Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,399
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$6,021
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,976
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
$36,420
Kept after tax
$30,399
Worth in national money
$32,976
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Indiana pays this job a middle wage of $36,420, 36 of 51 states and about 4.53% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Indiana this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 439. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Indiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $36,420 the take-home is $30,399; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $32,976 would nationally. The average lands at $36,310, below the middle of the range.
- Indiana's $36,420 median for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers places it 36 of 51 states, about 4.53% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Indiana reports, veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers ranks 439 of 493, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Indiana, on $36,420, is $30,399 — equivalent to $32,976 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 $36,310 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,780 |
| This salary | $36,420 |
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 | $30,399 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,443 |
| 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 | $35,120 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$748 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,420 as a midpoint for Indiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,580 and the ninetieth is $44,780 — 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 $30,399, worked from $36,420. 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 439 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,976 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 439.
- The Indiana median of $36,420 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,580 to $44,780. 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 $30,399, on $36,420 for work ranking 439 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 439 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,976, worked from $36,420, 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 439 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $29,580 and the top tenth $44,780, so most people doing this work in Indiana sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Indiana sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $32,976 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $30,399 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($29,580 to $44,780) 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 $32,976 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 $30,399 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.