Byline: Andrea Sloan, compensation analyst and business reporter with 11 years covering banking-sector pay and workforce filings
Last reviewed: June 28, 2026
FirstMerchants is best read as First Merchants Corporation and First Merchants Bank, a regional banking employer whose 2025 Form 10-K reported 2,086 full-time equivalent employees as of December 31, 2025. Public pay data does not support one clean “FirstMerchants salary”: BLS May 2024 data put tellers at a $39,340 median annual wage, financial clerks at $48,650, and loan officers at $74,180.
The gap is the story. Branch service, account work, credit, lending, management, treasury, wealth, and executive roles sit in different pay markets.
What FirstMerchants is as an employer
First Merchants Corporation is the public holding company behind First Merchants Bank. Its investor materials identify the company as a regional banking organization based in Central Indiana, with banking centers across Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The company’s SEC filings page shows current public-company filings, including 2026 annual plan filings and proxy materials.
This is not a single-job employer. FirstMerchants needs people in branches, commercial banking, credit, lending, wealth management, treasury, risk, compliance, operations, technology, and corporate support.
That range makes the pay question messy. A service associate role should be compared with teller or customer-service banking benchmarks. A credit analyst should be compared with credit and financial analysis work. A banking center manager belongs closer to branch leadership and sales-management compensation. A vice president role belongs in a different market entirely.
One brand. Several labor markets.
What BLS pay data actually shows
BLS is the most reliable starting point because it uses occupation-level labor-market data instead of self-reported company submissions. It does not show FirstMerchants payroll, but it gives a disciplined baseline.
For financial clerks, BLS reported a May 2024 median annual wage of $48,650. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $36,200, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $71,330. BLS also projected financial clerk employment to decline 5 percent from 2024 to 2034, with about 102,200 openings each year on average due to replacement needs.
For tellers, BLS May 2024 data reported a $39,340 median annual wage. For loan officers, BLS May 2024 data reported a $74,180 median annual wage. That puts the loan-officer median $34,840 above the teller median.
The interpretation is blunt: routine transaction work and lending work should not be averaged together. A pay article that treats “bank employee” as one category hides the real wage spread.
| Role family | Public benchmark | Source | Pay figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teller / service associate | BLS Tellers | May 2024 | $39,340 median annual wage |
| Financial clerk / account support | BLS Financial Clerks | May 2024 | $48,650 median annual wage |
| Loan officer | BLS Loan Officers | May 2024 | $74,180 median annual wage |
| Business and financial occupations | BLS OOH group page | May 2024 | $80,920 median annual wage |
| All U.S. occupations | BLS career outlook article | 2024 | $49,500 median annual wage |
Glassdoor role estimates put FirstMerchants into bands
Glassdoor’s 2026 First Merchants salary page reported annual salaries in the United States typically ranging from $39,108 for a Service Associate to $174,116 for a Vice President, based on 452 submitted salaries.
That range tracks the BLS logic. The Service Associate figure of $39,108 sits close to the BLS teller median of $39,340. A Vice President figure of $174,116 belongs nowhere near teller work. It reflects seniority, specialization, incentive opportunity, or management scope.
Glassdoor’s job page also listed median total pay figures of $39,108 for Service Associate, $39,492 for Customer Service Representative, $50,412 for Personal Banker, and $66,797 for Credit Analyst. Separately, Glassdoor’s First Merchants Bank salary page reported Credit Analyst and Credit Analyst II annual figures around $61,803 to $64,118, based on 107 submitted salaries.
The samples are not perfect. Glassdoor figures are self-reported, role labels can overlap, and small samples can move when new submissions arrive. But the directional pattern is useful: service roles cluster near teller pay, personal banking sits above that, credit roles move higher, and leadership roles widen sharply.
The FirstMerchants pay ladder in public data
A realistic pay ladder starts with service associate or teller-style work, then moves toward personal banker, credit analyst, loan officer, banking-center manager, treasury, wealth, risk, or corporate leadership.
The public numbers support that order. Glassdoor listed First Merchants Service Associate at $39,108 and Personal Banker at $50,412. Its First Merchants Bank page showed Credit Analyst roles around $61,803 to $64,118. Its First Merchants salary page showed a broader company range up to $174,116 for Vice President.
BLS adds a national benchmark: financial clerks at $48,650 and loan officers at $74,180.
This is the first analytical point: FirstMerchants pay economics improve when the role moves from transactions to judgment. Credit decisions, lending relationships, business banking, risk controls, wealth advice, and management scope usually price higher than routine processing.
Small role changes matter. Moving from service work to personal banking may add advisory and sales responsibility. Moving into credit adds financial analysis. Moving into lending adds production pressure and market sensitivity. Moving into management adds staffing, compliance, growth, and accountability.
Where the SEC pay-ratio number fits
The First Merchants Corporation 2026 Proxy Statement reported CEO Mark K. Hardwick’s 2025 total compensation at $2,398,488, median employee total compensation at $62,811, and a CEO-to-median-employee pay ratio of 38 to 1.
That median employee figure can be useful, but only if it is handled correctly. It is not a job-posting wage. It is a proxy-rule calculation across a mixed employee population, not a teller salary, banker salary, or loan officer salary.
The comparison shows why context matters. The proxy median of $62,811 is far above the BLS teller median of $39,340, above the BLS financial clerk median of $48,650, below the BLS business and financial occupations median of $80,920, and below the BLS loan officer median of $74,180.
That makes the proxy number a company-wide compensation marker, not a role estimate. The public salary story should use it as a midpoint signal, not as a promise to applicants.
Benefits change total compensation
FirstMerchants pay cannot be read only as cash wages because the company publishes retirement and benefit categories, and filings quantify part of the retirement structure.
A First Merchants Corporation Retirement Income and Savings Plan filing described the employer match as a maximum of 4.5 percent of eligible compensation, with the match structured as 100 percent of the first 3 percent of employee contributions plus 50 percent of contributions above 3 percent and below 6 percent.
That match matters differently by role. At the BLS teller median of $39,340, a 4.5 percent employer match would equal about $1,770 if an eligible employee contributed enough to receive the full match. At the BLS loan officer median of $74,180, the same formula would equal about $3,338.
This is the second analytical point: a percentage benefit widens in dollars as salary rises. The match formula can be the same, but the practical value is larger for higher-paid roles.
First Merchants’ public benefits list has included health, prescription, dental, vision, wellness, HSA, flexible spending accounts, life and disability coverage, PTO, holidays, bereavement, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, and educational assistance. Public pages reviewed do not price premiums, deductibles, PTO accrual tiers, or eligibility timing.
Where salary claims mislead
“FirstMerchants pay” can mislead in four ways.
The first problem is role mixing. A teller-style position and vice president position should not be combined into a single expectation. Glassdoor’s own First Merchants range from $39,108 to $174,116 shows how wide the spread can be.
The second problem is source mixing. BLS is occupational, Glassdoor is self-reported, and SEC proxy pay is regulatory disclosure. Each source answers a different question.
The third problem is total compensation. A pay figure may include salary, bonus, overtime, incentives, equity, retirement contributions, or some combination depending on source methodology.
The fourth problem is market location. FirstMerchants operates in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio markets, not one national labor pool. Local competition, branch staffing needs, and role scarcity can move offers.
Better pay reporting keeps the numbers separated. Teller benchmark. Financial clerk benchmark. Loan officer benchmark. Self-reported company estimate. Proxy median. Executive compensation.
Pay outlook by role
BLS projected financial clerk employment to decline 5 percent from 2024 to 2034, with about 102,200 openings each year due to replacement needs. BLS projected teller employment to decline 13 percent from 2024 to 2034, while loan officer employment was projected to grow 2 percent over the same period.
That outlook does not mean branch jobs vanish. It means the labor market is weaker for transaction-heavy and clerical bank work than for lending and higher-skill financial roles.
The practical pay read is clear: FirstMerchants workers in service roles may see a stable entry point, but the stronger earnings trajectory sits in personal banking, credit analysis, loan production, business banking, treasury, wealth, risk, technology, and management.
This is not motivational language. It is what the wage and projection split suggests.
Company scale and staffing pressure
Company filings add the employer context. First Merchants reported 2,086 full-time equivalent employees in its 2025 Form 10-K. The same filing reported an overall turnover rate of 18 percent in 2025, a 65 percent “highly engaged” result in its biennial Employee Engagement Survey, and an 85 percent survey response rate.
Those workforce figures matter because salary is shaped by retention pressure. A bank with 18 percent turnover still needs hiring pipelines, training capacity, and internal movement, even when it reports engagement strength. It also needs to replace employees leaving service roles, branch roles, or operations roles.
The 2025 Form 10-K also said more than 1,500 employees participated in the company’s annual calibration process, a 9-box talent assessment used for succession and career planning. That suggests structured talent review, but it does not guarantee a raise or promotion.
A fair read: FirstMerchants has the systems of a mature regional bank, and the pay upside still depends on role movement.
Data limits
BLS reports occupation averages, not company-specific payroll. Glassdoor is self-reported and can shift as new salary submissions are added. SEC filings are authoritative for company headcount, benefit-plan language, and proxy compensation, but they do not publish a full wage table by job title. Public benefits pages do not show employee healthcare cost, PTO accrual rates, or full eligibility rules.
Data reflects BLS May 2024 wages, 2025 SEC reporting, 2026 proxy disclosure, and Glassdoor pages visible in June 2026. Hiring markets in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio may differ by city, branch staffing needs, acquisition activity, and interest-rate conditions.
FAQ
What does FirstMerchants pay?
There is no single reliable FirstMerchants pay number. Glassdoor’s 2026 First Merchants page reported a range from $39,108 for a Service Associate to $174,116 for a Vice President, based on 452 submitted salaries.
What does BLS say comparable bank jobs pay?
BLS May 2024 data reported a $39,340 median annual wage for tellers, $48,650 for financial clerks, and $74,180 for loan officers.
What does a First Merchants Service Associate make?
Glassdoor’s 2026 First Merchants salary page reported $39,108 for a Service Associate. That is self-reported data, not an official company wage scale.
What does a First Merchants Credit Analyst make?
Glassdoor job and salary pages reported First Merchants Credit Analyst figures around $61,803 to $66,797 depending on page and title grouping. Those figures are self-reported and may shift with new submissions.
Is the $62,811 median employee compensation a normal salary?
No. The First Merchants Corporation 2026 Proxy Statement reported $62,811 as median employee total compensation under SEC pay-ratio rules. It is not a teller-specific or entry-level wage.
Does First Merchants offer a 401(k) match?
Yes. A First Merchants Retirement Income and Savings Plan filing described the employer match as up to 4.5 percent of eligible compensation.
Which FirstMerchants roles have better pay upside?
The public data points toward better upside in credit, lending, treasury, wealth, risk, technology, management, and corporate roles than in routine teller-style work. That reading comes from BLS wage gaps and Glassdoor role estimates.
What is the cleanest pay takeaway?
FirstMerchants pay is role-dependent. Service work sits near teller benchmarks, personal banking and credit move higher, lending and management widen the range, and SEC proxy pay should be read as company-wide disclosure rather than a job-level salary.