Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,594
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$8,706
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,951
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
$48,300
Kept after tax
$39,594
Worth in national money
$42,951
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Indiana pays this job a middle wage of $48,300, 39 of 51 states and about 19.87% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in Indiana, this sits in the middle: 317 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Indiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,300 you keep $39,594, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,951 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $53,990, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Indiana's $48,300 median for mental health and substance abuse social workers places it 39 of 51 states, about 19.87% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Mental health and substance abuse social workers ranks 317 of 493 occupations in Indiana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Indiana income tax, retained pay for mental health and substance abuse social workers on $48,300 is $39,594. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,951 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 $53,990 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,780 |
| This salary | $48,300 |
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 | $39,594 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,989 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$770 |
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 | $46,563 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$931 |
| 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 mental health and substance abuse social workers in Indiana earn under $48,300 and half over. The published range runs $36,290 at the tenth percentile to $77,780 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 $39,594, worked from $48,300. 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 317 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Indiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,951, the adjusted value of that $48,300 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 317 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for mental health and substance abuse social workers in Indiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,290 to $77,780; 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 $39,594, on $48,300 for work ranking 317 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 317 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Indiana, so $42,951 — the adjusted value of that $48,300 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 317 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 $53,990, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $36,290, the highest tenth $77,780, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $42,951 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Indiana then takes its own share, leaving $39,594.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $53,990. 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 ($36,290) and the ninetieth ($77,780) 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 $42,951 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 $39,594 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.