Median household income has grown across the state — but affordability pressures remain uneven.

February, 2026

In last week’s post, we explored trends in Minnesota’s cost of living. We found that while the cost of living remains highest in metropolitan counties, the fastest increases have occurred across Greater Minnesota. To understand what these rising costs mean for households, the next question is whether incomes have kept pace. If incomes are rising alongside costs, households may be better positioned to absorb these increases. If not, rising costs may translate directly into greater financial strain.

 

Median Household Income Data

To evaluate whether incomes have kept pace with Minnesota’s rising cost of living, this analysis uses median household income from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). Median household income represents the income level at which half of households in a county earn more and half earn less. Because it reflects the middle of the income distribution, it provides a useful indicator of the resources available to a typical household and is less affected by unusually high incomes than simple averages.

The ACS measure includes pre-tax cash income received by household members over the previous 12 months, such as wages and salaries, self-employment income, retirement income, Social Security, unemployment compensation, and other regular sources of income. It does not include capital gains, non-cash benefits such as SNAP or housing assistance, or tax credits. As a result, median household income provides a broad — though incomplete — measure of the cash resources households can draw on to meet everyday expenses.

This analysis relies on ACS 5-year estimates, which pool survey responses across five years to produce stable county-level income measures. This is especially important for rural counties, where annual samples are often too small to generate reliable single-year estimates. In this context, median household income is best interpreted as a structural measure of local earning capacity rather than a precise year-to-year income trend.

 

Income Comparison

We begin by comparing recent income levels across counties. Figure 1 shows that the highest median household incomes are concentrated in and around the Seven County Metropolitan Area and along the I-35 corridor south. In these counties, median household incomes range from roughly $90,000 to $126,000. Across much of Greater Minnesota, median household incomes are lower, generally ranging from $59,000 to $80,000.

Figure 1: Median household incomes are highest in and around the Seven County Metro. Data: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, Table B19013 (Median Household Income in the Past 12 Months), 2020-2024

 

Trends in income

Income levels tell only part of the story. To understand whether households are gaining ground over time, it is also important to look at income growth.

Figure 2 shows the percent change in median household income between 2018 and 2024. For most Minnesota counties, median household incomes increased by roughly 20 to 40 percent over this period, reflecting broad income growth during and after the pandemic era.

Some of the largest increases occurred in very rural counties such as Lake of the Woods, Beltrami, and Pine, while counties such as Martin and Rock experienced smaller gains.

Figure 2: This map shows the percent change in median household incomes since 2018, which for most of Minnesota is around 20% to 40%. Data:  U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, Table B19013 (Median Household Income in the Past 12 Months),  2014-2018 through 2020-2024

 

How do these increases align with the cost of living?

The previous figures show two important patterns. First, the highest median household incomes remain concentrated in and around the Twin Cities Metro. Second, many of the largest income increases have occurred across Greater Minnesota — similar to what we observed in our cost-of-living analysis.

This raises an important question: Do median household incomes cover the cost of living as well today as they did in 2018?

To explore this, we compare county median household income to DEED’s modeled annual cost of living for a household with:

• two adults
• two full-time workers
• two children requiring childcare.

This provides a consistent working-family benchmark for comparing affordability across counties and over time.

 

Income as a Share of the Cost of Living

Figure 3 shows median household income as a percentage of the modeled cost of living in each county for both 2018 and 2024.

The increased presence of darker blue in the 2024 map indicates that median household incomes have generally improved relative to the cost of living in nearly all counties. In 2018, many Greater Minnesota counties had median household incomes that covered only about 60 to 80 percent of the modeled cost of living. By 2024, most counties had median household incomes covering 90 percent or more of the modeled cost. The figure also suggests that Southern Minnesota has experienced more improvement than Northern Minnesota.

Median household income as a percent of the modeled cost of living, 2018 and 2024. Sources: Minnesota DEED Cost of Living Tool; U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates, Table B19013.

 

Why Might This Result Feel Surprising?

These results may seem unexpected. Many households feel that the cost of living has risen faster than their paychecks — and for some families, that is absolutely true. At the county level, however, median household incomes have generally grown enough since 2018 to keep pace with — and in many places exceed — increases in the modeled cost of living. Strong wage growth during the tight post-pandemic labor market helped lift incomes across much of Minnesota, particularly in Greater Minnesota.

But that does not always feel like progress at the kitchen table. Many workers experienced long-awaited pay raises only to see those gains absorbed by higher prices for housing, childcare, groceries, and insurance. Even when incomes rise enough to offset costs on paper, the visibility and immediacy of rising expenses can make financial progress feel fragile — or even nonexistent. And because median income reflects the middle household, many families earning below the median may still feel stretched despite broader structural improvement.

The data suggest that income growth has kept pace in many places, but the lived experience of affordability can still feel like running just to stay in place.

 

This analysis was made possible with U.S. Census and American Community Survey data.