Data Analyst Jobs and Salaries in Minneapolis-St. Paul (May 2025 BLS Data)
Dan Patiño
· AI Strategy & Innovation at Coderhouse
Minneapolis-St. Paul shows up on most lists of US tech markets, but lists do not tell you whether the local market is deep enough to break into. The BLS counts about 3,250 data scientist roles in this metro, paying a median of $129,780, with the bottom decile at $71,990 and a location quotient of 0.99. Everything below comes from the BLS OEWS May 2025 release.
Median salary
$129,780
Entry level (10th pct)
$71,990
Concentration (LQ)
0.99
How big is the data job market in Minneapolis-St. Paul?
Roughly 3,250 people work in this occupation across the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI area, placing it 18th among the 25 metros here and accounting for 1.2% of the national total of 275,600. The occupation is projected to grow 35%.
What do data analysts earn in Minneapolis-St. Paul?
Half of data scientists in Minneapolis-St. Paul earn more than $129,780 and half earn less, 8% above the national median. The interquartile range runs $94,750 to $162,950, with the top decile at $195,530. The reported mean, $129,320, is the less useful number here because a handful of very high salaries distort it.
What can you expect to earn starting out in Minneapolis-St. Paul?
BLS does not break wages out by experience, so the closest available proxy for a first job in Minneapolis-St. Paul is the 10th percentile: $71,990, against $67,240 nationally. Anchoring on the median instead sets expectations about $57,790 too high.
Is Minneapolis-St. Paul actually a data hub?
The location quotient for data scientists in Minneapolis-St. Paul is 0.99, meaning the occupation is about as concentrated here as it is nationally. In practice, the market is roughly the size the metro population would predict. This is the number most salary sites leave out, and it is often more decisive than pay: a metro can post a high median while employing very few people in the role, which means strong salaries and a thin job market.
What about AI engineering roles in Minneapolis-St. Paul?
The BLS has no occupation code for AI engineer. The closest published proxy is Software Developers (15-1252), which in Minneapolis-St. Paul employs about 27,410 people at a median of $130,920, 4% below the national median of $135,980. The 10th percentile is $83,020 and the 90th is $170,060. Read it as the surrounding band for applied AI work rather than as a figure for the role itself, since AI engineers are distributed across several codes.
10th percentile
$71,990
25th percentile
$94,750
Median
$129,780
Mean
$129,320
75th percentile
$162,950
90th percentile
$195,530
vs national median
8% above the national median
Software developers · median
$130,920
How to get started from Minneapolis-St. Paul
Location does not constrain the training, only the job search. The Coderhouse Data Analytics course is live online over 11 weeks, $595 at launch price, covering SQL, Python, statistics and experiment design, with a curriculum reviewed by Google, Microsoft and MongoDB. What it does not include is career services, which matters if the Minneapolis-St. Paul market is thin.
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Frequently asked questions
How much do data analysts make in Minneapolis-St. Paul?
The median for the closest BLS occupation, data scientists, is $129,780 a year in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area as of May 2025. The range runs from $71,990 at the 10th percentile to $195,530 at the 90th.
How many data jobs are there in Minneapolis-St. Paul?
About 3,250 positions under SOC 15-2051, which is 0.99 times the national concentration per worker. That ratio tells you whether the market is deep or just large.
Is Minneapolis-St. Paul a good place to start a data career?
On the data: pay is 8% above the national median and the occupation is about as concentrated here as it is nationally. The entry reference point is $71,990. Weigh both together, since a high median in a thin market is harder to break into than a moderate median in a dense one.
What is the entry-level data analyst salary in Minneapolis-St. Paul?
BLS does not publish by experience level. The 10th percentile, $71,990, is the best available proxy for early-career pay, against $67,240 nationally.
Do I need to live in Minneapolis-St. Paul to work in data?
Not necessarily, and remote roles widen the market considerably. These figures measure where the job is located rather than where the worker lives, so a remote role at a Minneapolis-St. Paul employer would still appear in this metro's count.
Where these numbers come from
All figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 release, for the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. BLS does not publish a 'data analyst' occupation; the figures above use Data Scientists (SOC 15-2051), the closest published match, and Software Developers (SOC 15-1252) as the proxy for AI engineering roles. OEWS estimates are built from six semiannual panels collected over three years, so they are stable but lag fast-moving pay changes. Wages cover base pay and exclude equity and bonuses, which understates total compensation at large technology employers.