Bloomington is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of Indiana. With a population of 79,107 people and 28 associated neighborhoods, Bloomington is the seventh largest community in Indiana. Bloomington real estate is some of the most expensive in Indiana, although Bloomington house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.Bloomington is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 86.34% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Bloomington is a city of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Bloomington who work in teaching (14.75%), food service (9.94%), and office and administrative support (8.77%). Also of interest is that Bloomington has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 16.07% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Bloomington is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Bloomington have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Bloomington’s economy is one such example of this. Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Bloomington spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 18.54 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be. A lot of people in Bloomington take the bus for their daily commute. For the size of the city, the number of people who use public transportation is quite high. For many people in Bloomington, this fills their need for low-cost transportation.If knowledge is power, Bloomington is a pretty powerful place. 59.82% of the adults in Bloomington have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in Bloomington in 2022 was $31,069, which is upper middle income relative to Indiana, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $124,276 for a family of four. However, Bloomington contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Bloomington also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 31.08% of its population below the federal poverty line.Bloomington is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Bloomington home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Bloomington residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Bloomington include German, English, Irish, Polish, and Italian. The most common language spoken in Bloomington is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.
