Physician assistants job market in Indiana

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Indiana industry employment changed 1.6 percentage points below the U.S. benchmark

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Physician assistants in Indiana.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitationEvidence record

Occupation pay

What Physician assistants earn in Indiana

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$132,050Indiana
Middle 50% of published wages
$123,220 – $166,230
U.S. median annual wage
$135,880
Reference period
May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Indiana

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Physician assistants, compared with the Indiana median of $132,050.

Indiana median$132,050
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN$133,060+0.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$123,210 – $166,190Published employment50
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN$131,950−0.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$125,360 – $153,580Published employment700
Fort Wayne, IN$131,400−0.5% vs. state
Middle 50%$122,480 – $173,230Published employment240
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN$130,830−0.9% vs. state
Middle 50%$109,970 – $138,180Published employment380
South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI$129,620−1.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$121,590 – $172,960Published employment100
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN$128,520−2.7% vs. state
Middle 50%$98,640 – $145,710Published employment920
View 5 more published metro areas
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN$127,940−3.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$122,780 – $145,600Published employment3,050
Columbus, IN$124,460−5.7% vs. state
Middle 50%$122,560 – $153,910Published employment60
Bloomington, IN$123,860−6.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$109,340 – $130,640Published employment60
Evansville, IN$123,410−6.5% vs. state
Middle 50%$109,690 – $153,550Published employment120
Terre Haute, IN$109,950−16.7% vs. state
Middle 50%$79,670 – $132,410Published employment40

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Indiana median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Indiana’s weighted industry mix.

+0.3%Industry employmentIndiana industry employmentU.S. +1.9%vs. +1.9% U.S.
+3.1%Establishments in weighted industriesIndiana establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +6.8%vs. +6.8% U.S.
+1.9%Avg. weekly industry wageIndiana avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +2.5% · not occupation payvs. +2.5% U.S. · not occupation pay
-1.6 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 21,662 represented establishments, 94.88% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for physician assistants in Indiana

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 10, 2026.

This occupation is less concentrated in the state

The published location quotient for physician assistants in Indiana is 0.63 in OEWS May 2025: their share of employment is 0.63 times the national share. The state estimate is 2,110 jobs, 1.3% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 0.66 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. The measure describes the distribution of existing employment, not current hiring or future growth.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

OEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.

Industry groups are pulling in opposite directions

The leading industry groups examined represent 99.7% of this occupation's national industry mix. Their Indiana employment changes were mixed in January to March 2026: +0.5% year over year in Private education and health services, compared with -7.0% in Federal. Those opposing movements are combined in the overall industry measure.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Pay differs widely between metro areas

The median wage at the upper end of Indiana's metro comparison is 21.0% above the lower end in OEWS May 2025. The 8 published estimates on a shared wage basis extend from Terre Haute, IN at $109,950 to Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN at $133,060. The wage difference alone does not account for living costs or job availability.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Metro estimates may include areas in neighboring states. The comparison covers published metro estimates, not every part of the state.

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values
  • Indiana · 2026 Q1+0.3%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+1.9%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value
Quarterly Indiana industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterIndianaCoverage
2024 Q2+3.7%100%
2024 Q3+3.0%100%
2024 Q4+2.9%100%
2025 Q1+2.3%100%
2025 Q2+2.0%100%
2025 Q3+1.7%100%
2025 Q4+0.8%100%
2026 Q1+0.3%100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Indiana’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters
8
Earliest quarter
2024 Q2
Latest quarter
2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark
+1.9%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Physician assistants Work

The occupation mix determines which Indiana industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Indiana Physician assistants context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Private education and health services94.6%+0.5%21,662$1,250
Federal2.3%-7.0%1,271$1,982
Professional and business services1.8%+1.1%41,649$1,567
State and local0.8%-0.5%3,854$1,126
Other services0.2%+0.9%14,658$917
Financial activities0.1%-0.6%20,482$2,142

Which industries are growing?

3 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Indiana employment change are listed.

  • Professional and business services+1.1%
  • Other services+0.9%
  • Private education and health services+0.5%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Selected state comparison

Indiana vs. other states

A selected set of other states with valid reports for this occupation, not every available state. Each state’s own published industry employment change for QCEW 2026 Q1, ordered with this report first and then alphabetically. This is not a ranking and there is no state-level score.

Open state comparison

How to read this

Same occupation, same release

Every state shown published its own verified QCEW 2026 Q1 figure for the industries weighted to Physician assistants. Bars are proportional to each published change; left of centre is a decline.

Current Indiana context

Current Indiana Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Indiana. They are not Physician assistants demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Indiana

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

96.0Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026
-4.0%Versus the February 2020 baseline
+0.2%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index
Indeed postings index
Observation dateIndex (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 202694.78
Jul 31, 202694.73
Aug 7, 202694.02
Aug 14, 202693.66
Aug 21, 202693.42
Aug 28, 202694.23
Sep 4, 202694.81
Sep 11, 202695.62
Sep 18, 202696.02
Sep 25, 202695.84
Oct 2, 202695.34
Oct 9, 202696.05
Oct 16, 202695.43
Oct 23, 202695.99

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Statewide layoff notices

Statewide layoff-notice filings

Indiana statewide

7 notices in this source

Notice dates from Aug 5, 2026 to Nov 2, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.

What this means: These are statewide totals from notices dated in this period in Indiana’s official tracking system. Reported positions are the counts published in those notices, not a count of people confirmed to have lost their jobs. No employer is identified.

Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. Indiana’s state tracking system also records smaller Rapid Response events that fall below federal WARN thresholds, so it is not a list of federal WARN filings only.

Indiana Department of Workforce Development About WARN data

Source last checked

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Physician assistants in Indiana FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Physician assistants in Indiana?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Indiana industries weighted to Physician assistants changed +0.3% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +1.9% nationwide.

Are wages for Physician assistants rising in Indiana?

QCEW does not publish pay for Physician assistants in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +1.9% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Indiana industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Physician assistants openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation
Physician assistants
SOC code
29-1071
State
Indiana
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
+0.3%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
+1.9%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
-1.6 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year
+3.1%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+1.9%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage
EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date
Aug 28, 2026
Source verification
Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL
https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/physician-assistants/indiana#evidence-record
Derived by
JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.

Physician assistants in other states