Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,961
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$14,659
21.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,829
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
$68,620
Kept after tax
$53,961
Worth in national money
$54,829
State rank
33
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for zoologists and wildlife biologists is on the low side in Minnesota. The middle earner gets $68,620. That is 33 of 47 states, and about 10.63% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Minnesota, this sits in the middle: 223 of 490 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Minnesota costs about what the country costs, so from $68,620, take-home of $53,961 is worth roughly $54,829 in national money. The average comes to $71,910, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For zoologists and wildlife biologists, Minnesota sits in the lower band at $68,620, ranking 33 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 10.63%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Zoologists and wildlife biologists ranks 223 of 490 occupations in Minnesota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Minnesota is near the national base, so for zoologists and wildlife biologists, whose median is $68,620, the adjusted figure of $54,829 differs little from $53,961 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $71,910 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $68,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,210 |
| This salary | $68,620 |
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 | $53,961 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $57,104 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,935 |
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 | $64,445 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,023 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $68,620 as a midpoint for Minnesota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,630 and the ninetieth is $101,210 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $53,961 take-home in Minnesota comes from $68,620. 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 223 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,829 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 223.
- The Minnesota median of $68,620 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,630 to $101,210. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $53,961, from $68,620, 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 223 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,829, worked from $68,620, 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 223 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 $71,910, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $45,630, the highest tenth $101,210, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $54,829 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, $53,961 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $71,910. 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 ($45,630) and the ninetieth ($101,210) 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 $54,829 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 $53,961 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.