Indiana by the numbers
In Indiana, the median worker earns $46,930 a year, the typical home is worth $201,600 and carries $1,496 of property tax, and the average household pays $159 a month for electricity at 18.15¢ per kilowatt-hour.
Midwest MISO / PJM Regulated monopoly
Energy
For decades Indiana had among the lowest industrial and residential rates in the country, built on mine-mouth coal generation. That fleet is being retired, some units on economics and some on environmental compliance, and the replacement is a mix of gas, wind, solar and storage that requires new capital rather than fuel from next door.
Utilities have been filing regular rate cases to recover that capital, and Indiana's regulatory framework includes trackers that let certain investments recover between cases. The result is a rate that has been climbing steadily rather than in single large steps.
Indiana also has a large industrial load in steel, refining and manufacturing, which historically helped spread fixed costs across a big base. As some of that load has flattened, more of the fixed cost sits with everyone else.
Averaged across the twelve months to May 2026, Indiana households used 946 kilowatt-hours a month and paid $159. At the state median wage that is about 7 hours of work a month to keep the lights on. For heating, gas is still cheaper to run than a heat pump here, by about $7.55 per million BTU.
Work and pay
The median Indiana worker earned $46,930 in 2024, 5.2% below the national median. What distinguishes a state's labour market is rarely its biggest occupations, which are retail and food service everywhere, but what it has disproportionately.
| Occupation | Concentration | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Pourers and Casters, Metal | 8.8× | $54,110 |
| Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders | 8.47× | $75,630 |
| Engine and Other Machine Assemblers | 7.22× | $73,540 |
| Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators | 4.83× | $45,240 |
| Furniture Finishers | 4.27× | $46,300 |
Property tax
The median Indiana homeowner pays $1,496 a year on a home worth $201,600, an effective rate of 0.74% against a national 0.98%. Nobody sets that rate. It is what falls out of county, city, school district and special district levies applied to an assessed value, so the state figure is a weighted average of 92 counties rather than a posted number.
Cost of living
Prices in Indiana run at 93.3 where the national average is 100, ranking it #34 of 51. Goods sit at 95.5, which is close to national almost everywhere because most goods are shipped and priced nationally. Rents sit at 73.9, and that is where states actually separate from one another. A median wage of $46,930 therefore buys what $50,300 buys nationally.
Metro areas priced separately: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (103.6) , Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood (95.7) , Cincinnati (95.4) , Bloomington (95.1) , Lafayette-West Lafayette (93.4) .
Housing
House prices in Indiana rose 3.5% over the year to 2026 Q2, against a median across all states of +2.7%. Over ten years the index is +108.8%. Prices are at or near their record level.
Metro areas tracked here: Cincinnati (+3.2%) , Louisville/Jefferson County (+2.4%) , Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood (+2.0%) .
Who supplies the power
44 utilities report residential service in Indiana, together serving 2.9 million customers. Regulated monopoly.
Indiana: common questions
What does it cost to live in Indiana?
Prices overall run at 93.3 against a national average of 100, with rents at 73.9. The typical home is worth $201,600 and carries $1,496 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.74% against a national 0.98%. Electricity averages $159 a month at 18.15¢ per kilowatt-hour. Against that, the median wage is $46,930.
What is the property tax rate in Indiana?
The effective rate is 0.74% of home value, from a median bill of $1,496. It is set locally rather than by the state, so the figure is a weighted outcome across 92 counties. County by county rates.
Does a salary go further in Indiana?
The median wage of $46,930 buys what $50,300 buys nationally, once local prices are taken out. A state paying above the national median while charging above it for housing can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows which side of that line Indiana falls on.
Is Indiana expensive for electricity?
It ranks #20 of 51 jurisdictions on price at 18.15¢ per kilowatt-hour, -1.6% against the U.S. average. On the actual bill it ranks 22 of 51, because households there use 946 kWh a month against a national 871.
What is the median salary in Indiana?
$46,930 across all occupations, about $22.56 an hour, covering 3,186,690 wage and salary workers as of 2024.
Who supplies electricity in Indiana?
44 utilities report residential service, the largest being Duke Energy Indiana, LLC with 796,265 customers. Regulated monopoly.
Electricity May 2026, gas 2024, utilities 2024, wages 2024. All figures from federal statistical agencies. Methodology · Sources