How much does a mechatronics technician make in Indiana?
The BLS spread for Indiana is unusually compressed and lumpy, which is a tell that the state sample is small. The 10th and 25th percentiles both land at $41,120 ($19.77/hour), so the entire bottom quarter of the pay scale is pinned to one number. The 75th and 90th percentiles sit close together too, at $72,910 and $74,090. That means the middle 50% of Indiana mechatronics technicians earn somewhere between about $41,120 and $72,910, a wide band with very few reported data points to smooth it out.
Read the top end carefully. A 90th percentile of $74,090 is only barely above the national median of $73,900, so even Indiana's best-paid technicians in this dataset earn what a typical technician makes nationwide. The people hitting that top decile are almost always the ones running PLC and robotics work at the big auto plants, not general maintenance. With a location quotient of 0.91, Indiana concentrates this occupation slightly below the national average, but the raw manufacturing base is large, so opportunities exist even if the BLS wage figure understates them.
Bar = middle 50% of wages (25th to 75th percentile). Line = 10th to 90th percentile span. Tick = median.
| Percentile | Indiana annual | Indiana hourly | US annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | $41,120 | $19.77/hr | $47,840 |
| 25th | $41,120 | $19.77/hr | $59,780 |
| 50th (median) | $47,440 | $22.81/hr | $73,900 |
| 75th | $72,910 | $35.06/hr | $88,540 |
| 90th | $74,090 | $35.62/hr | $109,890 |
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 state estimates for SOC 17-3024 in Indiana.
Indiana mechatronics salary: BLS vs Salary.com vs Indeed
Three sources, three answers, and the gap is the whole story here. BLS surveys employers and reports $47,440, but its Indiana estimate rests on only 290 workers coded specifically as electro-mechanical and mechatronics technicians. Many of the higher-paying plant maintenance roles get classified under other maintenance titles, which drags the mechatronics-specific figure down. Salary.com models HR compensation data rather than surveying, and lands at $56,356. Indeed averages actual job postings at $31.79 an hour, or $66,123 a year, but that rests on just 11 postings, which is thin enough that a couple of high or low listings can swing it.
When you negotiate, don't anchor to the $47,440 BLS median. It is the most conservative and, for this state, the least representative of what a plant-floor automation role actually pays. Use Salary.com's $56,356 as a defensible midpoint and Indeed's $66,123 as evidence of where PLC and robotics postings are landing right now. Walk in citing the range, not the floor.
employer-reported survey
same survey, average
as of July 01, 2026
11 salaries reported · hourly ×2,080
Dashed line = US median $73,900.
Job outlook for mechatronics technicians in Indiana
2024 jobs
140
2034 projected
140
Growth
+2.9%
US: +0.7%
Openings / yr
10
Incl. replacement needs
Indiana's projection runs ahead of the country. The state labor office expects this occupation to grow about 2.9% between 2024 and 2034, versus just 0.7% nationally, with roughly 10 openings a year. That growth rate sounds modest, but on a base this small it is faster than most states, and the openings figure counts more than new positions. Most of those 10 yearly slots come from turnover and retirements, so the door opens more often than a flat headcount suggests. You can check the underlying numbers at Hoosier Data, Indiana's official labor market portal.
How Indiana compares with nearby states
Inside the Midwest, Indiana is the outlier at the bottom. Every bordering peer pays more on the BLS median: Illinois sits at $79,400, Ohio at $73,050, and even Michigan, another auto state, at $62,460. Indiana's $47,440 is the lowest median in the region, which again points more at how the state sample is coded than at the true value of automation skills on an Indiana plant floor.
90 employed
250 employed
580 employed
350 employed
180 employed
130 employed
230 employed
850 employed
400 employed
290 employed
Dashed line = US median $73,900.
Who hires mechatronics technicians in Indiana
Indiana's auto plants are the biggest employers of this skill set. Subaru of Indiana Automotive in Lafayette hires maintenance technicians who troubleshoot and program PLCs, work robotics and automated equipment, and cover electrical, pneumatic, and hydraulic systems. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana in Princeton runs an Industrial Automation maintenance track where team members write and repair PLC and robotics programs, and it lists an associate degree in industrial automation maintenance as a qualifying credential.
These roles are where Indiana's real mechatronics pay lives, and both plants ask for exactly the PLC, controls, and robotics troubleshooting that a mechatronics program builds. Beyond the auto sector, Indiana's food processing, steel, and pharmaceutical plants across the state hire the same profile under maintenance and controls titles.
How to earn more as a mechatronics technician in Indiana
Stack the certifications the plants actually screen for
Both Subaru and Toyota name PLC programming, robotics, and controls troubleshooting as core requirements, not nice-to-haves. Those are the exact skills that push you from the $41,120 bottom quarter toward the $72,910 to $74,090 top of the Indiana range. Build a certification stack around PLCs and industrial controls before you interview, because in Indiana it is the difference between general maintenance pay and automation pay.
Cross a state line if you can commute
Indiana borders two of the better-paying states in the region. Illinois posts a BLS median of $79,400 and Ohio $73,050, both far above Indiana's $47,440. If you live near Chicago, Cincinnati, or the Ohio line, a role a short drive across the border can mean a large raise for the same work. The BLS gap is partly a coding artifact, but the paycheck difference for a real posting is not.
Move up to the controls engineer track
Indiana's 90th percentile for technicians barely clears $74,000, so the ceiling on the technician title is real here. If you want past it, the step is the engineering side of the same equipment. Read the mechatronics salary guide to see the jump, then map the path to a controls engineer role, which is where the plants pay for the same PLC and robotics knowledge at a higher band.
Indiana mechatronics technician salary widget (2026)
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Indiana mechatronics technician salary FAQ
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Sources & methodology
Figures on this page come from four independent datasets, retrieved 2026-07-14. Where they disagree, the disagreement is shown rather than averaged away; the source-comparison section explains why each number differs.
- BLS OEWS, SOC 17-3024, May 2025 national and state estimates (state file oesm25st.zip). Employer-reported, the authoritative baseline.
- Salary.com, Mechatronics Technician in Indiana, as of July 01, 2026. HR-reported and modelled averages.
- Indeed, mechatronics technician salaries in Indiana, based on 11 reported salaries. Posting-derived.
- Projections Central, 2024–2034 state occupational projections produced by Indiana's labor market agency (state source).
- Toyota Indiana - Maintenance Team Member, Industrial Automation
- Subaru of Indiana Automotive careers, Lafayette IN