Mechanical Engineers in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,357
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$25,783
26.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,537
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
$99,140
Kept after tax
$73,357
Worth in national money
$74,537
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for mechanical engineers is on the low side in Minnesota. The middle earner gets $99,140. That is 37 of 51 states, and about 4.77% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within Minnesota this is well-paid work. Of 490 occupations with published figures in the state, mechanical engineers ranks 82 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $99,140, tax leaves $73,357, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $74,537 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $106,060, since top earners drag the number up.
- For mechanical engineers, Minnesota sits in the lower band at $99,140, ranking 37 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 4.77%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation Minnesota publishes a median for, mechanical engineers sits 82 of 490 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Because Minnesota sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for mechanical engineers — median $99,140 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $73,357 retained, $74,537 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $106,060 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $75,870 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $151,580 |
| This salary | $99,140 |
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 | $73,357 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,575 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,322 |
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 | $91,723 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,733 |
| 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 $99,140. The published range is $75,870 up to $151,580, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Minnesota the take-home figure of $73,357, from $99,140, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 82 of 490 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $74,537, the adjusted value of that $99,140 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Minnesota. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 82 of 490 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for mechanical engineers in Minnesota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $75,870 to $151,580. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Minnesota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $73,357 from $99,140. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 82 of 490 locally.
- This $74,537 adjusted figure, worked from $99,140, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 82 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 82 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 $106,060, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $75,870 and the top tenth $151,580 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $74,537 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 $73,357.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $106,060. 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 ($75,870) and the ninetieth ($151,580) 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 $74,537 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 $73,357 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.