Surgical Technologist.
Indianapolis.
$58,000
median salary, 8% below the national average
$48,000 to $71,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
The median Surgical Technologist salary in Indianapolis is $58,000, 8% below the national average. Entry level starts near $48,000. Experienced professionals push past $71,000. Indianapolis has a diversified economy led by healthcare, life sciences, and motorsports engineering. That spread is your negotiation window. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Surgical Technologist in Indianapolis, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $64,240 for Surgical Technologists (SOC 29-2055) in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metropolitan area, based on 860 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$51,520
25th percentile
$61,340
Median
$64,240
75th percentile
$77,920
90th percentile
$80,600
Workers surveyed
860
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Surgical Technologists (SOC 29-2055) rather than Surgical Technologist specifically. The Indianapolis range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 29-2055Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $52,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$38,000
to $46,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$49,000
to $61,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$64,000
to $75,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$73,000
to $90,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $16,000 to the total package.
Base
$58,000
Equity
$9,000
Bonus
$6,000
Signing
$1,000
Estimated total: $74,000
How Indianapolis compares.
Indianapolis, IN
$58,000
Cost of living: 9% below average
National Average
$63,000
Indianapolis is $5,000 below
Surgical Technologist salary by city.
Salary by role in Indianapolis.
What you should know.
If you are interviewing for Surgical Technologist roles in Indianapolis, here is what you are walking into. 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. Surgical specialty drives compensation, with cardiovascular, neuro, and robotic surgery techs earning the most. Certification through NBSTSA is increasingly required and commands higher pay. Level I trauma centers and academic medical centers pay above community hospitals, and call pay for after-hours coverage adds meaningful income.
New surgical techs start at $45,000 to $50,000 with certification. Experienced techs in specialty ORs earn $58,000 to $68,000 after five years. Lead surgical techs or first assistants can reach $70,000 to $82,000, with surgical first assist certification opening the highest pay tier. In Indianapolis, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. Surgical techs receive call pay of $3 to $6 per hour when on standby, plus overtime for emergency cases. Benefits include health insurance, scrub allowances, and certification renewal reimbursement. Some hospitals offer retention bonuses in tight labor markets. And on the tax side: 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. When someone quotes you $58,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Benchmark against pharmaceutical industry pay scales. Eli Lilly and the biotech cluster set high compensation floors that ripple across all professional roles in Indianapolis. The range for Surgical Technologists in Indianapolis runs from $48,000 to $71,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
Common questions.
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Surgical Technologist Salary in Indianapolis, IN." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/surgical-technologist/indianapolis
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