Study: Indy Tech Salaries Higher Than Other Professions

(Image courtesy of Purdue University.)

A new report shows tech salaries in the Indianapolis metropolitan area far outweigh those in other sectors. The study from Business.org says the area has an average tech salary of just over $82,000, compared to an average salary of more than $49,000 for all other occupations. The website used the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for 100 metropolitan statistical areas.

The Indy area’s average tech salary for 2018 is a nearly 3 percent increase over the previous year and ranks 60th out of the 100 MSAs surveyed. Lauren Petersen, senior director of relationship management for TechPoint, says the numbers are an indication of the city’s growing tech community.

"What’s even more exciting for us is that, on a side note, some of the data that we’re leveraging from SmartAsset actually puts Indiana as its tech careers not having a gender pay gap, too, so there are other indicators not associated with this direct report that are those secondary indicators that are certainly most promising to use," said Petersen. "As it relates to cost of living, we’ve even leveraged some of NerdWallet’s cost of living calculators to put more of a reality filter on those salaries that are indicated in this specific report and when you look at some of the larger metros, it’s really exciting for Indianapolis."

Petersen says the cost of living in central Indiana is 79 percent lower than San Francisco, 66 percent lower than Seattle and 65 percent lower than New York City. In Minneapolis, which had the highest average tech salary in the Midwest at more than $92,000, the cost of living is 14 percent higher than Indianapolis.

Petersen cites a recent CompTIA survey, which she says suggests the two largest factors when tech employees are considering moving are cost of living and housing affordability. "What’s promising for us is that Indiana wins in this scenario because we’re at that perfect intersection of great available jobs and cost of living."

Last week, TechPoint launched a pilot initiative along with Indianapolis-based TMap LLC to find top tech talent and bring them to Indianapolis. Peterson says one of the goals of the program is to overcome a perception in Indy of a lack of tech density.

You can view the full rankings of the top tech salaries in the U.S. by clicking here.