Design Engineer.
Minneapolis.
$110,000
median salary, 8% above the national average
$89,000 to $141,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
The median Design Engineer salary in Minneapolis is $110,000, 8% above the national average. Entry level starts near $89,000. Experienced professionals push past $141,000. Minneapolis is a Fortune 500 powerhouse with Target, UnitedHealth Group, Best Buy, and 3M headquartered in the metro. That spread is your negotiation window. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Design Engineer in Minneapolis, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $101,180 for Mechanical Engineers (SOC 17-2141) in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan area, based on 4,450 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$76,620
25th percentile
$83,940
Median
$101,180
75th percentile
$130,030
90th percentile
$156,540
Workers surveyed
4,450
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Mechanical Engineers (SOC 17-2141) rather than Design Engineer specifically. The Minneapolis range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 17-2141Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $99,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$72,000
to $88,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$94,000
to $116,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$121,000
to $143,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$138,000
to $171,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $31,000 to the total package.
Base
$110,000
Equity
$18,000
Bonus
$11,000
Signing
$2,000
Estimated total: $141,000
How Minneapolis compares.
Minneapolis, MN
$110,000
Cost of living: 5% above average
National Average
$102,000
Minneapolis is $8,000 above
Design Engineer salary by city.
Salary by role in Minneapolis.
What you should know.
Before you negotiate a Design Engineer offer in Minneapolis, understand the terrain. Minneapolis is a Fortune 500 powerhouse with Target, UnitedHealth Group, Best Buy, and 3M headquartered in the metro. The city's strong corporate base creates consistent demand across finance, healthcare, retail tech, and supply chain roles. Quality of life is high, and employers offer competitive salaries to offset the cold winters. Engineers who bridge design systems and frontend implementation at scale command the highest salaries. Proficiency in Figma-to-code workflows, component library architecture, and motion design with CSS or Framer Motion adds 15 to 20% over pure frontend roles. Companies with strong design cultures like Vercel, Linear, or Stripe pay top rates.
Junior frontend developers or UI designers start at $72,000 to $95,000, converging into design engineer roles at $108,000 to $185,000 within three to five years. Senior design engineers earn $180,000 to $230,000, while head of design engineering or design systems lead roles reach $240,000 to $310,000. In Minneapolis, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. RSUs at design-forward tech companies add $25,000 to $70,000 annually. Signing bonuses of $15,000 to $35,000 are typical, and many employers offer stipends for design tools, typography licenses, and creative software subscriptions. And on the tax side: minnesota's top income tax rate is 9.85%, one of the highest state rates. There is no city income tax in Minneapolis, but the state burden significantly reduces take home pay. When someone quotes you $110,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Emphasize retention risk when negotiating. Minneapolis employers know that remote opportunities from warmer, lower tax states are a constant competitive threat. The range for Design Engineers in Minneapolis runs from $89,000 to $141,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
Considering a related role?
- A Database Administrator in Minneapolis earns $112,000 (2% more)
- The highest-paying role in Minneapolis is CTO at $321,000
Common questions.
Design Engineer salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Minneapolis.
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Design Engineer Salary in Minneapolis, MN." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/design-engineer/minneapolis
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