Photographers in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,851
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$8,619
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,460
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
$46,470
Kept after tax
$37,851
Worth in national money
$38,460
State rank
15
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Minnesota is one of the better-paying states for photographers. The middle earner takes $46,470, which ranks 15 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 4.05% above the national middle.
- Against 490 occupations Minnesota publishes, photographers lands at 400. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $46,470, tax leaves $37,851, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $38,460 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $56,220, since top earners drag the number up.
- Minnesota ranks 15 of 49 states publishing a median for photographers, at $46,470 — about 4.05% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Minnesota, this work ranks 400 of 490 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Minnesota sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for photographers — median $46,470 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $37,851 retained, $38,460 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $56,220 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Photographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,530 |
| This salary | $46,470 |
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 | $37,851 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,519 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,208 |
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 | $44,395 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,670 |
| 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 photographers in Minnesota earn under $46,470 and half over. The published range runs $36,890 at the tenth percentile to $84,530 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Minnesota the take-home figure of $37,851, from $46,470, 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 400 of 490 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,460 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 400.
- Figures are distribution medians for photographers in Minnesota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,890 to $84,530; 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.
- Take-home for Minnesota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,851 from $46,470. 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 400 of 490 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,460, worked from $46,470, 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 400 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $56,220, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,890 at the bottom tenth to $84,530 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $38,460.
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 $37,851.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 $56,220. 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 ($36,890) and the ninetieth ($84,530) 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 $38,460 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 $37,851 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.