Operations Research Analysts in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,075
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$24,475
25.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$72,219
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
$95,550
Kept after tax
$71,075
Worth in national money
$72,219
State rank
19
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Minnesota pays operations research analysts around $95,550 at the midpoint, 19 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Minnesota this is well-paid work. Of 490 occupations with published figures in the state, operations research analysts ranks 94 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $95,550, tax leaves $71,075, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $72,219 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $99,230, since top earners drag the number up.
- For operations research analysts the Minnesota median is $95,550, ranking 19 of 47 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Minnesota publishes a median for, operations research analysts sits 94 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 operations research analysts — median $95,550 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $71,075 retained, $72,219 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $99,230 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Operations Research Analysts
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $95,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $133,170 |
| This salary | $95,550 |
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 | $71,075 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $76,049 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,042 |
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 | $88,480 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,345 |
| 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 $95,550. The published range is $60,350 up to $133,170, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $71,075 take-home in Minnesota comes from $95,550. 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 94 of 490.
- One number stands for prices across all of Minnesota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $72,219, the adjusted value of that $95,550 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 94 of 490 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for operations research analysts in Minnesota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $60,350 to $133,170. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $71,075, from $95,550, 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 94 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 19 of 47 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Minnesota, so $72,219 — the adjusted value of that $95,550 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 94 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 $99,230 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $60,350 and the top tenth $133,170 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $72,219.
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 $71,075.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $99,230. 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 ($60,350) and the ninetieth ($133,170) 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 $72,219 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 $71,075 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.