According to MIT’s latest Living Wage Calculator, a single adult with no children needs to earn about $21.79 an hour, or $45,326 a year before taxes, just to cover basic necessities in Indiana.
Indiana’s minimum wage?
$7.25 an hour.
Someone working full-time, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year at minimum wage would make just $15,080 before taxes.
That means MIT’s estimated living wage is almost exactly three times Indiana’s minimum wage, leaving a gap of more than $30,000 a year between minimum-wage earnings and what the calculator estimates a single adult actually needs.
And having children dramatically changes the numbers.
MIT estimates a single Indiana adult with one child needs approximately $41.16 an hour, or $85,610 a year before taxes, to meet basic expenses. A single parent with two children would need approximately $54.51 an hour, or $113,390 annually.
For comparison, the latest U.S. Census Bureau data shows Indiana’s median household income is $71,959.
For individual workers, the median Hoosier with earnings made approximately $44,095, while the median for full-time, year-round workers was $57,198.
Perhaps one of the most eye-opening comparisons: MIT calculates Indiana’s 2026 poverty wage for one adult at approximately $7.67 an hour, meaning Indiana’s $7.25 minimum wage is even below that benchmark.
Indiana has remained at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 for years as the cost of housing, groceries, transportation, healthcare and other necessities has continued to rise.
So what do you think?
How much does somebody REALLY need to make per hour to comfortably survive in Indiana today?
Sources: MIT Living Wage Calculator, U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, Indiana wage data