Firefighters in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,581
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$6,529
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,089
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
$38,110
Kept after tax
$31,581
Worth in national money
$32,089
State rank
45
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Minnesota is among the lower-paying states for firefighters. The middle earner takes $38,110, ranking 45 of 50 states — about 35.71% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Minnesota, this one sits low: 454 of 490 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $38,110 the take-home is $31,581, which is worth about $32,089 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $45,170, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Minnesota ranks 45 of 50 for firefighters, with a median of $38,110 — about 35.71% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Firefighters occupies position 454 of 490 in Minnesota's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Minnesota's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for firefighters on its $38,110 median: $31,581 retained after tax becomes $32,089 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $45,170 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Firefighters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,380 |
| This salary | $38,110 |
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 | $31,581 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,801 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,666 |
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 | $36,591 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,015 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of firefighters in Minnesota earn under $38,110 and half over. The published range runs $27,510 at the tenth percentile to $70,380 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $31,581 take-home in Minnesota comes from $38,110. 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 454 of 490.
- One number stands for prices across all of Minnesota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $32,089, the adjusted value of that $38,110 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 454 of 490 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for firefighters in Minnesota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,510 to $70,380; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $31,581, from $38,110, 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 454 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 45 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Minnesota, so $32,089 — the adjusted value of that $38,110 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 454 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 $45,170, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $27,510 at the bottom tenth to $70,380 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $32,089 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, $31,581 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $45,170. 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 ($27,510) and the ninetieth ($70,380) 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 $32,089 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 $31,581 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.