Sheet Metal Workers in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,776
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$12,264
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,166
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
$64,040
Kept after tax
$51,776
Worth in national money
$56,166
State rank
21
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Indiana is 21 of 50 states for sheet metal workers, with a middle wage of $64,040. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Indiana reports figures for, this is number 177.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $64,040 you keep $51,776 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $56,166 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $70,030, since top earners drag the number up.
- Indiana ranks 21 of 50 for sheet metal workers at $64,040. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Indiana's occupational distribution, sheet metal workers sits at 177 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.
- Retained pay in Indiana is $51,776 after the full tax stack, from $64,040. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,166 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $70,030 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Sheet Metal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,080 |
| This salary | $64,040 |
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 | $51,776 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,636 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$971 |
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 | $61,726 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,174 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $64,040 as a midpoint for Indiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,620 and the ninetieth is $104,080 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $51,776 take-home in Indiana comes from $64,040. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 177 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,166 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 177.
- The Indiana median of $64,040 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,620 to $104,080. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $51,776, from $64,040, assumes a single Indiana filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 177 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,166, worked from $64,040, 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 177 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $70,030, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $42,620, the highest tenth $104,080, 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 $56,166 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 $51,776.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 $70,030. 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 ($42,620) and the ninetieth ($104,080) 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 $56,166 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 $51,776 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.