How much does a Police Officer make in Minnesota?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $83,310 for Police Officers in Minnesota as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $73,600 and the 75th-percentile is $98,850.

What is the real (cost-adjusted) Police Officer salary in Minnesota?

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 98.3 for Minnesota), the real-wage equivalent is $84,749 — what the $83,310 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $74,871 to $100,557.

Why is the BEA RPP for Minnesota different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Minnesota's overall index of 98.3 reflects rents 90.7, services 89.4, and goods 102.1.

Where does Minnesota rank for Police Officer pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Minnesota ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

Is Minnesota a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Police Officers?

No — Minnesota's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Is pension included in BLS police officer pay for Minnesota?

No — BLS OEWS measures W-2 wage and salary income only. The defined-benefit pension is the single largest piece of police compensation and BLS never captures it. Minnesota police pension formulas typically pay 50-75% of final-3-year average salary after 20-25 years of service, with most plans allowing retirement at 50-55. Including pension's actuarial present value, total police compensation in Minnesota runs 30-50% above the BLS-reported figure.

Police Officer Pay in Minnesota: $83K Median + Purchasing Power (2026)

TL;DR

$83,310 is the BLS median wage for Police Officers in Minnesota; $84,749 is the BEA-adjusted purchasing-power equivalent.
Quartile range $73,600 (bottom 25%) to $98,850 (top 25%); the P10-P90 envelope is $60,390 to $104,800.
Cost adjustment is small — neither an arbitrage state nor a high-cost penalty.
On a real-wage basis, this state sits at #9 of 51; nominal rank is #12.

Wage breakdown — Minnesota

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$60,390	$61,433
P25 (lower quartile)	$73,600	$74,871
P50 (median)	$83,310	$84,749
P75 (upper quartile)	$98,850	$100,557
P90 (top tier)	$104,800	$106,610
Mean	$84,220	$85,675
Employment	8,920 Police Officers in Minnesota

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Minnesota index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	98.3
Goods	102.1
Services	89.4
Rents	90.7

Minnesota's overall RPP (98.3) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Minnesota (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Police Officer)	$83,310	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$9,575	11.5% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$4,214	5.35–9.85% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$6,373	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$63,147	75.8% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$64,238	÷ (98.3 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Minnesota state-tax burden means for Police Officer take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 5.1% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $63,147 (75.8% of gross). After the 98.3 RPP, real take-home is $64,238.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $76,290 for Police Officers with mean pay of $79,320 and total employment of 666,990. Minnesota sits at #12 on nominal pay and #9 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Minnesota climbs 3 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Police Officer make in Minnesota?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $83,310 for Police Officers in Minnesota as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $73,600 and the 75th-percentile is $98,850.
What is the real (cost-adjusted) Police Officer salary in Minnesota?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 98.3 for Minnesota), the real-wage equivalent is $84,749 — what the $83,310 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $74,871 to $100,557.
Why is the BEA RPP for Minnesota different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Minnesota's overall index of 98.3 reflects rents 90.7, services 89.4, and goods 102.1.
Where does Minnesota rank for Police Officer pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Minnesota ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
Is Minnesota a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Police Officers?: No — Minnesota's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
Is pension included in BLS police officer pay for Minnesota?: No — BLS OEWS measures W-2 wage and salary income only. The defined-benefit pension is the single largest piece of police compensation and BLS never captures it. Minnesota police pension formulas typically pay 50-75% of final-3-year average salary after 20-25 years of service, with most plans allowing retirement at 50-55. Including pension's actuarial present value, total police compensation in Minnesota runs 30-50% above the BLS-reported figure.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 33-3051, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Minnesota Police Officer pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.