Average salary in Minneapolis in 2026, and what actually counts as good
A typical job in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro pays $59,320 a year, according to the BLS. Here is what six common jobs pay in the Twin Cities, what puts you in the top quarter and the top 10%, and what those salaries leave after taxes, a 401(k) and rent.
Michael Vavilov
Product leader with a track record of launching AI-driven HR and talent platforms that scale rapidly, boost user acquisition, and create measurable operational efficiencies.
A typical job in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro pays $59,320 a year before tax. $90,120 puts you in the top quarter, and $131,060 in the top 10%.
Those figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, the latest release. They cover jobs located anywhere in the metro, from downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul to Bloomington, Plymouth, Woodbury and the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix. For context, the national median for all jobs is $50,980, so the Twin Cities typical salary is about 16% higher.
A metro-wide number mixes every job together. So we start with what specific jobs pay here, then show where any salary sits on the Twin Cities scale and what it leaves you with once taxes, a 401(k) and rent are paid.
What six common jobs pay in Minneapolis
We ran six realistic resumes through PayScope's market value model with the location set to Minneapolis. Each belongs to a fictional professional with nine to twelve years of experience, at senior level, in a role the Twin Cities economy hires for in large numbers: hospitals, retail headquarters, medical devices, consumer goods and manufacturing. PayScope reads the skills and experience in a resume and compares them with people and job openings in the area, so the ranges below describe what the market pays for that kind of profile in Minneapolis right now.
| Role (senior level) | Bottom 25% | Median | Top 25% | Top 10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supply chain manager | $138K | $155K | $175K | $198K |
| Software engineer | $135K | $152K | $172K | $195K |
| Project manager, medical devices | $135K | $152K | $170K | $190K |
| Marketing manager | $125K | $140K | $158K | $175K |
| Financial analyst, FP&A | $90K | $100K | $112K | $125K |
| Registered nurse, charge nurse | $86K | $97K | $109K | $122K |
Source: PayScope market value model, one resume per role, senior level, location Minneapolis, MN, run on October 21, 2026. Figures in thousands, as the model displays them.
The spread inside each role is the part worth looking at. A senior software engineer in the bottom quarter earns about $37,000 less than one in the top quarter, for what is nominally the same job, and most of that gap comes from skills: which languages and cloud platforms, which industries, how much of the system they own. Two people with the same title can get quite different ranges for exactly that reason.
The nurse and financial analyst rows are the narrowest, about $22,000 to $23,000 between the bottom and top quarter. In supply chain, software and project management the range is much wider, so your skills and your employer decide more of your number. These are senior roles, which is why all six medians sit well above the metro's typical $59,320. Earlier in a career, pay for the same jobs is lower.
How pay is spread across the Twin Cities
The BLS surveys employers about what they pay and estimates the pay level at each point of the scale, from the lowest-paid tenth of jobs in the metro to the highest. Find your own salary in the table to see where you sit among everyone working here, whatever their job.
| Where you sit | Twin Cities | United States | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $34,940 | $31,200 | 9 in 10 jobs pay more |
| Bottom 25% | $41,830 | $37,590 | 3 in 4 jobs pay more |
| Median (typical) | $59,320 | $50,980 | Half pay more, half pay less |
| Top 25% (good) | $90,120 | $80,520 | You out-earn 3 in 4 jobs |
| Top 10% | $131,060 | $128,560 | You out-earn 9 in 10 jobs |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, all occupations. The metro has 1,951,650 jobs in the survey. The average (mean) is $74,580, pulled up by the highest earners, which is why we use the median as "typical".
Two things to know about these figures. They count jobs by where they are, not where people live, and they cover employees only, so the self-employed are left out. The BLS also converts hourly pay to an annual figure at 2,080 hours, a full-time year, so a part-time job shows up at its full-time rate. If you count only people who actually worked full time all year and live in the metro, the Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2024 puts the median at $72,212. That is a different group measured a different way, and it explains part of why Google shows you several "average salaries" for Minneapolis, from about $65,000 on salary sites to $85,000 on others.
What counts as good once taxes and rent come out
A salary is only good if it covers a life here, so we worked out take-home pay for a single person in Minnesota at each point of the scale. The calculation uses 2026 federal and Minnesota income tax brackets and standard deductions, Social Security and Medicare, the new Minnesota Paid Leave deduction (0.44% of pay, the most an employer can pass on), and a 5% pre-tax 401(k) contribution. That 5% is our assumption, not a rule: contribute nothing and the typical salary takes home about $200 a month more today. We did not deduct health insurance premiums, which vary too much by employer to model, so your real take-home will usually be somewhat lower.
For rent we use HUD's Fair Market Rents for 2026 for the metro: $1,405 a month for a one-bedroom and $1,709 for a two-bedroom, including utilities. HUD sets these at the 40th percentile of what recent movers pay, so they describe a decent but ordinary apartment, not a new downtown building.
| Salary | Where it sits | Take-home per month | One-bedroom ($1,405) as share of take-home |
|---|---|---|---|
| $41,830 | Bottom 25% | $2,705 | 52% |
| $59,320 | Median | $3,722 | 38% |
| $75,000 | Above median | $4,585 | 31% |
| $90,120 | Top 25% | $5,335 | 26% |
| $100,000 | Top 25% | $5,825 | 24% |
| $131,060 | Top 10% | $7,362 | 19% |
Source: PayScope calculation with 2026 IRS and Minnesota Department of Revenue brackets, FICA, Minnesota Paid Leave at 0.44% and a 5% 401(k); rent from HUD FY2026 Fair Market Rents. Health insurance and other payroll deductions not included.
If you rent on your own on the typical $59,320, a one-bedroom takes 38% of what reaches your account and leaves about $2,300 a month for everything else. It works, but there is not much room. Measured against gross pay, the usual 30% rule of thumb, the same rent is only 28%, which is why the rule can make a median salary look more comfortable than it feels. Rent falls under 30% of take-home at about $77,000, and at the top-quarter line of $90,120 it takes 26% and leaves about $3,900. That is where living alone in the Twin Cities starts to feel easy.
A couple who both earn the typical metro salary and file jointly take home about $7,400 a month between them. A two-bedroom at $1,709 takes 23% of that and leaves around $5,700. If one partner earns at the bottom-quarter line instead, the same apartment takes 27% of joint take-home.
So a practical answer: for one person renting alone, "good" in Minneapolis starts at around $77,000. For a household with two incomes, two typical salaries already clear the 30% rule with room to spare.
St. Paul and the suburbs
The BLS does not split its figures below the metro, but the Census Bureau's survey of residents does. Among people who worked full time all year in 2024, here is the median by the city they live in.
| City | Median | Margin of error |
|---|---|---|
| Maple Grove | $89,542 | ±$7,998 |
| Plymouth | $89,070 | ±$11,485 |
| Woodbury | $81,623 | ±$5,488 |
| Eagan | $80,396 | ±$3,821 |
| Metro as a whole | $72,212 | ±$684 |
| Bloomington | $71,954 | ±$4,632 |
| Minneapolis | $71,813 | ±$2,033 |
| Blaine | $70,869 | ±$5,040 |
| St. Paul | $60,669 | ±$2,521 |
| Brooklyn Park | $60,325 | ±$5,273 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, table S2001, in 2024 dollars. Eden Prairie and other cities under 65,000 people are not included in the 1-year release.
St. Paul residents who work full time earn about $11,000 less at the median than Minneapolis residents, a gap well outside the margin of error. That says more about who lives in each city than about what employers in St. Paul pay, since many people cross the river to work. The western and eastern suburbs sit highest, though the margins there are wide enough that Maple Grove, Plymouth, Woodbury and Eagan are best read as one group, about $80,000 to $90,000.
Why your number may differ from the average
The metro median tells you where the middle of the whole job market sits. It says very little about what you should be paid.
Your role sets the range: the senior nurse and senior supply chain manager medians above are more than $55,000 apart. Your level moves you within it. Both matter far more than the $8,340 gap between the Twin Cities median and the national one. Then your specific skills decide whether you sit in the bottom or top quarter of your own role, which for the senior software engineer is the difference between $135,000 and $172,000.
The useful comparison is with people doing your job, at your level, in this metro. Upload your resume to PayScope and you get that comparison: a Minneapolis range for your profile and where your current pay sits inside it.
FAQ
Is $80,000 a good salary in Minneapolis?
Yes. $80,000 is about $20,700 above the metro's typical salary of $59,320 and a little under the top-quarter line of $90,120 (BLS, May 2025). For a single person in Minnesota it takes home about $4,830 a month after federal and state income tax, FICA, the paid leave deduction and a 5% 401(k), and a typical one-bedroom at $1,405 takes 29% of that.
What salary puts you in the top 10% in Minneapolis?
About $131,060 a year for jobs in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro, according to the BLS May 2025 survey. The national top-10% line is close, at $128,560, so the Twin Cities premium shrinks at the top of the scale.
How much is the typical Minneapolis salary per month after taxes?
About $3,720 a month. That is the typical $59,320 after 2026 federal and Minnesota income tax, Social Security and Medicare, the Minnesota Paid Leave deduction and a 5% 401(k) contribution, before health insurance premiums. Without the 401(k) it is about $3,920.
What percent of people in the Twin Cities make over $100,000?
Among full-time, year-round workers living in the metro, 30.6% earned $100,000 or more in 2024 (441,159 of 1,440,931), according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Counted by jobs instead, the BLS puts $100,000 inside the top quarter of the metro's pay scale.
Why do different websites give different average salaries for Minneapolis?
They measure different things. Some use the median and some the mean, some count jobs in the metro and others people who live in the city, some include only full-time workers, and some use their own user-submitted data. For jobs in the metro in May 2025, the BLS median is $59,320 and the mean is $74,580. For full-time, year-round workers living in the metro in 2024, the Census median is $72,212.
Is the cost of living in Minneapolis high?
Rent is moderate for a large metro. HUD's 2026 Fair Market Rent is $1,405 for a one-bedroom, which takes 38% of take-home pay on the typical salary and 26% at the top-quarter line. Two typical incomes cover a two-bedroom with about 23% of joint take-home.
