Rochester, MN Salaries
Local wages where BEA prices sit below the US average (RPP 90.8) - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Rochester, MN moved from $59,220 in May 2024 to $60,620 in May 2025 (+2.4%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Rochester, MN sits -0.7 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
General and Operations Managers shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Rochester, MN
General and Operations Managers publishes $85,650 here versus $105,770 nationally (-19.0%; 2,020metro-area jobs). Next is Home Health and Personal Care Aides at $39,270 locally versus $35,800 nationally (+9.7%).
- General and Operations Managers$85,650 in Rochester, MN sits 19.0% below the national General and Operations Managers median of $105,770 (2,020 published local jobs).
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides$39,270 in Rochester, MN sits 9.7% above the national Home Health and Personal Care Aides median of $35,800 (4,260 published local jobs).
- Cashiers$34,960 in Rochester, MN sits 6.3% above the national Cashiers median of $32,880 (2,600 published local jobs).
- Registered Nurses$101,660 in Rochester, MN sits 4.2% above the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (6,390 published local jobs).
General and Operations Managers and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Rochester, MN; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 40340 · Rochester, MN $69K mean
MEAN-MEGA · RPP-LOW · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MEGA #51/528
- RPP-LOW 90.8
- OCC-MID 310 occs
- TOP-LEAD Emergency Medi… · $463K
- EMP-MIX Software Dev…
- TREND-INLINE -0.7 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Amherst Town-Nor…
- BOOK-FULL 305 rows · May 2025
Read with Amherst Town-Northampton, MA (+$52 on published-row mean) · Salary vs. cost of living
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Rochester, MN
Where Rochester, MN already employs the upper wage tier
Software Developers and Medical and Health Services Managers lead published employment inside Rochester, MN's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Software Developers 1,840 jobs · $134,450
- 2. Medical and Health Services Managers 760 jobs · $131,110
- 3. Physician Assistants 480 jobs · $137,340
- 4. Pharmacists 440 jobs · $164,250
- 5. Computer and Information Systems Managers 430 jobs · $177,620
- 6. Financial Managers 390 jobs · $158,570
- 7. Administrative Services Managers 340 jobs · $131,130
- 8. Sales Managers 260 jobs · $127,500
- 9. Lawyers 210 jobs · $129,270
- 10. Chief Executives 190 jobs · $194,700
- 11. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products 150 jobs · $160,960
- 12. Emergency Medicine Physicians 140 jobs · $462,850
- 13. Psychiatrists 130 jobs · $341,540
- 14. Marketing Managers 120 jobs · $175,280
- 15. Family Medicine Physicians 110 jobs · $356,770
- 16. Dentists, General 110 jobs · $211,190
- 17. Human Resources Managers 110 jobs · $140,800
- 18. Obstetricians and Gynecologists 100 jobs · $393,340
Occupations Tracked
310
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$69,470
employment-weighted, 305 complete rows
Top Salary
$462,850
Emergency Medicine Physicians
Cost of Living
90.8
9% below US avg
Top-pay occupations in Rochester, MN, by employment
Same top-pay sample as the salary ranking, sorted by published local jobs so the title sequence follows the OEWS mix.
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Software Developers | $134,450 |
| 2 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $131,110 |
| 3 | Physician Assistants | $137,340 |
| 4 | Pharmacists | $164,250 |
| 5 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $177,620 |
| 6 | Financial Managers | $158,570 |
| 7 | Administrative Services Managers | $131,130 |
| 8 | Sales Managers | $127,500 |
| 9 | Lawyers | $129,270 |
| 10 | Chief Executives | $194,700 |
| 11 | Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products | $160,960 |
| 12 | Emergency Medicine Physicians | $462,850 |
| 13 | Psychiatrists | $341,540 |
| 14 | Marketing Managers | $175,280 |
| 15 | Family Medicine Physicians | $356,770 |
| 16 | Dentists, General | $211,190 |
| 17 | Human Resources Managers | $140,800 |
| 18 | Obstetricians and Gynecologists | $393,340 |
| 19 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $201,420 |
| 20 | Computer Network Architects | $168,910 |
| 21 | Purchasing Managers | $171,340 |
| 22 | Natural Sciences Managers | $127,920 |
| 23 | Veterinarians | $130,000 |
| 24 | Managers, All Other | $144,810 |
| 25 | Physicians, All Other | $367,320 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Rochester, MN
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Waiters and Waitresses | $24,060 |
| Bartenders | $27,000 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $27,810 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $28,270 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $29,120 |
| Cooks, Short Order | $30,320 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $31,190 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $31,200 |
| Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other | $32,690 |
| Dishwashers | $32,790 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in MN
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside MN. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($69,470 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the lower price level do to Rochester, MN wage reading? ▼
What is the highest paying job in Rochester, MN? ▼
What jobs pay the least in Rochester, MN? ▼
Which federal tables feed Rochester, MN's wage and price figures? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Rochester, MN wage figures in a real decision
- Emergency Medicine Physicians leads published medians in Rochester, MN at $462,850/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Emergency Medicine Physicians
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $69,470 adjusts to about $76,491 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 90.8. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for MN before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.