Occupational Therapist Salary in Indiana 2026,
$97,020 Median | BLS Data by City

The published Indiana figure is $97,020 a year, or $46.65 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025 — 3.3% below the national median of $100,330 — across a band from $69,550 at the 10th percentile to $119,950 at the 90th. With one accredited entry route and a state licence, that band reflects setting, specialisation and leadership rather than differences in qualification.

Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood at $100,080, then Bloomington $97,480, Lafayette-West Lafayette $96,740, Terre Haute $94,410 and Muncie $94,050. About six thousand dollars separates the top from the fifth, so the metro is a weak lever in this profession — setting and productivity structure matter considerably more.

The Indiana Occupational Therapy Committee, under the Medical Licensing Board within the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. Indiana regulates most allied health professions this way, as committees attached to the medical board rather than as freestanding boards. Licensure requires graduation from an ACOTE-accredited programme, passage of the NBCOT certification examination and application through the agency, and the committee also sets the supervision rules between therapists and occupational therapy assistants.

Home health and skilled nursing generally sit above school-based and outpatient practice, with travel and contract work above both — that progression accounts for most of the distance from the $81,940 twenty-fifth percentile to the $104,680 seventy-fifth. School-based practice offers a school-year calendar and predictable hours at lower annual pay. Hand therapy and assistive technology specialisation raise pay within any setting, and rehabilitation management is the main non-clinical route toward the $119,950 ninetieth percentile.

The demand case is strong — 13.8% projected national growth through 2034, roughly 240 openings a year in Indiana pro-rated from the national figure, and demographic drivers that are not going to reverse. The wage case is more nuanced: the state pays 3.3% below the national median because it is already well-staffed at 1.14 times the national concentration. What Indiana offers against that is a flat 3.05% state income tax and a cost of living well below the national average, which for most comparisons more than closes the gap.

Because wages respond to scarcity, not to demand alone. Indiana employs occupational therapists at 1.14 times the national rate, supported by a good supply of accredited programmes in the state and its neighbours, so employers filling a vacancy have candidates. In states where the therapist workforce is thin relative to need, the same demographic growth produces bidding, sign-on incentives and rapid wage escalation. Indiana's version of the same growth produces steady hiring at stable rates — a better market for employers and a more modest one for therapists.

Productivity-based compensation and part-time practice. A substantial share of Indiana occupational therapy — particularly home health and contract work — is paid per visit or against productivity targets rather than as straight salary, so two therapists at the same reported annual figure may carry very different caseloads. School-based practice runs on a school-year calendar that annualises awkwardly. The $46.65 hourly median is the cleaner basis for comparing specific positions.

Setting first — home health and skilled nursing above school and outpatient practice, with travel and contract work above both. Then specialisation, since hand therapy, neurological rehabilitation, paediatrics and assistive technology are separately valued. Then productivity structure, given how much Indiana practice is paid on visit-based models. Then leadership, with rehabilitation management the main non-clinical progression toward the $119,950 ninetieth percentile. Geography contributes least of all in this state.