Pharmacists in Minnesota

A stethoscope and folded scrubs in a sunlit clinical workspace.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$110,742

after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax

Tax takes

$48,998

30.7% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$112,523

Minnesota costs less than average

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

$159,740

Kept after tax

$110,742

Worth in national money

$112,523

State rank

6

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • This is a good state for the work. Minnesota pays pharmacists a middle wage of $159,740, ranking 6 of 51 states and sitting about 13.36% above the national middle.
  • Locally, this pays well. Among 490 occupations Minnesota reports, pharmacists comes in at 12 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
  • Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $159,740 the take-home is $110,742, which is worth about $112,523 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $147,060, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
  • Minnesota's median for pharmacists is $159,740, about 13.36% above the national figure and 6 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
  • Pharmacists ranks 12 of 490 occupations by median in Minnesota, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
  • Minnesota's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for pharmacists on its $159,740 median: $110,742 retained after tax becomes $112,523 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $147,060 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Pharmacists

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$98,150
Half earn under$159,740
Top tenth earn over$174,660
This salary$159,740

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

Compare with
+$9,707take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Minnesota$110,742
Take-home in Texas$120,448
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity+$11,427

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

Moving to
$0now · $159,740$143,494
$143,494in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$145,539
You could take a cut of−$16,246
Prices in Texas97 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 $159,740. The published range is $98,150 up to $174,660, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • That $110,742 take-home in Minnesota comes from $159,740. 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 12 of 490.
  • One number stands for prices across all of Minnesota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $112,523, the adjusted value of that $159,740 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 12 of 490 in the state.
  • Reported values are medians; for pharmacists in Minnesota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $98,150 to $174,660. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • Retained pay of $110,742, from $159,740, 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 12 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 51 for it.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Minnesota, so $112,523 — the adjusted value of that $159,740 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 12 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 $147,060, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $98,150 at the tenth percentile, $174,660 at the ninetieth.

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 $112,523 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, $110,742 remains.

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 $147,060. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($98,150 to $174,660) 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 $112,523 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 $110,742 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.