Administrative Assistant salary in Indianapolis-Carmel, IN

Pay in Indianapolis-Carmel against Indiana and the US

Administrative assistants at the 90th percentile earn $61,740, 1.9 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.0. The middle half of administrative assistants in Indianapolis-Carmel earns $38,130–$51,930. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $13,800 wide, between the figure for Indiana ($13,190) and the US figure ($19,170).

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

Local pay is bunched just above the median: the 75th percentile is only $5,480 over it, while the 25th sits $8,320 below. Moving an offer from the median to the 75th percentile costs about $7,071 more a year with benefits. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $47,540 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Indianapolis-Carmel, and the Indiana statewide median of $44,270 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Indianapolis-Carmel

At the $46,450 median, a local hire costs about $59,935 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $13,485 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for administrative assistants we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Indianapolis-Carmel

Of the 17 roles we track in Indianapolis-Carmel, this one ranks #12 by median pay, between HR assistants ($48,400) and medical administrative assistants ($46,030). Project Coordinator is the highest at $99,710.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #5 of the 17 roles we track in Indianapolis-Carmel (-2.3%), between data entry specialists (-1.9%) and virtual receptionists (-2.5%). The typical role here is at -3.1%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 5.9% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Indianapolis-Carmel, 7.5% across Indiana and 10.8% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Indiana

Across the 15 areas of Indiana with data for this job, the median runs from $38,080 in the Southern Indiana nonmetro area to $47,270 in Lafayette-West Lafayette, a gap of $9,190 a year. No other area in Indiana has as many administrative assistants, and 13 of the other 14 pay less.

Indianapolis-Carmel against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Indianapolis-Carmel is #50 of 520 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside Indiana, Glens Falls and Peoria pay just above Indianapolis-Carmel and Casper and North Port-Bradenton just below. All four are within $100 a year of the median in Indianapolis-Carmel. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, one pays more.

Questions

Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.