In the national contest for skilled and qualified workers, every major city or region must offer premium wages to attract the best workers. The dollar wage in each community is based on the cost of living there, so a nominally higher wage may have more to do with the cost of housing and utilities than the wage scale. But a large bonus to the most highly educated workers shows that the employers in that community value their contribution.

Source: Workforce & Innovation Technical Solution for the U.S. Census Bureau

The chart shows the difference between the median wage in each region (identified by its urban core) for high school-educated workers and that for higher-educated workers. The dollar values indicated are not the wages earned for those levels of education, but the boost gained by a higher level of education. This allows us to separate the benefit of education from the variation in cost of living in the various cities.

Central Indiana pays the second-highest premium for workers with graduate degrees, $32,861 more than the wage paid for a high school diploma. Only Detroit offers a higher premium.

Central Indiana pays the third-highest premium to workers with bachelor’s degrees, behind Detroit and Cincinnati. The Central Indiana median wage for someone with a bachelor’s degree was $46,600, or $19,375 more than the area’s wage for high school graduates. By contrast, Louisville pays only $14,369 more to its residents with bachelor’s degrees than to those with only a high school diploma.

  
 
   
     
  College-educated povertyThe wage curve  
  Indianapolis incomes are risingIndianapolis is good at attracting talented workersRecent immigrant incomes are lowOccupational wage curve analysis  
  IncomeThe income basicsIndianapolis wagesIncome by race, number of householdsIncomes are highest for the 45-64 age groupThree kinds of incomePovertyIndianapolis incomes: middle of the packNearly one in five Indianapolis workers lives outside the countyIncomes and educationwhere the income comes from  
  Income by race, share of householdsIndianapolis is America's most affordable housing marketMore than $10 billion is earned in Indianapolis by non-residentsHigh incomes are concentrated outside IndianapolisIndianapolis has a wider income gap than most other cities between its urban core and its metro area  
  Poverty in Indianapolis is highest among children and youthsPoverty and racePoverty happens to females more than males, even among childrenMost people in poverty work at least part timeMany in poverty work their way out