Columbus, IN Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Columbus, IN - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Columbus, IN moved from $46,490 in May 2024 to $48,470 in May 2025 (+4.3%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Columbus, IN sits +1.2 pp ahead of that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Columbus, IN
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators publishes $46,950 here versus $44,650 nationally (+5.2%; 2,980metro-area jobs).
- Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$46,950 in Columbus, IN sits 5.2% above the national Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators median of $44,650 (2,980 published local jobs).
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Columbus, IN; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 18020 · Columbus, IN $61K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-LOW · OCC-THIN · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-MOST
- MEAN-MID #185/528
- RPP-LOW 93.0
- OCC-THIN 187 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $369K
- EMP-MIX Mechanical E…
- TREND-INLINE +1.2 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Morgantown, WV
- BOOK-MOST 186 rows · May 2025
Read with Morgantown, WV ($12 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Columbus, IN
Employment scale inside Columbus, IN's top-pay list
Mechanical Engineers and General and Operations Managers lead published employment inside Columbus, IN's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Mechanical Engineers 1,000 jobs · $127,700
- 2. General and Operations Managers 590 jobs · $112,760
- 3. Industrial Production Managers 360 jobs · $130,490
- 4. Architectural and Engineering Managers 310 jobs · $180,830
- 5. Software Developers 280 jobs · $104,880
- 6. Logisticians 280 jobs · $100,720
- 7. Financial Managers 180 jobs · $143,590
- 8. Nurse Practitioners 170 jobs · $125,780
- 9. Medical and Health Services Managers 170 jobs · $101,380
- 10. Physicians, All Other 130 jobs · $369,300
- 11. Sales Managers 130 jobs · $120,730
- 12. Computer Systems Analysts 130 jobs · $103,800
- 13. Management Analysts 110 jobs · $111,090
- 14. Computer and Information Systems Managers 90 jobs · $139,430
- 15. Facilities Managers 90 jobs · $110,720
- 16. Administrative Services Managers 80 jobs · $134,150
- 17. Lawyers 70 jobs · $105,790
- 18. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products 60 jobs · $126,110
Occupations Tracked
187
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$60,537
employment-weighted, 186 complete rows
Top Salary
$369,300
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
93.0
7% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Columbus, IN
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physicians, All Other | $369,300 |
| 2 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $180,830 |
| 3 | Marketing Managers | $166,610 |
| 4 | Managers, All Other | $147,910 |
| 5 | Financial Managers | $143,590 |
| 6 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $139,430 |
| 7 | Pharmacists | $137,330 |
| 8 | Administrative Services Managers | $134,150 |
| 9 | Industrial Production Managers | $130,490 |
| 10 | Mechanical Engineers | $127,700 |
| 11 | Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products | $126,110 |
| 12 | Nurse Practitioners | $125,780 |
| 13 | Physician Assistants | $124,460 |
| 14 | Human Resources Managers | $124,230 |
| 15 | Sales Managers | $120,730 |
| 16 | General and Operations Managers | $112,760 |
| 17 | Management Analysts | $111,090 |
| 18 | Facilities Managers | $110,720 |
| 19 | Chemical Engineers | $109,190 |
| 20 | Lawyers | $105,790 |
| 21 | Software Developers | $104,880 |
| 22 | Computer Systems Analysts | $103,800 |
| 23 | Construction Managers | $102,020 |
| 24 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $101,380 |
| 25 | Logisticians | $100,720 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Columbus, IN
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $23,640 |
| Bartenders | $23,700 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $26,340 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $26,360 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $27,670 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $28,290 |
| Animal Caretakers | $28,960 |
| Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers | $29,140 |
| Cashiers | $29,280 |
| Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment | $29,350 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in IN
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside IN. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($60,537 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in Columbus, IN? ▼
Which published medians lead Columbus, IN? ▼
What is the cost of living in Columbus, IN? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Columbus, IN come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Columbus, IN wage figures in a real decision
- Physicians, All Other leads published medians in Columbus, IN at $369,300/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Physicians, All Other
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $60,537 adjusts to about $65,091 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 93.0. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for IN before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.