Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,827
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$9,943
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,543
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
$53,770
Kept after tax
$43,827
Worth in national money
$47,543
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for payroll and timekeeping clerks is on the low side in Indiana. The middle earner gets $53,770. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 7.71% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Indiana reports figures for, this is number 267.
- Indiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $53,770 the take-home is $43,827; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $47,543 would nationally. The average comes to $55,590, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For payroll and timekeeping clerks, Indiana sits in the lower band at $53,770, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 7.71%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Indiana's occupational distribution, payroll and timekeeping clerks sits at 267 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.
- Post-tax income for payroll and timekeeping clerks in Indiana, on $53,770, is $43,827 — equivalent to $47,543 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 $55,590 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,700 |
| This salary | $53,770 |
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 | $43,827 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,384 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$840 |
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 | $51,833 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,016 |
| 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 $53,770. The published range is $38,910 up to $77,700, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Indiana's $43,827, worked from $53,770. 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 267 of 493.
- Two cautions on $47,543, the adjusted value of that $53,770 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Indiana. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 267 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for payroll and timekeeping clerks in Indiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,910 to $77,700. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Indiana take-home of $43,827, on $53,770 for work ranking 267 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 267 of 493 in the state.
- This $47,543 adjusted figure, worked from $53,770, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 267 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 267 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 $55,590, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $38,910 at the bottom tenth to $77,700 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $47,543.
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 $43,827.
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 $55,590. 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 ($38,910) and the ninetieth ($77,700) 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 $47,543 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 $43,827 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.