Rochester, MN

Across all occupations in the Rochester, MN metropolitan area, the median wage is $60,620 a year ($29.15 an hour) and the mean $80,590, May 2025. That median is +19% against the US median of $50,980 and +7% against Minnesota's $56,920. BLS counts 122,980 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is emergency medicine physicians; the largest is registered nurses.

All occupations: Rochester, MN vs Minnesota and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Rochester, MN area, Minnesota and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Rochester, MN	Hourly	$16.37	$20.21	$29.15	$44.61	$62.84	$38.74	122,980
Rochester, MN	Annual	$34,060	$42,040	$60,620	$92,800	$130,710	$80,590	122,980
Minnesota	Hourly	$16.12	$19.08	$27.36	$39.67	$60.45	$34.21	2,949,820
Minnesota	Annual	$33,540	$39,680	$56,920	$82,520	$125,730	$71,160	2,949,820
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

310 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Minnesota. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Rochester, MN

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$462,850	$222.53	140
2	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$393,340	$189.11	100
3	Physicians, All Other	$367,320	$176.60	**
4	Family Medicine Physicians	$356,770	$171.52	110
5	Psychiatrists	$341,540	$164.20	130
6	Dentists, General	$211,190	$101.53	110
7	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$201,420	$96.84	90
8	Chief Executives	$194,700	$93.60	190
9	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Minnesota	$177,620	$85.40	430
10	Marketing Managers	$175,280	$84.27	120
11	Purchasing Managers	$171,340	$82.38	80
12	Computer Network Architects	$168,910	$81.21	90
13	Pharmacists	$164,250	$78.97	440
14	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products	$160,960	$77.39	150
15	Financial Managers in Minnesota	$158,570	$76.24	390
16	Managers, All Other in Minnesota	$144,810	$69.62	60
17	Human Resources Managers	$140,800	$67.69	110
18	Physician Assistants	$137,340	$66.03	480
19	Software Developers in Minnesota	$134,450	$64.64	1,840
20	Administrative Services Managers	$131,130	$63.04	340

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Rochester, MN

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Registered Nurses in Minnesota	6,390	51.98	2.39	$101,660
2	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Minnesota	4,260	34.65	1.25	$39,270
3	Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Minnesota	3,890	31.60	5.11	*
4	Retail Salespersons in Minnesota	2,900	23.62	0.94	$36,000
5	Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians	2,880	23.43	10.94	*
6	Cashiers in Minnesota	2,600	21.15	1.06	$34,960
7	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Minnesota	2,550	20.74	0.84	$31,190
8	General and Operations Managers in Minnesota	2,020	16.41	0.73	$85,650
9	Software Developers in Minnesota	1,840	15.00	1.38	$134,450
10	Office Clerks, General in Minnesota	1,690	13.78	0.87	$48,810
11	Waiters and Waitresses in Minnesota	1,620	13.13	0.90	$24,060
12	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Minnesota	1,570	12.75	0.90	$44,030
13	Nursing Assistants in Minnesota	1,550	12.60	1.35	$46,840
14	Stockers and Order Fillers in Minnesota	1,520	12.32	0.68	$36,170
15	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Minnesota	1,460	11.85	1.30	$41,250
16	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Minnesota	1,330	10.80	0.57	$46,360
17	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Minnesota	1,260	10.22	0.77	$62,180
18	Customer Service Representatives in Minnesota	1,250	10.14	0.61	$47,050
19	Nurse Practitioners	1,190	9.65	4.65	$126,270
20	Cooks, Restaurant in Minnesota	1,060	8.65	0.95	$38,150

Most concentrated occupations in Rochester, MN

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	General Internal Medicine Physicians	11.94	630	5.16	#
2	Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians	10.94	2,880	23.43	*
3	Nurse Anesthetists	10.71	440	3.57	#
4	Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians	8.08	400	3.27	$48,970
5	Social Workers, All Other	7.35	370	2.98	$80,490
6	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	6.13	100	0.84	$393,340
7	Psychiatrists	6.08	130	1.10	$341,540
8	Emergency Medicine Physicians	5.39	140	1.14	$462,850
9	Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Minnesota	5.11	3,890	31.60	*
10	Nurse Practitioners	4.65	1,190	9.65	$126,270

Occupation groups in Rochester, MN

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Computer and Mathematical	$126,210	$120,810	4,340	35.28	1.04
Management	$125,580	$133,360	6,290	51.18	0.71
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$98,990	$151,390	22,610	183.86	2.91
Architecture and Engineering	$97,490	$102,990	1,420	11.54	0.69
Legal	$86,780	$110,810	440	3.60	0.43
Business and Financial Operations	$84,460	$93,390	5,560	45.20	0.67
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$81,780	$83,180	**	**	**
Construction and Extraction	$73,680	$74,490	4,430	36.04	0.87
Community and Social Service	$66,680	$70,110	2,360	19.16	1.12
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$64,110	$69,260	1,060	8.63	0.66
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$62,610	$65,950	3,610	29.40	0.75
Protective Service	$59,960	$62,400	1,860	15.11	0.62
Educational Instruction and Library	$57,590	$59,840	5,920	48.12	0.82
Office and Administrative Support	$51,820	$54,730	13,620	110.78	0.97
Production	$50,070	$53,740	5,320	43.25	0.79
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$47,230	$46,940	**	**	**
Transportation and Material Moving	$46,340	$49,190	7,200	58.59	0.67
Healthcare Support	$43,550	$44,070	7,650	62.24	1.22
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$41,440	$43,680	3,270	26.58	0.91
Personal Care and Service	$37,330	$40,820	2,620	21.30	1.02
Sales and Related	$36,960	$49,520	8,770	71.31	0.83
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$33,530	$34,500	10,030	81.52	0.93

Every occupation in Minnesota, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 310 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Rochester, MN estimates (area 40340).

#: Equal to or greater than the top code (BLS publishes no wage above it).
*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Rochester, MN area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.