Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,549
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$7,851
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,120
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
$43,400
Kept after tax
$35,549
Worth in national money
$36,120
State rank
10
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Minnesota's middle earner gets $43,400, putting the state 10 of 50 — about 13.32% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Minnesota this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 430. 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 $43,400, take-home of $35,549 is worth roughly $36,120 in national money. The average lands at $41,980, below the middle of the range.
- For meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers, Minnesota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $43,400, ranking 10 of 50 and running about 13.32% 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.
- Against every occupation Minnesota reports, meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers ranks 430 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 meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers, whose median is $43,400, the adjusted figure of $36,120 differs little from $35,549 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $41,980 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,770 |
| This salary | $43,400 |
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 | $35,549 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,052 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,009 |
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 | $41,529 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,429 |
| 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 meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers in Minnesota earn under $43,400 and half over. The published range runs $36,080 at the tenth percentile to $46,770 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Minnesota's $35,549, worked from $43,400. 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 430 of 490.
- One number stands for prices across all of Minnesota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,120, the adjusted value of that $43,400 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 430 of 490 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers in Minnesota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,080 to $46,770; 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.
- The Minnesota take-home of $35,549, on $43,400 for work ranking 430 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 430 of 490 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Minnesota, so $36,120 — the adjusted value of that $43,400 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 430 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $41,980, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,080 and the top tenth $46,770, so most people doing this work in Minnesota sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Minnesota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $36,120 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $35,549 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 $41,980. 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 ($36,080 to $46,770) 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 $36,120 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 $35,549 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.