Atmospheric and Space Scientists in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,740
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$24,940
24.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$85,416
Indiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Indiana — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$103,680
Kept after tax
$78,740
Worth in national money
$85,416
State rank
21
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Indiana pays atmospheric and space scientists around $103,680 at the midpoint, 21 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Indiana this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, atmospheric and space scientists ranks 43 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Indiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $103,680 the take-home is $78,740; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $85,416 would nationally. The average comes to $125,410, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For atmospheric and space scientists the Indiana median is $103,680, ranking 21 of 47 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Indiana publishes a median for, atmospheric and space scientists sits 43 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for atmospheric and space scientists in Indiana, on $103,680, is $78,740 — equivalent to $85,416 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $125,410 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Atmospheric and Space Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $67,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $103,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $155,000 |
| This salary | $103,680 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Indiana | $78,740 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,769 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,270 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $99,374 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,754 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Indiana earn less than $103,680. The published range is $67,430 up to $155,000, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $78,740 take-home in Indiana comes from $103,680. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 43 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Indiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $85,416, the adjusted value of that $103,680 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 43 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for atmospheric and space scientists in Indiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $67,430 to $155,000. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $78,740, from $103,680, assumes a single Indiana filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 43 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 47 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Indiana, so $85,416 — the adjusted value of that $103,680 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 43 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $125,410, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $67,430 and the top tenth $155,000 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $85,416.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Indiana's own levy, $78,740 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Indiana is $125,410. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($67,430) and the ninetieth ($155,000) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Indiana's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $85,416 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $78,740 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Indiana income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.