Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) Releases New Report on Rising Rental Burdens

FHCCI Releases New Report on Rising Rental Burdens

NDIANAPOLIS, IN (November 25, 2025)– Today, the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) releases a new report, State of Fair Housing Report – Rising Rental Burdens in the Indianapolis Metro, outlining growing challenges for renters in their search for affordable housing.

A graph of income for rental hours AI-generated content may be incorrect. In the report, we share the following major findings:

Half of all renters in Marion County are cost burdened, meaning they spend 30%+ of their monthly income on rent and utilities. A quarter of renters spend 50%+ of their income on housing (severely cost-burdened). Among households headed by seniors or people with disabilities, over 60% are rent-burdened, and nearly 40% are severely cost-burdened.
The standard definition of housing cost-burden (spending 30%+ of income on housing costs) is limited. According to the Living Wage Calculator from MIT, in Marion County, a single parent with two children would have to make $100,849 a year, including only 8.5% spent on housing costs, to afford other basic expenses like childcare, food, medical costs, and transportation. (Notably, the cost of childcare for those two children is estimated to be almost double the cost of rent.)
In 2015, the average asking rent for a market-rate apartment unit in the Indianapolis metro area was $899. By 2025, that rent had risen nearly 50% to $1,339. The most acute increases are among two- and three-bedroom apartments, which has a pronounced impact on families with children who need these larger apartments. Rent prices for single-family homes increased by over 40% from 2019 to 2025, reaching a median high of $1,625 in Marion County and $1,800 in the Indianapolis metro area.
The rental vacancy rate reached a 15-year-plus low of 3.9% in 2024 in Marion County, and 4.2% in the Indianapolis metro area—far below a healthy vacancy rate. When vacancy rates are low, renters seeking new housing may be unable to find it, forcing them to stay unhoused or in units that may be overcrowded, unaffordable, or even unsafe.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), the Indianapolis metro area has only 32 affordable and available rental units for every 100 households in the lowest income category of renters (comprising 29% of renters in the Indianapolis metro)—a deficit of 49,000 units. For the next 20% of renters, who are in the second-to-lowest income category of renters, NLIHC identified only 70 affordable and available rental units for every 100 households, a deficit of nearly 35,000 units.
An FHCCI analysis of median renter incomes finds that there are virtually no multifamily units in Marion County that are affordable to households making less than 30% of the local renter median family income, who account for 26,000 (or 15%) of all renter households in Marion County. In the Indianapolis metro area, we find less than 500 multifamily units affordable to this category of renters, which comprises 42,000 households in the Indianapolis metro area.
There were over 24,000 new multifamily units constructed in the Indianapolis metro area between 2020-2025, including 6,500 units in Marion County. These units were more likely to be studio and one-bedroom apartments, as compared to units constructed prior to 2020, and less likely to be two-, three-, or four-bedroom apartments. Rents in newly constructed properties are, on average, 41% more expensive than rents in pre-2020 properties across the metro area, with the average rent exceeding $1,500 for a two-bedroom and $2,000 for a three-bedroom in a newly constructed property.
Only one in four households that qualify for housing assistance ever receive it. In Marion County, only 76% of the available housing choice vouchers were utilized in 2024. If chosen in a lottery, families have had to wait an average of three years on a waitlist before being able to get a voucher. Indiana is one of only a handful of states that preempts municipalities from banning discrimination against voucher-holders. As a result, tenants with vouchers still struggle to find housing. According to the IHCDA, 47% of tenants in LIHTC units across the state also use an additional source of federal rental assistance, such as a housing choice voucher, in part because LIHTC properties are required to accept vouchers, so voucher holders may frequently seek housing there. Also, the median income for LIHTC households statewide is $16,900, making it impossible to afford rent in their LIHTC unit without an additional housing subsidy.
Close to 5,000 units in subsidized properties across the Indianapolis metro area are due to expire in the next five years if their owners choose not to renew or forgo entering a new subsidy contract.
Renters also must contend with rising utility costs. Monthly utility costs increased by $35.75 (20%) from 2018 to 2023 (most recent years of data) in the metro area. Statewide, monthly residential electric bills rose 18% from 2024 to 2025.
On top of rent and utilities, renters may pay hundreds of additional dollars in “junk fees,” from accumulating monthly fees for “technology” and “amenities” to mandatory one-off junk fees required at move-in on top of the security deposit, making it harder for renters to move and impacting affordability.

The downstream consequence of rising rent burdens is that more families are pushed into or at risk of homelessness. Meanwhile, some top local landlords have seen revenues soar, including three which doubled or tripled in earnings. We conclude our report with recommendations for policymakers to address this affordable rental housing crisis.

To download the full report, visit the FHCCI’s News Page or our Reports Page.

On December 16, 2025 from 2:00-3:30 PM ET, the FHCCI will be hosting a webinar which will include a review of this report’s findings. To learn more or to register, visit our events page.

In recent years, the FHCCI has released the following consumer-driven housing reports through its The State of Fair Housing in Indiana series:

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The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) is a private, nonprofit fair housing organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Its mission is to facilitate open housing for all people by ensuring the availability of affordable and accessible housing; promoting housing choice and homeownership; advocating for an inclusive housing market; working toward stable and equitable communities; and eradicating discrimination within Central Indiana, the State of Indiana, and nationally. For more information, visit: https://link.edgepilot.com/s/92817240/P6AZoZ8BZUCgto16PnOxWQ?u=http://www.fhcci.org/