A guide for Bloomington short-term rental owners planning the year ahead
Bloomington is a college town first. Indiana University sets when families arrive, when alumni come back, and when the town empties out. A short-term rental here earns on that calendar, and an owner who knows the dates a year ahead earns more than one who learns them from a booking request.
We have walked this calendar as hosts and as fans. I grew up in Bloomington, and I remember the town on a football Saturday. Laura and I run Hearth and Haven Hosting from New Albany, about 90 minutes down the road, and Bloomington is where our Indiana focus starts. Below is the whole year as we see it, with every date we have confirmed and the booking data we have as of late September 2026.
The year starts with move-in
The Bloomington short-term rental year begins in the third week of August. First-year students moved in August 18 to 19, 2026. Classes started Monday, August 24. Parents, grandparents, and siblings fill homes for two and three nights around move-in, and most of them book weeks ahead.
What we have found: move-in guests want a full kitchen, parking for two cars, and a quiet street. They are here to carry boxes and say goodbye. A listing that says “ten minutes to campus, driveway parking, coffee ready” speaks to them. We keep a two-night minimum on move-in weekend and open one-night stays the week after.
Eight home football games set the fall
The 2026 Indiana football home schedule at Memorial Stadium has eight games:
- North Texas, Saturday, September 5
- Howard, Saturday, September 12
- Western Kentucky, Saturday, September 19
- Northwestern, Friday, September 25, 8:00 p.m. kickoff
- Ohio State, Saturday, October 17
- Minnesota, Saturday, October 31 (Homecoming)
- USC, Saturday, November 14
- Purdue, Saturday, November 28
Family Weekend ran September 18 to 20, 2026, which put the Western Kentucky game inside a weekend when parents were already in town. The Northwestern game is a Friday night, so that weekend books Friday and Saturday together for many guests. The Purdue game lands on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, when families are already gathered and looking for a place for the cousins to sleep.
Every one of those dates is a night your home can earn more than a normal Saturday. A good calendar has all eight marked before the first kickoff.
The guest on a football weekend is usually a family of four to six, or a group of alumni, and they arrive Friday afternoon. They want parking for two cars, a place to tailgate before the drive to the stadium, and a late checkout on Sunday if the calendar allows it. We write all three into the listing for the fall, then take the tailgate line out when basketball season starts.
The three biggest weekends fill early and the Saturdays around them do not
The booking data as of September 23, 2026, makes the pattern plain. Occupancy on the books for Bloomington short-term rentals sat at 71% to 91% for the Northwestern weekend (September 25 to 26), the Ohio State game (October 17), and the USC game (November 14). The Saturdays around those three games sat at 13% to 53% occupancy on the books. Ohio State weekend alone sat at 90%. From AirDNA, pulled September 23, 2026. These are bookings on the books as of that date, not a forecast.
Two lessons sit inside those figures. First, the marquee games fill weeks out, so a nightly rate set in September for Ohio State is set too late. Second, the Saturdays between them are open, so an owner who priced the whole fall as one high season is holding empty nights at a game-day rate.
How we run ours: the three biggest games get a two-night minimum and a nightly rate set the week the schedule posts. The Saturdays around them get a one-night minimum and a rate check every Monday. We would rather book a Saturday at a fair rate than hold it empty at a game-day rate.
Homecoming and the Lotus Festival fill October
October in Bloomington has more than football. The Lotus World Music and Arts Festival runs October 1 to 4, 2026, across downtown. Guests come for the music and stay near Kirkwood Avenue and the square. Homecoming weekend follows on October 30 to 31, 2026. The parade runs Friday, October 30 at 5:30 p.m. The Minnesota game is Saturday, October 31.
Homecoming guests are alumni. They book earlier than most, they stay two or three nights, and they come back the next year if the stay went well. We treat Homecoming like a home game plus one, with a two-night minimum and a welcome note that names the parade time and the walk to the route.
Between those two weekends, October has the Ohio State game on the 17th, so the month carries three strong weekends and one open one. The open Saturday is the one we work with a lower minimum and a weekly rate check.
Basketball season carries the winter
When football ends, basketball starts. The first men’s home game of the 2026 to 2027 season is Monday, November 2, 2026, against Eastern Illinois at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The 2027 Big Ten home schedule at Assembly Hall:
- USC, January 2
- Maryland, January 12
- Michigan, January 16
- Illinois, January 24
- UCLA, January 30
- Northwestern, February 9
- Purdue, February 16
- Michigan State, February 23
- Ohio State, February 28
Many of those dates are weeknights. A basketball guest is often one couple or a small group, in for one night, and they book closer to the date than a football family. We have found that the right move in winter is a one-night minimum, a nightly rate that reflects a game night without pricing it like a football Saturday, and a listing that shows a warm house in the photos.
The dates matter for another reason. Between Purdue on November 28 and the first January game, the town is quiet, and the fall term ends Friday, December 18, 2026. An owner who knows that in advance can plan a repair week or a deep clean for the middle of December instead of losing a booked week to it in April.
Little 500 and commencement close the spring
Spring in Bloomington has two weekends that fill homes. The Little 500 races run Friday, April 23, 2027, for the women’s race and Saturday, April 24, 2027, for the men’s race. Commencement follows two weeks later. The graduate ceremony is Friday, May 7, 2027, at Assembly Hall. The undergraduate ceremony is Saturday, May 8, 2027, at Memorial Stadium.
Commencement guests are families. They book the moment the date posts, they want three or four bedrooms, and they want to be close to the stadium. We put a three-night minimum on commencement weekend and hold the nightly rate. Little 500 guests are alumni and friends, and they want to be near campus and downtown.
What we have found about commencement weekend: the family that books a year ahead often has grandparents in the group, so a home with a bedroom and a full bath on the main floor books first. We say so in the listing. We also write the welcome message for that weekend with the ceremony times, the stadium gates, and where to park, because a family with a graduate to celebrate does not want to search for any of it on Saturday morning.
After commencement the town empties for summer. Summer guests in Bloomington are visiting families, campus visitors, and travelers passing through on the way to Brown County or Lake Monroe. We open one-night stays and keep the nightly rate in line with nearby homes until move-in comes back around in August.
August 2026 revenue per listing in Bloomington by bedroom count
The calendar sets the demand. The bedroom count sets how much of it a home can catch. Here is revenue per listing for the completed month of August 2026 for Bloomington homes, compared with August 2025, by bedroom count. From AirDNA, pulled September 23, 2026.
- 1-bedroom homes came in under August 2025 by 4.6%, from $2,155 to $2,056.
- 2-bedroom homes came in under by 3.7%, from $3,243 to $3,122.
- 3-bedroom homes came in over by 15.9%, from $3,486 to $4,041.
- 4-bedroom homes came in over by 11.2%, from $5,302 to $5,898.
- 5-bedroom homes came in under by 19.2%, from $8,232 to $6,650.
- Homes with 6 or more bedrooms came in over by 1.7%, from $9,894 to $10,059.
Bloomington condos came in over where the small homes came in under. Revenue per listing for 1-bedroom condos in Bloomington came in over August 2025 by 0.7% in August 2026, and 2-bedroom condos came in over by 9.9%. From AirDNA, pulled September 23, 2026.
August is move-in month, so these figures show what family-sized homes earned when parents came to town. The 3- and 4-bedroom homes came in over last year. The 5-bedroom homes came in under. We do not read one month as a trend. We read it as a reason to check every bedroom count on its own before pricing the fall.
How we run ours around the calendar
Here is how we manage a Bloomington home against this calendar.
- We mark every confirmed date above on the pricing calendar in one sitting, then update it when a new schedule posts.
- The three biggest football Saturdays, Homecoming, and commencement carry a minimum-night rule. Everything else is open to one-night stays.
- We check the nightly rate against nearby homes every week, and twice a week in the ten days before a big game.
- We never move a confirmed guest to take a higher-paying booking. A confirmed stay is a promise.
- We write the welcome message for each event weekend in advance, with parking, kickoff time, and the walk to the stadium.
The calendar is public. The work is doing it every week, all year, for every home.
The bottom line
Bloomington short-term rental revenue follows the Indiana University calendar, from move-in on August 18 to 19, 2026, through commencement on May 8, 2027. As of September 23, 2026, the Northwestern, Ohio State, and USC weekends sat at 71% to 91% occupancy on the books while the Saturdays around them sat at 13% to 53%, so the dates you price early and the dates you work weekly are different jobs. August 2026 revenue per listing in Bloomington came in over August 2025 for 3-bedroom, 4-bedroom, and 6-or-more-bedroom homes and under for 1-, 2-, and 5-bedroom homes, so bedroom count matters as much as the date. We have found that an owner who plans the whole year in one sitting and checks the nightly rate every week earns the most from this town.
Have any questions, or want a personal property analysis on a specific property? Call or text Joseph at 812-778-2235, email [email protected], or visit hearthandhavenhosting.com.
Safe travels,
Joseph and Laura
Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoosiers!