Librarians and Media Collections Specialists in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,700
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$17,950
23.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,660
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
$77,650
Kept after tax
$59,700
Worth in national money
$60,660
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Minnesota's middle earner gets $77,650, putting the state 13 of 51 — about 13.74% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 177 among 490 occupations Minnesota publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $77,650 the take-home is $59,700, which is worth about $60,660 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $75,800, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For librarians and media collections specialists, Minnesota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $77,650, ranking 13 of 51 and running about 13.74% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 177 of 490 in Minnesota places librarians and media collections specialists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Minnesota's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for librarians and media collections specialists on its $77,650 median: $59,700 retained after tax becomes $60,660 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $75,800 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,990 |
| This salary | $77,650 |
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 | $59,700 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,457 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,641 |
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 | $72,310 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,411 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $77,650 as a midpoint for Minnesota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,040 and the ninetieth is $99,990 — 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 $59,700, worked from $77,650. 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 177 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $60,660 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 177.
- The Minnesota median of $77,650 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,040 to $99,990. 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 $59,700, on $77,650 for work ranking 177 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 177 of 490 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $60,660, worked from $77,650, 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 177 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $48,040 at the tenth percentile, $99,990 at the ninetieth.
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 $60,660.
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 $59,700.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,040 to $99,990) 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 $60,660 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 $59,700 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.