Tool and Die Makers in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,725
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$13,325
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,365
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
$68,050
Kept after tax
$54,725
Worth in national money
$59,365
State rank
15
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for tool and die makers is strong here. Indiana's middle earner gets $68,050, putting the state 15 of 45 — about 6.25% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Tool and die makers ranks 154 among 493 occupations Indiana publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $68,050 you keep $54,725 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $59,365 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $69,620, since top earners drag the number up.
- For tool and die makers, Indiana sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $68,050, ranking 15 of 45 and running about 6.25% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 154 of 493 in Indiana places tool and die makers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Indiana is $54,725 after the full tax stack, from $68,050. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $59,365 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $69,620 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Tool and Die Makers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $68,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $92,940 |
| This salary | $68,050 |
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 | $54,725 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,703 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,014 |
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 | $65,395 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,400 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $68,050 as a midpoint for Indiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,810 and the ninetieth is $92,940 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $54,725 take-home in Indiana comes from $68,050. 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 154 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,365 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 154.
- The Indiana median of $68,050 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,810 to $92,940. 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 $54,725, from $68,050, 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 154 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,365, worked from $68,050, 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 154 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,810 at the tenth percentile, $92,940 at the ninetieth.
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 $59,365 in national terms.
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, $54,725 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,810 to $92,940) 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 $59,365 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 $54,725 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.