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Invest Hamilton County

Alex is one part of what Invest Hamilton County does. Explore the rest.

Add the jobs you hire for and every tool in this journey computes on them: your wages, your competition, your talent shed.

Understand skills and place

What credentials and degrees pay here

Local pay linked to credentials and degrees, from a CDL to a CPA and from a welding certificate to a bachelor's by field, with what each requires and whether the state helps pay for it.

Built from Credential and degree returns joined to the gate each one requires and whether the state funds it

Answers the question a candidate and a hiring manager both have and rarely ask together: what does this credential cost, what does it open, and who pays for it.

You are on Free. 2 of 3 tools in Understand skills and place are open to you. See what the other 1 add.

Read it honestly: the clock-hour gate is the real cost in time. A WRG badge means the credential is named on Indiana's Workforce Ready Grant list; where the list names a training program instead of the credential, no badge is shown and the card says so. Workforce Pell applies only to programs on Indiana's Governor-approved list, which held one program (Ivy Tech, Clinical Medical Assistant) when checked on 2026-09-24; no credential here claims it. Costs are what the source publishes (exam fees where noted), never a guess.
Field of studyLevel Years Earn yr 1 Earn yr 5

Conditional prices. Each figure is the market wage lift per +1 O*NET level of that competency, holding the rest of the skill bundle fixed (ridge, employment-weighted, all US metros). A negative reads "low-priced inside its bundle", not "worthless", the same care-penalty pattern the durable-skills model shows.

Sources: competency prices estimated 2026-09-24 on O*NET 30.2 (CC BY 4.0; re-estimated from the 2026-07-24 O*NET 29.1 run after 30.2 restored 15 occupations 29.x omitted, Software Developers among them), BLS OES May 2025, Census PSEO (Indiana graduate wage records), College Scorecard. Credential gates, costs and funding come from the issuing body, OSHA, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, each linked on its card. Public data only, no Lightcast. Aggregate estimates, cited as ranges, not individual guarantees.

Programs that fit this work

Add roles to your set and these rank to your own hiring. Eligibility is set by each program, not by us.

  • Power Up Indiana DWD State

    Reimburses companies up to $5,000 per trainee ($50,000 max per company) for employee training that results in industry-recognized credentials, cross-training/reskilling, leadership development, or registered apprenticeships. Minimum starting wage: $23.50/hr.

    Who qualifies: Indiana employers registered with Secretary of State, with physical IN location, current DWD unemployment tax account. Nonprofits NOT eligible.

  • Registered Apprenticeship Programs DWD Federal

    Federal grant funding to support registered apprenticeship expansion, employer partnerships, and new apprenticeship pathways. Earn-and-learn model with DOL-registered credentials.

    Who qualifies: Open to any employer. Must provide progressive wages, Related Technical Instruction, and OJT. Ideal for roles requiring 1+ year of training.

  • Employer Training Grant (Next Level Jobs) DWD State

    Reimburses Indiana employers up to $5,000 per employee ($50,000 max) for training that results in industry-recognized credentials. Covers 6 priority sectors plus early childhood education.

    Who qualifies: Indiana employers registered with Secretary of State, with physical Indiana location, current DWD unemployment tax account. Must train in priority sectors: adva…

  • Apprenticeship.gov · Federal Registered Apprenticeship Sponsorship USDOL/ETA Federal

    Federal portal for sponsoring a Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP). Up to 12-month structured program with paid OJT + classroom instruction + portable industry-recognized credential. Tax-deductible employer wages, federal credits available, USDOL technical assistance included.

    Who qualifies: Any employer. Can sponsor solo or join a group/intermediary sponsor.

  • Indiana DWD Office of Work-Based Learning & Apprenticeship (OWBLA) Indiana DWD State

    Indiana's central hub for Registered Apprenticeship (RAP), Certified Pre-Apprenticeship, and State Earn and Learn (SEAL) program creation. Hospitality and food service employers can register custom 'earn-and-learn' programs (line cook, hospitality manager, certified hospitality supervisor) with no cost to register. Employers may qualify for Workforce Ready Grant tuition reimbursement, federal Apprenticeship Tax Credit, and Employer Training Grant funding. OWBLA staff help draft the work-process schedule and Related Technical Instruction outline. As of 12/31/2025: 930+ active RAPs, 1,584+ occupations, 86,500 cumulative apprentices since 2014.

    Who qualifies: Any Indiana employer of any size. Apprenticeships must include paid on-the-job training plus 144+ hours/year of related instruction.

All 5 programs routed here, in the Resource Library →

Analyst Coach

Ask about the local labor market in plain language, on top of your dashboards. Answers carry their sources and point to the tools for the math. It is an AI coach, your chats are private, and they are never used to train anything.

The Analyst Coach is a $50/mo add-on · monthly only for Member or Industry or Premium or Coalition accounts. Sign in or see plans.

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Built by Alex, the Hamilton County Data Hub, from BLS wage records, Census commuting and business patterns, O*NET skill profiles, and licensed Lightcast postings. Wages are set by employers. Ranges, never promises.

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