A polishing pad having a wear level indicator and a polishing system employing the same is provided. A polishing pad, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, includes a pad structure and an indicator, disposed in the pad structure, indicating the wear level of the pad structure. The pad structure may, for example, include a top pad and a bottom pad with the indicator being disposed in the top pad. The wear level may, for example, be a critical thickness of the polishing pad which indicates the end of the pad lifetime or which indicates the need to change polishing processing. The use of a wear level indicator allows for efficient and reliable pad wear level indication.