Salaries in Indianapolis.
422 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 0.91x national average. Last updated April 2026.
422 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$293,000
Chief AI Officer
Median of All Roles
$135,000
AI Supply Chain Specialist
Entry Level
$29,000
Hotel Clerk / Front Desk
Salary data sourced from SEC filings, H-1B Labor Condition Applications (DOL), Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and aggregated job postings across 50+ platforms. 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 April 2026.
Indianapolis, IN has a cost-of-living index of 0.91x the national average. The highest-paying role is Chief AI Officer at $293,000, while the median across all 422 roles is $135,000. 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 | Chief AI Officer | $293,000 | $218,000 – $379,000 |
| 2 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $277,000 | $206,000 – $361,000 |
| 3 | Chief Algorithm Officer | $260,000 | $195,000 – $339,000 |
| 4 | Chief Technology Officer | $259,000 | $192,000 – $339,000 |
| 5 | SVP of AI Innovation | $259,000 | $196,000 – $341,000 |
| 6 | Chief Revenue Officer | $247,000 | $185,000 – $327,000 |
| 7 | Chief Product Officer | $246,000 | $182,000 – $323,000 |
| 8 | Chief Data Officer | $246,000 | $185,000 – $322,000 |
| 9 | CEO | $245,000 | $178,000 – $339,000 |
| 10 | Chief Marketing Officer | $244,000 | $183,000 – $319,000 |
| 11 | Head of AI | $243,000 | $180,000 – $315,000 |
| 12 | Head of AI Research | $243,000 | $180,000 – $320,000 |
| 13 | Chief Operating Officer | $241,000 | $180,000 – $322,000 |
| 14 | Head of Applied AI | $241,000 | $180,000 – $317,000 |
| 15 | CFO | $239,000 | $179,000 – $317,000 |
| 16 | VP of AI Engineering | $236,000 | $178,000 – $308,000 |
| 17 | VP of AI Product | $234,000 | $175,000 – $303,000 |
| 18 | VP of Engineering | $230,000 | $172,000 – $300,000 |
| 19 | Head of AI Platform | $230,000 | $172,000 – $302,000 |
| 20 | VP of Sales | $227,000 | $170,000 – $303,000 |
| 21 | AI Transformation Officer | $227,000 | $170,000 – $298,000 |
| 22 | VP of Product | $223,000 | $168,000 – $287,000 |
| 23 | Director of Generative AI | $220,000 | $166,000 – $289,000 |
| 24 | Chief Human Resources Officer | $216,000 | $163,000 – $281,000 |
| 25 | Head of AI Partnerships | $212,000 | $158,000 – $279,000 |
| 26 | VP of Product Design | $210,000 | $156,000 – $272,000 |
| 27 | Director of Engineering | $208,000 | $161,000 – $270,000 |
| 28 | VP of Marketing | $205,000 | $153,000 – $271,000 |
| 29 | AI Program Director | $201,000 | $152,000 – $263,000 |
| 30 | Director of AI Strategy | $200,000 | $152,000 – $262,000 |
| 31 | Foundation Model Engineer | $200,000 | $149,000 – $260,000 |
| 32 | AI Financial Engineer | $195,000 | $144,000 – $251,000 |
| 33 | Director of Data Science | $194,000 | $149,000 – $252,000 |
| 34 | Multi-Agent Systems Architect | $193,000 | $142,000 – $256,000 |
| 35 | AI Cloud Architect | $192,000 | $145,000 – $244,000 |
| 36 | Agentic Orchestrator | $189,000 | $142,000 – $246,000 |
| 37 | Multimodal AI Researcher | $189,000 | $141,000 – $251,000 |
| 38 | AI Agent Architect | $188,000 | $142,000 – $244,000 |
| 39 | AI Compiler Engineer | $186,000 | $139,000 – $243,000 |
| 40 | Director of Product | $184,000 | $142,000 – $239,000 |
| 41 | AI Hardware/Chip Design Engineer | $184,000 | $137,000 – $243,000 |
| 42 | Director of Product Design | $183,000 | $141,000 – $234,000 |
| 43 | AI Interpretability Researcher | $183,000 | $136,000 – $242,000 |
| 44 | AI Systems Architect | $183,000 | $138,000 – $239,000 |
| 45 | AI Memory Systems Engineer | $183,000 | $136,000 – $242,000 |
| 46 | Deep Learning Engineer | $182,000 | $141,000 – $232,000 |
| 47 | Transformer Architecture Engineer | $182,000 | $135,000 – $238,000 |
| 48 | AI Orchestration Platform Engineer | $182,000 | $134,000 – $238,000 |
| 49 | AI Solutions Architect | $181,000 | $135,000 – $237,000 |
| 50 | AI Alignment Researcher | $181,000 | $134,000 – $240,000 |
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.
Know the number. Get the offer.
Orbyt gives you the salary data, interview prep, and pipeline tools to negotiate from a position of strength.
Start free