Byline: Colin Reyes, business journalist covering regional banking and labor markets for 11 years
Last reviewed: June 28, 2026
FirstMerchants is best understood as First Merchants Corporation, the public financial holding company behind First Merchants Bank. The 2025 First Merchants Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K reported 2,086 full-time equivalent employees as of December 31, 2025, while BLS May 2024 data showed a $39,340 median annual wage for tellers and $74,180 for loan officers.
That spread matters. A job at FirstMerchants can mean branch transaction work, universal banking, commercial lending, credit, operations, wealth, risk, or corporate support, and the labor-market numbers change sharply by role.
What FirstMerchants is in the labor market
First Merchants Corporation is a Muncie, Indiana-based financial holding company listed on Nasdaq under the ticker FRME. Its investor profile describes it as the largest financial holding company based in Central Indiana, with more than 111 banking center locations in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, plus a wealth management company. As of March 31, 2026, First Merchants reported total assets of $21.1 billion.
This is regional banking, not Wall Street banking.
That distinction affects the jobs story. FirstMerchants needs tellers, service associates, relationship bankers, branch leaders, credit analysts, loan officers, treasury staff, wealth professionals, compliance teams, operations workers, and technology support. The company’s employment base is tied to local banking centers and relationship banking, even as digital banking changes the way branch work is staffed.
The central employment reality is mixed. Branch work remains visible and necessary, but the long-term BLS outlook is weaker for tellers than for higher-skill financial roles. That makes FirstMerchants a bank where the job title matters more than the brand name.
The company size behind the job listings
The 2025 First Merchants Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K reported 2,086 full-time equivalent employees as of December 31, 2025. It also reported an overall turnover rate of 18 percent in 2025, a 65 percent “highly engaged” result in the company’s biennial Employee Engagement Survey, and an 85 percent survey response rate.
Those numbers give the employment story more shape than a careers page can. A company with more than 2,000 full-time equivalent employees is large enough to have formal training, succession planning, benefits administration, and internal mobility systems. It is also small enough, compared with national banks, that regional markets and acquisitions can move the staffing picture.
The 18 percent turnover rate is not just an HR detail. It shows that FirstMerchants is competing in a bank labor market where branch, service, and support roles can churn, even when the company reports formal engagement and career-development programs.
The First Merchants 2025 Annual Report also said more than 1,500 employees participated in its annual calibration process, a 9-box talent assessment used for succession and performance planning. That is a structured internal system, not an informal “work hard and get noticed” promise.
What BLS pay data actually shows
BLS does not publish FirstMerchants-specific wages. It publishes occupation-level wage data, which is the better baseline for comparing bank roles across employers.
For tellers, the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook reported a May 2024 median annual wage of $39,340. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $31,270, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $48,270. In credit intermediation and related activities, the teller median was $39,230.
For loan officers, BLS reported a May 2024 median annual wage of $74,180. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $38,490, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $145,780. In credit intermediation and related activities, loan officers had a May 2024 median wage of $73,330.
That comparison is blunt: the public labor-market median for loan officers is about $34,840 higher than the teller median. It is also much wider at the top end. Teller pay has a narrow ceiling in BLS data, while loan officer compensation can stretch because some roles use salary plus commission or incentive structures.
The interpretation is clear. FirstMerchants service roles should be evaluated against teller and financial-clerk benchmarks, while lending and credit roles belong closer to loan-officer or financial-specialist benchmarks. Averaging all bank jobs together hides the career economics.
| Role family | Public benchmark | Source year | Public pay figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teller / service associate | BLS Tellers | May 2024 | $39,340 median annual wage |
| Teller in credit intermediation | BLS Tellers | May 2024 | $39,230 median annual wage |
| Loan officer | BLS Loan Officers | May 2024 | $74,180 median annual wage |
| Loan officer in credit intermediation | BLS Loan Officers | May 2024 | $73,330 median annual wage |
| First Merchants workforce | 2025 Form 10-K | Dec. 31, 2025 | 2,086 FTE employees |
The job outlook is split by role
BLS projected teller employment to decline 13 percent from 2024 to 2034. It projected loan officer employment to grow 2 percent over the same period, slower than the average for all occupations, but still positive.
That is the labor-market split inside a regional bank. Transaction-heavy branch work faces pressure from mobile deposits, online transfers, ATMs, debit cards, remote account tools, and branch-footprint discipline. Lending, credit evaluation, business banking, and relationship management are more durable because customers and companies still need judgment, underwriting, and advisory work around loans.
The bank branch is not disappearing overnight. It is being repriced.
For FirstMerchants, the implication is that a service associate or teller-style job may be an entry point, but it should not be read as the strongest long-term wage track. The stronger path in the data sits closer to relationship banking, credit, lending, treasury, wealth, risk, and management.
Glassdoor fills one gap, with limits
Glassdoor’s 2026 First Merchants salary page reported that annual salaries in the United States typically ranged from $39,108 for a Service Associate to $174,116 for a Vice President, based on 452 salaries submitted by First Merchants employees. Glassdoor also reported a Banking Center Manager estimate of $111,088 per year, with a typical range between $88,312 and $141,955, based on 12 submitted salaries.
Those self-reported figures fit the BLS pattern. The Glassdoor Service Associate number sits close to the BLS teller median of $39,340. The manager estimate sits far above that branch-service baseline. The Vice President figure reaches into a professional and leadership band that is not comparable to teller work.
The caveat is serious. Glassdoor data is self-reported, sample size varies by title, and job names are not always standardized across banks. BLS is more consistent but not company-specific. SEC filings are official, but they do not publish ordinary branch wage tables.
The best reading uses all three: BLS for the market baseline, Glassdoor for role-specific hints, and SEC filings for company scale and compensation structure.
Where the executive pay number fits
The First Merchants Corporation 2026 Proxy Statement reported CEO Mark K. Hardwick’s 2025 total compensation at $2,398,488. The same proxy reported median employee total compensation of $62,811 and a CEO-to-median-employee pay ratio of 38 to 1.
That $62,811 median employee number is not the same thing as teller pay. The proxy statement says First Merchants reviewed an employee population of 2,011 employees after omitting the CEO and used base salary, overtime, and annual incentive compensation as its consistently applied compensation measure. It then calculated the median employee’s total compensation using Summary Compensation Table items.
This is where many pay articles go wrong. The proxy median is official, but it is a proxy-rule measure. It should not be presented as what a teller, service associate, or entry-level banker normally earns.
A better comparison is layered. BLS teller median: $39,340. Glassdoor Service Associate figure: $39,108. First Merchants proxy median employee compensation: $62,811. CEO total compensation: $2,398,488. Those numbers are all real, but they describe different slices of the organization.
Benefits and retirement signals
First Merchants’ public benefits page lists a Retirement Income & Savings Plan 401(k), Employee Stock Purchase Plan, educational assistance, medical insurance, prescription drug insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, wellness program, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, disability coverage, PTO, holidays, bereavement, and other voluntary coverage.
The 2025 First Merchants Annual Report on Form 10-K provides a harder number for the 401(k) structure. It says the Savings Plan matches employee contributions at 100 percent of the first 3 percent of base salary contributed and 50 percent of the next 3 percent of base salary contributed.
That formula is worth translating carefully. For an eligible employee contributing at least 6 percent of base salary, the employer match structure described in the filing equals up to 4.5 percent of base salary. Eligibility, vesting, plan definitions, and exact employee treatment belong in the formal plan documents, not a public benefits summary.
The benefits package looks standard for a regional bank competing for professional staff, not unusually thin. The missing public detail is price. Premiums, deductibles, PTO accrual tiers, and eligibility waiting periods were not published in the public pages reviewed.
Where the headline number misleads
A single “FirstMerchants salary” number is almost useless. It blends branch service work, banking-center management, lending, credit, wealth, operations, technology, and executive leadership into one label.
The sharper reading is this: FirstMerchants looks like a regional-bank employer with a formal development system and a mid-sized public-company benefits structure, but the strongest pay story is not at the teller counter. It is in the higher-skill roles connected to lending, credit, treasury, commercial banking, management, wealth, risk, and corporate functions.
The second analytical point is about stability. First Merchants reported record full-year 2025 results, including $224.1 million of net income available to common stockholders and diluted EPS of $3.88. A profitable year supports hiring capacity and incentive pools, but it does not automatically raise every branch wage. Pay still follows role, market, performance, and internal structure.
How FirstMerchants compares with regional-bank work
FirstMerchants is competing against other regional banks, credit unions, large banks, fintech employers, insurance companies, mortgage firms, and local professional employers. Its own 2026 Proxy Statement lists a 2025 executive compensation peer group of 19 publicly traded financial institutions, including Old National Bancorp, WesBanco, First Financial Bancorp, Fulton Financial Corporation, and United Community Banks.
That peer list is executive-compensation focused, but it still helps place the company. FirstMerchants is not benchmarking leadership pay against small community banks only. It is operating in a broader regional-bank comparison set.
For ordinary employees, the market comparison is less formal and more local. A teller in Indiana is not comparing only against FirstMerchants. The alternative may be another bank branch, a credit union, an insurance office, a call center, a retail management job, or an operations role. That local competition is why benefits, scheduling, manager quality, commute, and advancement path can matter as much as the first wage figure.
Data limits
The public record does not show a full FirstMerchants wage scale by branch role, banker level, credit analyst title, loan officer type, or manager grade. The BLS numbers are occupation averages, not employer payroll. Glassdoor figures are self-reported and can shift with new submissions. SEC filings are authoritative for company and proxy data, but they were written for investors, not job seekers.
Data reflects 2024 BLS reporting, 2025 SEC reporting, and 2026 public salary pages. Hiring conditions can shift by market, acquisition activity, branch staffing needs, and interest-rate conditions.
FAQ
Is FirstMerchants a bank employer or a portal?
For labor-market purposes, FirstMerchants refers to First Merchants Corporation and First Merchants Bank, a regional banking employer based in Indiana with operations across Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.
How many employees does FirstMerchants have?
The 2025 First Merchants Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K reported 2,086 full-time equivalent employees as of December 31, 2025.
What does BLS say comparable bank jobs pay?
BLS May 2024 data reported a $39,340 median annual wage for tellers and a $74,180 median annual wage for loan officers. Those are occupation benchmarks, not FirstMerchants-specific wages.
What does Glassdoor say First Merchants pays?
Glassdoor’s 2026 First Merchants salary page reported annual salaries typically ranging from $39,108 for a Service Associate to $174,116 for a Vice President, based on 452 submitted salaries in the United States.
What is the CEO pay ratio at First Merchants?
The First Merchants Corporation 2026 Proxy Statement reported CEO total compensation of $2,398,488, median employee total compensation of $62,811, and a CEO-to-median-employee pay ratio of 38 to 1.
Does First Merchants offer retirement benefits?
First Merchants’ public benefits page lists a 401(k) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Plan. The 2025 Form 10-K says the 401(k) Savings Plan matches 100 percent of the first 3 percent of base salary contributed and 50 percent of the next 3 percent.
Is teller work a strong growth track?
BLS projected teller employment to decline 13 percent from 2024 to 2034. That does not mean every teller job disappears, but it shows routine branch transaction work is weaker than lending, credit, treasury, wealth, risk, and management tracks.
What is the practical employment read?
FirstMerchants looks like a stable regional-bank employer with formal benefits and development systems, but the data points away from teller work as the strongest long-term earnings track. The better economics sit in skilled banking, lending, credit, treasury, management, wealth, risk, and corporate roles.