Salaries in Indianapolis.
3,445 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 0.91x national average. Last updated June 2026.
3,445 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$315,000
Senior VP of Security
Median of All Roles
$142,000
Senior Data Quality Engineer
Entry Level
$29,000
Hotel Clerk / Front Desk
Salary data sourced from Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, H-1B Labor Condition Applications (DOL), state pay-transparency job postings, and community submissions. Ranges reflect 25th to 75th percentile for full-time positions. Cost-of-living adjustments use Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (2025 index). Last updated June 2026.
Indianapolis, IN has a cost-of-living index of 0.91x the national average. The highest-paying role is Senior VP of Security at $315,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $142,000. Indianapolis has a diversified economy led by healthcare, life sciences, and motorsports engineering.
About the Indianapolis market
Indianapolis has a diversified economy led by healthcare, life sciences, and motorsports engineering. Eli Lilly's headquarters drives a major pharmaceutical and biotech cluster. The city's extremely affordable cost of living means that even moderate salaries deliver strong purchasing power, making it an underrated destination for professionals seeking financial stability.
Pharmaceuticals & Life SciencesHealthcareMotorsports EngineeringInsuranceTechnology
Top 50 salaries in Indianapolis
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Senior VP of Security | $315,000 | $246,000 – $410,000 |
| 2 | Distinguished Engineer | $312,000 | $237,000 – $397,000 |
| 3 | Principal Quantitative Researcher | $312,000 | $243,000 – $406,000 |
| 4 | Chief Security Officer | $312,000 | $243,000 – $406,000 |
| 5 | Technical Fellow | $309,000 | $241,000 – $402,000 |
| 6 | Senior VP of Product | $309,000 | $241,000 – $402,000 |
| 7 | Principal AI Agent Architect | $307,000 | $239,000 – $398,000 |
| 8 | Principal AI Research Scientist | $306,000 | $238,000 – $397,000 |
| 9 | Principal AI Safety Engineer | $304,000 | $237,000 – $395,000 |
| 10 | Principal AI Compiler Engineer | $298,000 | $233,000 – $388,000 |
| 11 | Chief AI Officer | $293,000 | $218,000 – $379,000 |
| 12 | Chief Strategy Officer | $293,000 | $229,000 – $381,000 |
| 13 | SVP of Engineering | $288,000 | $225,000 – $374,000 |
| 14 | Chief Science Officer | $288,000 | $225,000 – $374,000 |
| 15 | Principal Quantitative Developer | $287,000 | $224,000 – $373,000 |
| 16 | Staff Quantitative Researcher | $285,000 | $222,000 – $370,000 |
| 17 | Staff AI Research Scientist | $282,000 | $220,000 – $367,000 |
| 18 | Principal Deep Learning Engineer | $281,000 | $219,000 – $366,000 |
| 19 | Principal Applied Scientist | $281,000 | $220,000 – $366,000 |
| 20 | Chief Machine Learning Officer | $281,000 | $219,000 – $366,000 |
| 21 | Chief Legal Officer | $281,000 | $219,000 – $366,000 |
| 22 | SVP of Sales | $281,000 | $219,000 – $366,000 |
| 23 | Principal Computer Vision Engineer | $279,000 | $217,000 – $363,000 |
| 24 | Principal Cryptographer | $278,000 | $217,000 – $362,000 |
| 25 | SVP of Technology | $278,000 | $217,000 – $362,000 |
| 26 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $277,000 | $206,000 – $361,000 |
| 27 | Senior VP of Design | $277,000 | $216,000 – $359,000 |
| 28 | Principal LLM Engineer | $274,000 | $213,000 – $356,000 |
| 29 | Senior Head of Security | $274,000 | $214,000 – $356,000 |
| 30 | SVP of Product | $274,000 | $214,000 – $356,000 |
| 31 | L7 Software Engineer | $274,000 | $214,000 – $356,000 |
| 32 | SVP of Strategy | $273,000 | $213,000 – $355,000 |
| 33 | Principal AI Infrastructure Engineer | $271,000 | $211,000 – $351,000 |
| 34 | Principal Distributed Systems Engineer | $271,000 | $211,000 – $351,000 |
| 35 | SVP of Data | $271,000 | $211,000 – $353,000 |
| 36 | CTO | $270,000 | $211,000 – $351,000 |
| 37 | Chief Digital Officer | $270,000 | $210,000 – $351,000 |
| 38 | VP of AI | $269,000 | $204,000 – $353,000 |
| 39 | Principal Compiler Engineer | $268,000 | $209,000 – $348,000 |
| 40 | Principal Kernel Engineer | $268,000 | $209,000 – $349,000 |
| 41 | Senior Head of Product | $268,000 | $209,000 – $349,000 |
| 42 | Principal AI Agent Engineer | $267,000 | $209,000 – $348,000 |
| 43 | Senior High-Frequency Trading Engineer | $267,000 | $208,000 – $346,000 |
| 44 | Chief Risk Officer | $267,000 | $208,000 – $347,000 |
| 45 | Staff AI Agent Architect | $266,000 | $208,000 – $346,000 |
| 46 | Principal Quantitative Analyst | $266,000 | $207,000 – $345,000 |
| 47 | Principal ML Engineer | $265,000 | $206,000 – $344,000 |
| 48 | Chief Architect | $265,000 | $207,000 – $344,000 |
| 49 | Chief Cloud Officer | $265,000 | $206,000 – $344,000 |
| 50 | Staff AI Safety Engineer | $264,000 | $206,000 – $343,000 |
Tax considerations
Indiana has a flat 3.05% state income tax, one of the lowest in the country. Marion County adds about 2.02% in local taxes. The combined rate remains well below most major metros.
Negotiating in Indianapolis
Benchmark against pharmaceutical industry pay scales. Eli Lilly and the biotech cluster set high compensation floors that ripple across all professional roles in Indianapolis.
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