Fast Food and Counter Workers in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,526
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$4,844
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,953
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
$31,370
Kept after tax
$26,526
Worth in national money
$26,953
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Minnesota is 20 of 51 states for fast food and counter workers, with a middle wage of $31,370. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Minnesota this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, fast food and counter workers ranks 485. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Minnesota costs about what the country costs, so from $31,370, take-home of $26,526 is worth roughly $26,953 in national money. The average comes to $32,450, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Minnesota ranks 20 of 51 for fast food and counter workers at $31,370. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Minnesota reports, fast food and counter workers ranks 485 of 490, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Minnesota is near the national base, so for fast food and counter workers, whose median is $31,370, the adjusted figure of $26,953 differs little from $26,526 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $32,450 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $37,140 |
| This salary | $31,370 |
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 | $26,526 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,386 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,229 |
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 | $30,300 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,487 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $31,370 as a midpoint for Minnesota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,190 and the ninetieth is $37,140 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $26,526 take-home in Minnesota comes from $31,370. 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 485 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $26,953 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 485.
- The Minnesota median of $31,370 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,190 to $37,140. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $26,526, from $31,370, 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 485 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $26,953, worked from $31,370, 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 485 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 $32,450 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $28,190 at the tenth percentile, $37,140 at the ninetieth.
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 $26,953 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Minnesota then takes its own share, leaving $26,526.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $32,450. 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 ($28,190 to $37,140) 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 $26,953 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 $26,526 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.