Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,903
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$7,337
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,863
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
$42,240
Kept after tax
$34,903
Worth in national money
$37,863
State rank
23
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Indiana pays this job around $42,240 at the midpoint, 23 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 493 occupations Indiana publishes, this job lands at 396. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $42,240 you keep $34,903 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $37,863 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $43,120, since top earners drag the number up.
- For helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters the Indiana median is $42,240, ranking 23 of 48 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.
- Within Indiana, this work ranks 396 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in Indiana is $34,903 after the full tax stack, from $42,240. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,863 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $43,120 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,980 |
| This salary | $42,240 |
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 | $34,903 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,120 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$693 |
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 | $40,726 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$838 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Indiana earn under $42,240 and half over. The published range runs $32,850 at the tenth percentile to $57,980 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Indiana's $34,903, worked from $42,240. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 396 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,863 uses one figure for the whole of Indiana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 396.
- Figures are distribution medians for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Indiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,850 to $57,980; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Indiana take-home of $34,903, on $42,240 for work ranking 396 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 396 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,863, worked from $42,240, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Indiana address, on work sitting at 396 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $32,850 and the top tenth $57,980, so most people doing this work in Indiana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $37,863.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Indiana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $34,903 of this wage survives to your account.
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 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,850 to $57,980) 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 $37,863 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 $34,903 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.