Photographers in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,043
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$5,917
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,590
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
$35,960
Kept after tax
$30,043
Worth in national money
$32,590
State rank
47
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Indiana is among the lower-paying states for photographers. The middle earner takes $35,960, ranking 47 of 49 states — about 19.48% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Indiana, this one sits low: 449 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $35,960 you keep $30,043 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $32,590 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,650, since top earners drag the number up.
- Indiana ranks 47 of 49 for photographers, with a median of $35,960 — about 19.48% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Photographers occupies position 449 of 493 in Indiana's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Indiana is $30,043 after the full tax stack, from $35,960. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $32,590 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,650 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Photographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,350 |
| This salary | $35,960 |
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 | $30,043 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,074 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$613 |
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 | $34,676 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$741 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,960 as a midpoint for Indiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $24,960 and the ninetieth is $59,350 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Indiana's $30,043, worked from $35,960. 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 449 of 493.
- Two cautions on $32,590, the adjusted value of that $35,960 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 449 of 493 locally.
- The Indiana median of $35,960 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $24,960 to $59,350. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Indiana take-home of $30,043, on $35,960 for work ranking 449 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 449 of 493 in the state.
- This $32,590 adjusted figure, worked from $35,960, 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 449 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 449 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 $40,650 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $24,960 at the bottom tenth to $59,350 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $32,590 in national terms.
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 $30,043 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 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 $40,650. 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 ($24,960) and the ninetieth ($59,350) 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 $32,590 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 $30,043 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.