Slaughterers and Meat Packers in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,519
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$7,841
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,090
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
$43,360
Kept after tax
$35,519
Worth in national money
$36,090
State rank
18
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Minnesota sits in the middle of the pack for slaughterers and meat packers. The median is $43,360, ranking 18 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Minnesota, this one sits low: 432 of 490 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $43,360 the take-home is $35,519, which is worth about $36,090 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $41,950, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Minnesota occupies the middle band for slaughterers and meat packers: a median of $43,360, ranking 18 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Slaughterers and meat packers occupies position 432 of 490 in Minnesota's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Minnesota's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for slaughterers and meat packers on its $43,360 median: $35,519 retained after tax becomes $36,090 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $41,950 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Slaughterers and Meat Packers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,030 |
| This salary | $43,360 |
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 | $35,519 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,020 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,006 |
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 | $41,492 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,426 |
| 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 slaughterers and meat packers in Minnesota earn under $43,360 and half over. The published range runs $37,710 at the tenth percentile to $44,030 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $35,519 take-home in Minnesota comes from $43,360. 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 432 of 490.
- Two cautions on $36,090, the adjusted value of that $43,360 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 432 of 490 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for slaughterers and meat packers in Minnesota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,710 to $44,030; 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.
- Retained pay of $35,519, from $43,360, 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 432 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 47 for it.
- This $36,090 adjusted figure, worked from $43,360, 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 432 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 432 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 $41,950, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,710 and the top tenth $44,030, so most people doing this work in Minnesota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $36,090 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, $35,519 remains.
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 $41,950. 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 ($37,710 to $44,030) 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 $36,090 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 $35,519 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.