Relocating to the Indianapolis Metro (IN)

1. Where the major employers actually are

A handful of major employers cluster in specific spots worth mapping before picking a neighborhood. Eli Lilly and Company's headquarters, Lilly Corporate Center, sits on downtown Indianapolis's near-south side; Lilly employed 13,583 people in Indianapolis as of June 30, 2026 (of 51,168 worldwide). Elevance Health (renamed from Anthem in June 2022) is headquartered at 220 Virginia Avenue, also downtown. Salesforce Tower, Indiana's tallest building, sits at 111 Monument Circle — Salesforce announced plans for roughly 800 hires there in 2017, though we couldn't confirm a current headcount. Cummins Inc.'s global headquarters is actually in Columbus, Indiana, about 45 miles south of this metro's five counties, but the company also runs a distribution-business headquarters at 301 E. Market St. downtown with capacity for 450 employees. Rolls-Royce relocated roughly 2,500 employees to the former Eli Lilly "Faris Campus" on South Meridian Street downtown (now the Rolls-Royce Meridian Center), and separately runs a manufacturing campus on South Tibbs Avenue — an older figure put its total area employment near 4,500. Allison Transmission is headquartered at 1 Allison Way on the west side, adjacent to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (some directories list the address as Speedway, others as Indianapolis, reflecting how closely the two overlap there). Amazon operates fulfillment and delivery facilities across Whitestown (Boone County), Plainfield (Hendricks County), Indianapolis proper, and a newer $80 million same-day facility in Greenwood (Johnson County) — we couldn't confirm a current metro-wide headcount. The FedEx Express hub at Indianapolis International Airport is the second-largest FedEx Express hub in the world after Memphis, employing roughly 4,000 people as of a 2018 figure (with expansion since). Indiana University Health, whose administrative offices sit at Fairbanks Hall near downtown, runs 16 hospitals and employs over 38,000 people system-wide; Community Health Network is headquartered at 1500 North Ritter Avenue on the near east side. Downtown also hosts Angi (formerly Angie's List) at 130 East Washington Street. In Hamilton County, notable employers include CNO Financial Group, Roche Diagnostics and Navient (both Fishers), and Delta Faucet Co. (Carmel) — per the state's own major-employers directory, which is licensed from a third-party commercial data provider and not independently verified by Indiana's Department of Workforce Development. Sources: Eli Lilly's own "Key Facts" page; Downtown Indianapolis employer directory; Encyclopedia entries and IBJ coverage of Rolls-Royce and Cummins; FedEx's own hub history page; Indiana DWD major-employers data for Hamilton County.

2. Your Indiana driver's license: the 60-day window

New residents with a valid, unexpired out-of-state driver's license have 60 days from moving to Indiana to get an Indiana license through the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), bringing proof of identity, lawful status, Social Security number, and Indiana residency; applicants typically receive a temporary 30-day license while documents are verified. If your out-of-state license has been expired more than five years, or you held it less than a year, a knowledge and/or skills test may also be required. A new resident with no valid out-of-state license instead must hold an Indiana learner's permit for 180 days before a license can be issued. Source: Indiana BMV, "New Indiana Residents."

3. Vehicle registration -- also 60 days

New residents also have 60 days to title and register a vehicle in Indiana, through the BMV: bring the out-of-state title, complete a VIN inspection (at a BMV branch or via a law-enforcement inspection form), proof of Indiana address dated within the last 60 days, proof of Social Security number or FIN, and proof of insurance to get plates. Missing the 60-day window brings administrative penalties. Source: Indiana BMV, "New Indiana Residents" (secure.in.gov).

4. Emissions testing: not required in this metro

Indiana's vehicle emissions-testing program applies only to Lake and Porter counties in far northwest Indiana, near Chicago — vehicles registered there built after 1975 must be tested every two years. None of Marion, Hamilton, Boone, Johnson, or Hendricks County requires emissions testing — nothing to budget for or schedule anywhere in this metro. Source: Indiana BMV, "Vehicle Emissions Testing Program."

5. State income tax -- 2.95% and falling -- plus local county tax

Indiana's flat individual income tax rate has been stepping down for several years and, per Indiana Code 6-3-2-1 and the Department of Revenue's own 2026 withholding notice, sits at 2.95% for 2026 (down from 3.00% in 2024-2025, and 3.05% in 2023), scheduled to fall further to 2.90% for 2027 through 2029, with additional contingent 0.05-point cuts possible from 2030 through 2043 if state revenue growth clears a statutory trigger. On top of that flat state rate, every Indiana county levies its own additional local income tax (LIT), which can change every January or October; effective January 1, 2026, per the Department of Revenue's Departmental Notice #1: Marion County 2.02%, Hamilton County 1.10%, Boone County 1.70%, Johnson County 1.40%, and Hendricks County 1.70% — meaning a Marion County resident's combined state-plus-local income tax rate in 2026 runs close to 4.97%, while a Hamilton County resident's runs closer to 4.05%. Worth knowing: Senate Enrolled Act 1's property tax overhaul (see our property tax guide) gives local governments new authority to raise LIT rates to help offset lost property-tax revenue, so county LIT rates in this metro may move further in the next few years — check the current rate before budgeting a long-term move. Source: Indiana Department of Revenue, Departmental Notice #1 (2026 county rates); Indiana Code 6-3-2-1.

6. Sales tax: a flat 7%, with no local add-on

Indiana's statewide sales tax rate is a flat 7%, applied uniformly with no general local-option sales tax layered on top anywhere in the state — a genuine contrast with states where the sales tax rate varies by city or county. What can vary locally is a separate, narrower county or city Food and Beverage Tax (commonly an extra 1%, occasionally 2%) that applies only to prepared restaurant food and beverage sales in specific jurisdictions that have adopted it, plus separate county innkeeper's (hotel) taxes — neither applies to ordinary retail purchases. Source: Indiana Department of Revenue, "Tax Rates, Fees & Penalties."

7. Registering to vote

Indiana requires voter registration to be completed 29 days before Election Day, regardless of whether you register online, by mail, or in person. Indiana does not offer same-day or Election Day registration. Source: Indiana Election Division, "Hoosiers Vote: Register to Vote."

8. How we keep this page current

The BMV deadlines in Sections 2 and 3, and the emissions and voter-registration facts in Sections 4 and 7, are set by state law and don't change often. Indiana's income tax rate (Section 5) is on a legislated multi-year step-down through at least 2029, and county local-income-tax rates can change twice a year, so treat the specific 2026 figures above as a snapshot rather than a permanent number. The employer list in Section 1 reflects the most recent figures we could verify per company, several of which (Amazon, Salesforce, IU Health) we could not pin to a current, precise headcount — treat those as directional rather than exact. If you spot something on this page that's changed, or notice a broken link, we'd like to know — see our contact information.