Private Detectives and Investigators in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,274
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$11,606
20.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,018
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
$57,880
Kept after tax
$46,274
Worth in national money
$47,018
State rank
12
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Minnesota pays this job a middle wage of $57,880, ranking 12 of 49 states and sitting about 13% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 305 among 490 occupations Minnesota publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Minnesota costs about what the country costs, so from $57,880, take-home of $46,274 is worth roughly $47,018 in national money. The average comes to $66,510, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Minnesota's median for private detectives and investigators is $57,880, about 13% above the national figure and 12 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 305 of 490 in Minnesota places private detectives and investigators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Minnesota is near the national base, so for private detectives and investigators, whose median is $57,880, the adjusted figure of $47,018 differs little from $46,274 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $66,510 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Private Detectives and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,360 |
| This salary | $57,880 |
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 | $46,274 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,687 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,084 |
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 | $54,878 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,729 |
| 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 private detectives and investigators in Minnesota earn under $57,880 and half over. The published range runs $40,520 at the tenth percentile to $101,360 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 $46,274, worked from $57,880. 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 305 of 490.
- One number stands for prices across all of Minnesota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,018, the adjusted value of that $57,880 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 305 of 490 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for private detectives and investigators in Minnesota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,520 to $101,360; 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 $46,274, on $57,880 for work ranking 305 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 305 of 490 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Minnesota, so $47,018 — the adjusted value of that $57,880 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 305 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 $66,510, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $40,520 at the bottom tenth to $101,360 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 $47,018.
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, $46,274 remains.
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 $66,510. 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 ($40,520) and the ninetieth ($101,360) 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 $47,018 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 $46,274 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.