Dental Assistants in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,880
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$8,790
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,261
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
$48,670
Kept after tax
$39,880
Worth in national money
$43,261
State rank
18
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Indiana pays dental assistants around $48,670 at the midpoint, 18 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Indiana reports figures for, this is number 307.
- Here is where Indiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,670 you keep $39,880, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,261 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,480, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For dental assistants the Indiana median is $48,670, ranking 18 of 50 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.
- In Indiana's occupational distribution, dental assistants sits at 307 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Indiana income tax, retained pay for dental assistants on $48,670 is $39,880. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,261 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $50,480 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Dental Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,590 |
| This salary | $48,670 |
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 | $39,880 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,286 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$775 |
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 | $46,920 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$937 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $48,670 as a midpoint for Indiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,880 and the ninetieth is $60,590 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $39,880 take-home in Indiana comes from $48,670. 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 307 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Indiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $43,261, the adjusted value of that $48,670 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 307 of 493 in the state.
- The Indiana median of $48,670 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,880 to $60,590. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $39,880, from $48,670, 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 307 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Indiana, so $43,261 — the adjusted value of that $48,670 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 307 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $50,480 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,880 at the tenth percentile, $60,590 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Indiana is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,261 in national terms.
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, $39,880 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $50,480. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,880 to $60,590) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Indiana rather than a national figure.
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 $43,261 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 $39,880 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.