Computer Programmers in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,511
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$28,739
26.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$79,774
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
$107,250
Kept after tax
$78,511
Worth in national money
$79,774
State rank
9
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Minnesota pays computer programmers a middle wage of $107,250, ranking 9 of 46 states and sitting about 6.83% above the national middle.
- Within Minnesota this is well-paid work. Of 490 occupations with published figures in the state, computer programmers ranks 48 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $107,250 the take-home is $78,511, which is worth about $79,774 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $100,530, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Minnesota's median for computer programmers is $107,250, about 6.83% above the national figure and 9 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Ranked against every occupation Minnesota publishes a median for, computer programmers sits 48 of 490 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Minnesota's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for computer programmers on its $107,250 median: $78,511 retained after tax becomes $79,774 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $100,530 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Computer Programmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $107,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,300 |
| This salary | $107,250 |
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 | $78,511 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $84,280 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,957 |
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 | $99,049 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,610 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $107,250 as a midpoint for Minnesota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $52,740 and the ninetieth is $125,300 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Minnesota's $78,511, worked from $107,250. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 48 of 490.
- One number stands for prices across all of Minnesota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $79,774, the adjusted value of that $107,250 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 48 of 490 in the state.
- The Minnesota median of $107,250 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $52,740 to $125,300. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Minnesota take-home of $78,511, on $107,250 for work ranking 48 of 490 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 48 of 490 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Minnesota, so $79,774 — the adjusted value of that $107,250 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 48 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $100,530, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $52,740 and the top tenth $125,300, so most people doing this work in Minnesota sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Minnesota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $79,774 in national terms.
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, $78,511 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $100,530. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($52,740 to $125,300) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Minnesota rather than a national figure.
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 $79,774 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 $78,511 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.