Minneapolis, MN — Wages, Rent, Taxes & Livability by the Numbers

Minneapolis rewards a closer look rather than a one-number verdict. The Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington metro's May 2025 mean wage was $35.86 an hour, above the U.S. mean of $33.54; healthcare practitioners and technical jobs averaged $59.33, while computer and mathematical jobs averaged $54.52. Minnesota's 2025 individual income-tax brackets run from 5.35% to 9.85%. The Minnesota Department of Revenue's current guide lists a 9.025% combined Minneapolis sales-tax rate for July–September 2026, which is a current exception to the channel's 2024–25 data window. SmartAsset's 1.17% Hennepin County property figure is a county proxy with no stated year, so homeowners should use the exact local bill. The state tax page leaves a separate Minneapolis local-income rate unstated; payroll treatment deserves an address-specific check. 1234

Housing varies sharply by neighborhood. Apartment List's January 31, 2025 Minneapolis page lists citywide median rent of $1,213 for a one-bedroom and $1,570 for a two-bedroom. The same page lists neighborhood starting rents of $835/$1,145 in Whittier, $1,095/$1,525 in Uptown, and $1,329/$1,445 in Loring Park. The distance labels in the cards are approximate straight-line miles from Downtown Minneapolis, added for orientation; they are not driving distances. 5

Minneapolis reported a 22.0-minute mean travel time to work in the 2020–2024 ACS. Walk Score's citywide snapshot gives the city a 71 Walk Score, 55 Transit Score, and 83 Bike Score, with Metro Transit buses, light rail, and commuter rail, plus more than 100 Nice Ride kiosks and 34 miles of dedicated bike lanes around the Chain of Lakes. Those mobility figures are live snapshots without a visible 2024–25 dataset year, so an exact address still matters. 67

U.S. News lists Minneapolis at 4.9/10 overall, #667 in Best Places to Live, 3.1/10 on its Value Index, and 5/10 on its Job Market Index. The profile marks its $1,265 median rent as Housing Costs 2025, while the overall-score vintage remains unstated. Numbeo's July 24, 2026 update reports a 66.22 high crime level and 36.29 low safety score for walking alone at night; those figures are perception data, not incident counts. Minneapolis can fit a strong specialist salary or a bike-oriented routine, but housing, tax treatment, winter travel, and neighborhood safety deserve an address-level check before a move. Next city: Salt Lake City, UT. 89