Bobbi Sutherland, 28, drives an hour each way to work as a diesel technician in Tippecanoe County. She makes just under $30 an hour, far better pay than she could earn in the rural town where she lives with her boyfriend.
But even with their combined income — her boyfriend works at a car dealership — Sutherland still feels like she’s in a financial hole. “There’s no way I could afford to have any kids.”
Sutherland said she’s paid a lot better than people who work locally in fast food or retail.
Those are the kinds of jobs that often don’t pay enough to cover bills. New data from the Indiana United Ways shows that about 38% of Hoosiers earn less than it takes to pay for basics like housing, transportation and healthcare. Most of those families aren’t technically in poverty, but they still struggle.
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“These are people that are doing many jobs that we would see as essential,” said Michael Budd, president and CEO for Indiana United Ways.
Even those who can afford their bills are precarious, Budd said. “They’re making enough to cover their expenses this month as long as something doesn’t happen – they don’t have a large medical bill or they don’t have a car repair.”
FPI News is doing a survey to hear from Hoosiers about whether life feels affordable and what financial stressors their families face.
Indiana has a reputation as an affordable place to live. It ranks sixth among states on the MERIC cost-of-living index. The state itself cites affordability as one of its top selling points to potential businesses and residents.
But as politicians — both Republican and Democratic — have acknowledged, costs like housing, utilities and childcare have been on the rise.
One reason many families struggle is because while Indiana has a low cost of living, it also has low wages. The average weekly wage in Indiana was $1,222 – about $316 less than Illinois, according to a 2025 report from the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute. And the state’s median household income is nearly $10,000 below the national average, according to census data.
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FPI News reporter Dylan Peers McCoy covers pressing issues throughout the state and how local communities are tackling those challenges. Reach her at 508-259-4809 or dylan.mccoy@fpinews.org.
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