Social Science Research Assistants in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,689
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$8,231
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,279
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
$44,920
Kept after tax
$36,689
Worth in national money
$37,279
State rank
42
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for social science research assistants is on the low side in Minnesota. The middle earner gets $44,920. That is 42 of 45 states, and about 27.54% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 490 occupations Minnesota publishes, social science research assistants lands at 413. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $44,920, tax leaves $36,689, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $37,279 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $48,410, since top earners drag the number up.
- For social science research assistants, Minnesota sits in the lower band at $44,920, ranking 42 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 27.54%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Minnesota, this work ranks 413 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 social science research assistants — median $44,920 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $36,689 retained, $37,279 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $48,410 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Social Science Research Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,070 |
| This salary | $44,920 |
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 | $36,689 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,273 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,107 |
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 | $42,948 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,548 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,920 as a midpoint for Minnesota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,080 and the ninetieth is $68,070 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Minnesota the take-home figure of $36,689, from $44,920, 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 413 of 490 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Minnesota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,279, the adjusted value of that $44,920 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 413 of 490 in the state.
- The Minnesota median of $44,920 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,080 to $68,070. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Minnesota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $36,689 from $44,920. 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 413 of 490 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Minnesota, so $37,279 — the adjusted value of that $44,920 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 413 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 $48,410 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,080 at the tenth percentile, $68,070 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 $37,279 in national terms.
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 $36,689.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 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 $48,410. 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 ($38,080 to $68,070) 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 $37,279 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 $36,689 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.