How much does an RN make in Indiana?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $80,740 for RNs in Indiana as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $74,690 and the 75th-percentile is $96,780.

How are Indiana RN salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

How many RNs does Indiana employ?

BLS OES counts 68,950 RNs employed in Indiana in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

How wide is the wage spread in Indiana?

P10 to P90 spans $63,720 to $103,820. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

Is Indiana a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for RNs?

Yes — the BEA RPP of 92.1 is below the national 100 baseline, so nominal $80,740 stretches to a real-wage equivalent of $87,668. The take-home advantage versus a higher-RPP state is meaningful for RNs comparing offers across regions.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Is Indiana an NLC compact state for RN licensure?

Yes — Indiana participates in the Nurse Licensure Compact, so RNs holding a multistate license from another compact state can practice in Indiana without applying for a separate license. This materially lowers the cost and timeline of cross-state moves.

Registered Nurse Pay in Indiana: $81K Median + Purchasing Power (2026)

TL;DR

$80,740 is the BLS median wage for RNs in Indiana; $87,668 is the BEA-adjusted purchasing-power equivalent.
State ranks #38 nationally on nominal wage, #36 on real (RPP-adjusted) wage.
Cost of living below the national index lifts real wage by $6,928 over the nominal — a take-home arbitrage that nominal-ranking tables miss.
Quartile range $74,690 (bottom 25%) to $96,780 (top 25%); the P10-P90 envelope is $63,720 to $103,820.
Indiana accepts the NLC multistate license; cross-state mobility is materially cheaper here than in non-compact states.

Wage breakdown — Indiana

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$63,720	$69,188
P25 (lower quartile)	$74,690	$81,099
P50 (median)	$80,740	$87,668
P75 (upper quartile)	$96,780	$105,085
P90 (top tier)	$103,820	$112,729
Mean	$85,850	$93,217
Employment	68,950 RNs in Indiana

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Indiana index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	92.1
Goods	95.6
Services	84.7
Rents	71.3

Indiana sits below the national baseline (RPP 92.1), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 71.3.

After-tax take-home — Indiana (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (RN)	$80,740	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$9,010	11.2% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$2,341	2.9% flat 2026 (+ ~1% county avg)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$6,177	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$63,212	78.3% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$68,636	÷ (92.1 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Indiana state-tax burden means for RN take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 2.9% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $63,212 (78.3% of gross). After the 92.1 RPP, real take-home is $68,636. Local-tax overlay: Every Indiana county levies a local income tax averaging 1–3% — Marion (Indianapolis) 2.02%, Lake 1.5%, Allen 1.59%.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $93,600 for RNs with mean pay of $98,430 and total employment of 3,282,010. Indiana sits at #38 on nominal pay and #36 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Indiana climbs 2 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Licensure — Indiana (NLC)

Indiana participates in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), with effective participation since 2020. RNs holding a multistate license issued by another Compact state may practice in Indiana without applying for a separate Indiana license. Indiana-issued multistate licenses are reciprocally recognized in 36 other Compact states (37 jurisdictions total in 2026), eliminating the per-state endorsement workflow ($100–$500 + 4–16 week processing) for travel and per-diem RN work.

Indiana has been a Compact participant for 6 years as of 2026, putting it in the established middle tier — most major hospital systems and travel agencies in Indiana have updated their credentialing workflows to accept Compact licenses by default.

Source: NCSBN compact implementation tracker — re-synced quarterly. See NLC reciprocity hub for the cross-state matrix and changelog for status changes.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an RN make in Indiana?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $80,740 for RNs in Indiana as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $74,690 and the 75th-percentile is $96,780.
How are Indiana RN salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
How many RNs does Indiana employ?: BLS OES counts 68,950 RNs employed in Indiana in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
How wide is the wage spread in Indiana?: P10 to P90 spans $63,720 to $103,820. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
Is Indiana a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for RNs?: Yes — the BEA RPP of 92.1 is below the national 100 baseline, so nominal $80,740 stretches to a real-wage equivalent of $87,668. The take-home advantage versus a higher-RPP state is meaningful for RNs comparing offers across regions.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
Is Indiana an NLC compact state for RN licensure?: Yes — Indiana participates in the Nurse Licensure Compact, so RNs holding a multistate license from another compact state can practice in Indiana without applying for a separate license. This materially lowers the cost and timeline of cross-state moves.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 29-1141, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Indiana RN pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.