1. Minnesota's median household income rebounded this year, after five years of decline.

    Median household income in Minnesota stands at $92,300, reflecting a one-year rebound after five years of steady decline. It is too soon to tell whether this change signals a longer-term trend in rising income, but the single-year change points in a hopeful direction.

    The story is different at a national level, where median household income largely held steady between 2019 and 2023, before increasing over the past two years.

  2. Minnesota has the highest median household income in the Midwest. 

    Regionally, Minnesota's median household income is more than $5,000 higher than other states in the Midwest. Illinois comes in second, with a median household income of $86,700.

    Similarly, the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area outranks other large metropolitan areas in the Midwest. Median household income was $102,400 in 2025, more than $8,000 higher than in Chicago, St. Louis, or Detroit.

     

  3. For broad groups of Minnesotans, median household income may not be enough to meet basic needs. 

    Households headed by young adults and American Indian or Black Minnesotans have median incomes that are well below the statewide average.

    • American Indian-headed households: $51,300
    • Young adult-headed households (age 24 and younger): $51,700
    • Black-headed households: $54,400

    For the average Minnesotan living alone or with another adult, these amounts were enough to meet a basic needs budget. According to 2025 cost-of-living estimates, such households would have needed between $38,400 and $55,000 to meet expenses associated with housing, food, transportation, health care, taxes, and other necessities. 

    However, due to the added expense of childcare, Minnesota families with children would have needed upwards of $59,900 to meet a basic needs budget. That amount exceeds median income across American Indian-, Black-, and young adult-headed households.

    Many Minnesota families are resourceful, creative, hardworking, and manage to make ends meet. Other families are equally resourceful, creative, hardworking, and struggle to meet their budget. These are estimates and averages, but we are seeing that average household incomes for broad groups of Minnesotans fall below what it takes to meet average basic needs in the state.

Dig into the data for more on household income.