/10 in Stanford to 3.1/10 in Bloomington, the county's highest-risk city. Ranked 19th of 92 Indiana counties by eviction risk (rank 1 = highest risk).
How Monroe County ranks in Indiana
Landlord guides for Indiana
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Bloomington | 80,049 | 5.9 | 39.5% | $1,200 | Dem |
| 002 | Ellettsville | 6,698 | 3.2 | 26.9% | $855 | Dem |
| 003 | Smithville-Sanders | 3,299 | 3.2 | 37.1% | $1,123 | Dem |
| 004 | Stanford | 472 | 3.1 | 38.4% | $1,170 | Dem |
| 005 | Harrodsburg | 298 | 3.1 | 33.6% | $1,009 | Dem |
| 006 | Stinesville | 297 | 3.4 | 22.5% | $642 | Dem |
County heatmap
Neighborhoods in Monroe County
Top 2 neighborhoods by population. Click for a pop-weighted risk score and the constituent census tracts.
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
Monroe County, Indiana eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 5.6/10 (Elevated) across its 6 incorporated places, but that headline conceals meaningful variation on the ground. Individual city scores span from 3.1 to 5.9, a 1.3-point spread that matters when you are deciding where within the county to acquire or operate rental units. At the county level, an average rent of $1,169 and a renter share of 59.6% of households signal a heavily tenant-occupied market, which amplifies the stakes of any eviction proceeding.
Context at the state level sharpens the picture further. At rank 19 of 92 Indiana eviction laws counties, Monroe County sits in the higher-risk third of the state: only 18 counties are riskier, while 73 are less risky and more landlord-friendly. Investors who are accustomed to anchoring on the "Low" label should treat that score as a relative comfort, not an absence of risk, particularly given a poverty rate of 27.7% that puts meaningful upward pressure on nonpayment exposure.
The cities inside Monroe County
Bloomington dominates the county both by population and by risk. With 80,049 residents and a score of 5.9/10, it accounts for the overwhelming majority of the county's rental stock and sets the ceiling on county risk. Stinesville (score 3.4/10, population 297) and Ellettsville (score 3.2/10, population 6,698) occupy the middle tier, as does Smithville-Sanders at 3.2/10.
At the lower end of the range, Stanford scores 3.1/10 and Harrodsburg scores 3.1/10, both small communities with populations under 500. The 1.3-point spread from Stanford to Bloomington illustrates that risk in Monroe County is hyper-local: a portfolio concentrated in Bloomington faces materially different conditions than one spread across the county's smaller towns, even though all six fall under the same Indiana county umbrella.
State-level laws that apply here
Every landlord operating in Monroe County works under Ind. Code § 32-31 (Landlord-Tenant Relations). For nonpayment of rent, Indiana eviction laws requires a 10-day notice to quit (IC 32-31-1-6). A material lease violation triggers a 30-day cure-or-quit notice (IC 32-31-1-8), and terminating a month-to-month tenancy likewise requires 30 days (IC 32-31-1-1). Understanding the Indiana eviction laws eviction process from notice through writ matters because the timeline is longer than many landlords expect: uncontested cases run 21 to 45 days and contested cases can stretch to 45 to 100 days.
On the cost side, court filing fees run $150 to $200, sheriff lockout fees add $50 to $200, and attorney fees typically fall in the $500 to $2,500 range, meaning a single contested case can absorb several months of rent. Indiana eviction costs also include no just-cause requirement for termination and a statewide preemption of local rent control, both significant structural advantages for landlords. There are no local rent caps in Monroe County to navigate.
With 27.7% of residents below the poverty line and 59.6% of households renting, Monroe County's risk profile is driven more by tenant financial fragility than by hostile ordinances; review the city grid above to identify which specific markets within the county carry the most concentrated exposure.
Eviction filings in Indiana
The Princeton Eviction Lab Tracking System covers Indiana statewide (no county-level tracker available for Monroe County). In the past month, 5,536 statewide filings were recorded, 0.95× the historical baseline (below baseline).
- 5,536Past month (state)
- 71,124Past 12 months
- 0.97×vs baseline (12 mo)
Eviction filings in Monroe County
In September 2025, 83 eviction filings were recorded in Monroe County, 92.5% of the historical average (near average).2
- 83Sep 2025
- 92.5%of historical avg
- 26,315Renter households
- 20.2%Poverty rate
How Monroe County compares
Monroe County's eviction-risk score of 5.6/10 (elevated tier) places it in the higher-risk third of Indiana, ranking 19th of 92 counties statewide (rank 1 = highest risk). Among its peer group, Clark County (5.6/10) and Bartholomew County (5.6/10) carry more risk, while LaPorte County (5.6/10), Hendricks County (5.6/10), and Porter County (5.6/10) score lower, making them comparatively more landlord-friendly markets.
Monroe County's relatively high renter share of 59.6% and average rent burden of 38.4% distinguish it from lower-scoring Indiana peers, reflecting the influence of Bloomington's large student and renter population on county-level risk metrics.