Civil Engineers in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,844
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$26,636
26.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,048
Minnesota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Minnesota — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$101,480
Kept after tax
$74,844
Worth in national money
$76,048
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Minnesota is one of the better-paying states for civil engineers. The middle earner takes $101,480, which ranks 15 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 0.63% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Minnesota. It ranks 73 out of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $101,480 the take-home is $74,844, which is worth about $76,048 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $107,500, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Minnesota ranks 15 of 51 states publishing a median for civil engineers, at $101,480 — about 0.63% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Minnesota, civil engineers ranks 73 of 490 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Minnesota's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for civil engineers on its $101,480 median: $74,844 retained after tax becomes $76,048 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $107,500 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Civil Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $159,230 |
| This salary | $101,480 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Minnesota | $74,844 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,221 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,506 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $93,836 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,986 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Minnesota earn less than $101,480. The published range is $65,840 up to $159,230, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $74,844 take-home in Minnesota comes from $101,480. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 73 of 490.
- One number stands for prices across all of Minnesota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $76,048, the adjusted value of that $101,480 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 73 of 490 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for civil engineers in Minnesota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $65,840 to $159,230. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $74,844, from $101,480, assumes a single Minnesota filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 73 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Minnesota, so $76,048 — the adjusted value of that $101,480 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 73 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $107,500, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $65,840, the highest tenth $159,230, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $76,048.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Minnesota's own levy, $74,844 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Minnesota is $107,500. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($65,840) and the ninetieth ($159,230) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Minnesota's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $76,048 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $74,844 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Minnesota income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.