Substitute Teachers, Short-Term in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,352
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$6,008
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,926
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
$36,360
Kept after tax
$30,352
Worth in national money
$32,926
State rank
33
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Indiana pays substitute teachers, short-term around $36,360 at the midpoint, 33 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Measured against other jobs in Indiana, this one sits low: 440 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Indiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $36,360 the take-home is $30,352; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $32,926 would nationally. The average comes to $39,480, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For substitute teachers, short-term the Indiana median is $36,360, ranking 33 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Substitute teachers, short-term occupies position 440 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.
- Post-tax income for substitute teachers, short-term in Indiana, on $36,360, is $30,352 — equivalent to $32,926 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 $39,480 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Substitute Teachers, Short-Term
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,330 |
| This salary | $36,360 |
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 | $30,352 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,395 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$618 |
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 | $35,062 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$747 |
| 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 substitute teachers, short-term in Indiana earn under $36,360 and half over. The published range runs $28,540 at the tenth percentile to $56,330 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Indiana the take-home figure of $30,352, from $36,360, 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 440 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $32,926, the adjusted value of that $36,360 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 440 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for substitute teachers, short-term in Indiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,540 to $56,330; 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 $30,352 from $36,360. 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 440 of 493 locally.
- This $32,926 adjusted figure, worked from $36,360, 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 440 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 440 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 $39,480 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 $28,540 at the bottom tenth to $56,330 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 $32,926.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Indiana's own levy, $30,352 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $39,480. 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 ($28,540) and the ninetieth ($56,330) 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 $32,926 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 $30,352 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.