Minnesota by the numbers
In Minnesota, the median worker earns $53,810 a year, the typical home is worth $305,500 and carries $3,184 of property tax, and the average household pays $119 a month for electricity at 16.95¢ per kilowatt-hour.
Midwest MISO Regulated monopoly
Energy
Minnesota generates a large share of its electricity from wind, which has low marginal cost and has helped hold energy prices down. Working against that are three things: a long, cold heating season that drives high winter peaks, a big rural distribution footprint, and continuing capital spending on the state's two nuclear plants, which have been relicensed and upgraded rather than retired.
The state's clean-energy law requires carbon-free electricity by 2040, and the utilities' compliance plans front-load transmission and storage investment. Transmission in particular is expensive in Minnesota because the wind resource is in the west and the load is in the Twin Cities.
Averaged across the twelve months to May 2026, Minnesota households used 737 kilowatt-hours a month and paid $119. At the state median wage that is about 4.6 hours of work a month to keep the lights on. For heating, gas is still cheaper to run than a heat pump here, by about $5.15 per million BTU.
Work and pay
The median Minnesota worker earned $53,810 in 2024, 8.7% above the national median. What distinguishes a state's labour market is rarely its biggest occupations, which are retail and food service everywhere, but what it has disproportionately.
| Occupation | Concentration | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Gambling Service Workers, All Other | 10.16× | $29,450 |
| Social Workers, All Other | 5.89× | $79,220 |
| Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians | 3.91× | $66,260 |
| Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors | 3.27× | $68,730 |
| Prepress Technicians and Workers | 3.08× | $45,520 |
Property tax
The median Minnesota homeowner pays $3,184 a year on a home worth $305,500, an effective rate of 1.04% against a national 0.98%. Nobody sets that rate. It is what falls out of county, city, school district and special district levies applied to an assessed value, so the state figure is a weighted average of 83 counties rather than a posted number.
Cost of living
Prices in Minnesota run at 98.6 where the national average is 100, ranking it #22 of 51. Goods sit at 100.5, which is close to national almost everywhere because most goods are shipped and priced nationally. Rents sit at 91.3, and that is where states actually separate from one another. A median wage of $53,810 therefore buys what $54,574 buys nationally.
Metro areas priced separately: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington (104.8) , La Crosse-Onalaska (91.8) , Mankato (91.0) , Fargo (90.9) , Rochester (90.8) .
Housing
House prices in Minnesota rose 2.4% over the year to 2026 Q2, against a median across all states of +2.7%. Over ten years the index is +78.1%. Prices are at or near their record level.
Metro areas tracked here: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington (+2.2%) .
Who supplies the power
44 utilities report residential service in Minnesota, together serving 2.3 million customers. Regulated monopoly.
Minnesota: common questions
What does it cost to live in Minnesota?
Prices overall run at 98.6 against a national average of 100, with rents at 91.3. The typical home is worth $305,500 and carries $3,184 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.04% against a national 0.98%. Electricity averages $119 a month at 16.95¢ per kilowatt-hour. Against that, the median wage is $53,810.
What is the property tax rate in Minnesota?
The effective rate is 1.04% of home value, from a median bill of $3,184. It is set locally rather than by the state, so the figure is a weighted outcome across 83 counties. County by county rates.
Does a salary go further in Minnesota?
The median wage of $53,810 buys what $54,574 buys nationally, once local prices are taken out. A state paying above the national median while charging above it for housing can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows which side of that line Minnesota falls on.
Is Minnesota expensive for electricity?
It ranks #22 of 51 jurisdictions on price at 16.95¢ per kilowatt-hour, -8.1% against the U.S. average. On the actual bill it ranks 44 of 51, because households there use 737 kWh a month against a national 871.
What is the median salary in Minnesota?
$53,810 across all occupations, about $25.87 an hour, covering 2,920,470 wage and salary workers as of 2024.
Who supplies electricity in Minnesota?
44 utilities report residential service, the largest being Northern States Power Co - Minnesota with 1.2 million customers. Regulated monopoly.
Electricity May 2026, gas 2024, utilities 2024, wages 2024. All figures from federal statistical agencies. Methodology · Sources