Conservation Scientists in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,652
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$15,628
21.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,547
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
$71,280
Kept after tax
$55,652
Worth in national money
$56,547
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Minnesota sits in the middle of the pack for conservation scientists. The median is $71,280, ranking 29 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Minnesota, this sits in the middle: 218 of 490 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $71,280 the take-home is $55,652, which is worth about $56,547 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $74,570, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Minnesota occupies the middle band for conservation scientists: a median of $71,280, ranking 29 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Conservation scientists ranks 218 of 490 occupations in Minnesota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Minnesota's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for conservation scientists on its $71,280 median: $55,652 retained after tax becomes $56,547 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $74,570 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Conservation Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,330 |
| This salary | $71,280 |
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 | $55,652 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,975 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,143 |
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 | $66,556 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,605 |
| 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 $71,280. The published range is $45,740 up to $106,330, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $55,652 take-home in Minnesota comes from $71,280. 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 218 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,547 uses one figure for the whole of Minnesota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 490 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 218.
- Reported values are medians; for conservation scientists in Minnesota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,740 to $106,330. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $55,652, from $71,280, 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 218 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,547, worked from $71,280, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Minnesota address, on work sitting at 218 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $74,570 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $45,740, the highest tenth $106,330, 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 $56,547.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Minnesota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $55,652 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $74,570. 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 ($45,740) and the ninetieth ($106,330) 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 $56,547 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 $55,652 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.