Social and Human Service Assistants in Indiana

Two armchairs facing each other in a welcoming counseling room.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$36,691

after federal, FICA and Indiana tax

Tax takes

$7,859

17.6% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$39,802

Indiana costs less than average

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

$44,550

Kept after tax

$36,691

Worth in national money

$39,802

State rank

24

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Indiana sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $44,550, ranking 24 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
  • Measured against other jobs in Indiana, this one sits low: 375 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
  • Here is where Indiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $44,550 you keep $36,691, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $39,802 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $44,570, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • Indiana occupies the middle band for social and human service assistants: a median of $44,550, ranking 24 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
  • Social and human service assistants occupies position 375 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.
  • After federal, FICA and Indiana income tax, retained pay for social and human service assistants on $44,550 is $36,691. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $39,802 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 $44,570 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Social and Human Service Assistants

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$31,200
Half earn under$44,550
Top tenth earn over$58,640
This salary$44,550

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

Compare with
+$1,285take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Indiana$36,691
Take-home in Texas$37,976
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$722

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

Moving to
$0$45,423
$45,423in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$42,951
Raise you would need+$873
Prices in Texas97 vs 92

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Treat $44,550 as a midpoint for Indiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,200 and the ninetieth is $58,640 — 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 $36,691, worked from $44,550. 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 375 of 493.
  • The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,802 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 375.
  • The Indiana median of $44,550 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,200 to $58,640. 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 $36,691, on $44,550 for work ranking 375 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 375 of 493 in the state.
  • Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,802, worked from $44,550, 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 375 of 493 locally.

Questions people ask

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $58,640 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.

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 $39,802.

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 $36,691.

Can I compare this job across every state?

All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.

What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $58,640) 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 $39,802 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 $36,691 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.