Opticians, Dispensing in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,682
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$6,688
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,453
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
$39,370
Kept after tax
$32,682
Worth in national money
$35,453
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for opticians, dispensing is on the low side in Indiana. The middle earner gets $39,370. That is 42 of 51 states, and about 16.69% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 493 occupations Indiana publishes, opticians, dispensing lands at 410. 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 $39,370 you keep $32,682 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,453 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $41,390, since top earners drag the number up.
- For opticians, dispensing, Indiana sits in the lower band at $39,370, ranking 42 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 16.69%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Indiana, this work ranks 410 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 $32,682 after the full tax stack, from $39,370. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,453 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $41,390 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,960 |
| This salary | $39,370 |
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 | $32,682 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,814 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$656 |
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 | $37,961 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$793 |
| 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 opticians, dispensing in Indiana earn under $39,370 and half over. The published range runs $31,930 at the tenth percentile to $49,960 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Indiana the take-home figure of $32,682, from $39,370, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 410 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Indiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $35,453, the adjusted value of that $39,370 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 410 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for opticians, dispensing in Indiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,930 to $49,960; 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.
- Take-home for Indiana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,682 from $39,370. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 410 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Indiana, so $35,453 — the adjusted value of that $39,370 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 410 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 $41,390 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,930 at the bottom tenth to $49,960 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $35,453 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 $32,682.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $41,390. 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 ($31,930 to $49,960) 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 $35,453 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 $32,682 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.