What Childcare Workers earn in Scott County, MN
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $36,310: the median annual pay for Childcare Workers in Scott County, MN. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $17.46 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $36,990, which is 1.9% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 7,740 people working in this occupation across the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Scott County, MN has roughly 154,557 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Childcare Workers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $29,730 a year ($14.29 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $46,370 or more ($22.29 an hour). That is a gap of $16,640 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $31,970 at the 25th percentile and $40,110 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $17.46 an hour or $36,310 a year at the median for Scott County, MN. Before any deductions, that is $3,026 a month, $1,397 every two weeks and $698 each week. After taxes the same job pays $14.50 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Childcare Workers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Childcare Workers this way: "Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and childcare institutions. Perform a variety of tasks, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Support children's emotional and social development, encouraging understanding of others and positive self-concepts"; "Care for children in institutional setting, such as group homes, nursery schools, private businesses, or schools for people with disabilities"; "Sanitize toys and play equipment"; "Discipline children and recommend or initiate other measures to control behavior, such as caring for own clothing and picking up toys and books".
Job outlook for Childcare Workers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 1,010,300 jobs in 2025 to 990,400 in 2035, a change of -2%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 150,300 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 14.9% of current employment each year. About 24.2% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $34,980 for this occupation; the Scott County, MN median of $36,310 is 3.8% above it.
How pay in Scott County, MN compares
Compared with the Minnesota average
A worker in this occupation in Scott County, MN earns $2,440 more than the Minnesota average of $33,870, a premium of 7.2%. Over a year that premium is worth $2,440 before tax and roughly $2,027 after tax. Within Minnesota, Scott County, MN already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Childcare Workers is $33,694 across the contiguous United States. At $36,310, Scott County, MN pays $2,616 more, which is 7.8% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Scott County, MN
Among the 586 occupations with published wages in Scott County, MN, Childcare Workers ranks number 565 by median pay, ahead of about 4% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $178,080 a year, which is $141,770 more than the median for Childcare Workers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Childcare Workers earning the Scott County, MN median of $36,310, they add up to $6,149. The result is $30,161 of take-home pay a year ($2,513 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 16.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $20,560. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,229, an effective 6.1% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,251 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $527. FICA totals $2,778, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Minnesota
Minnesota income tax on this salary is $1,143 a year, or 3.1% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 51% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $95 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Scott County, MN
IRS Statistics of Income data for Scott County, MN show an average adjusted gross income of $113,476 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 14.9% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.6%, compared with the 6.1% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Scott County, MN
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Scott County, MN: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $30,161 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Scott County, MN, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,427 a month ($17,124 a year), and at $1,734 for two bedrooms. For Childcare Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 56.8% of take-home pay and 47.2% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 9.5% of gross pay for Childcare Workers in Scott County, MN. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Minnesota residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,632 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $409, for $2,041 in total. Gasoline in Minnesota averages $3.15 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,458.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $24,059 a year in Scott County, MN. Subtract that from $30,161 of take-home pay and $6,102 remains, which is $509 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 16.8% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Scott County, MN
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Scott County, MN: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Scott County, MN, set beside the Minnesota and national medians.
Property taxes in Scott County, MN
Homeowners in Scott County, MN pay a median of $4,230 a year in real estate taxes, 26% above the Minnesota median of $3,357 and 36% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $419,400, the median tax bill is 1.01% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Childcare Workers median of $36,310, a tax bill of that size would equal 11.6% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Scott County, MN
Renters in Scott County, MN pay a median gross rent of $1,568 a month in the Census survey, 23% above the Minnesota median of $1,280. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,427 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $419,400, 27% above the Minnesota median of $329,300. Median household income is $119,314, 34% above the Minnesota median of $89,062, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 14.4% of that income.
Commuting in Scott County, MN
Workers in Scott County, MN who travel to a workplace spend an average of 24.8 minutes each way, 9% above the Minnesota average of 22.7. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.1 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 19.7% of workers in Scott County, MN work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Childcare Workers afford to live in Scott County, MN?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $36,310 that ceiling is $908 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,427 is $519 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $27.44 an hour; the median for Childcare Workers is $17.46, which is 36% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $14.50 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 22.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,734 a month means $867 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,720 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $12,822.
How fast you can save
At $509 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 20 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 40 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Childcare Workers pay in Scott County, MN
How much do Childcare Workers make per hour in Scott County, MN?
The median is $17.46 per hour, based on $36,310 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $14.29 at the 10th percentile to $22.29 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Childcare Workers take home after taxes in Scott County, MN?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $36,310 becomes $30,161 a year. That is $2,513 a month, $1,160 every two weeks or $580 a week.
How much tax do Childcare Workers pay in Scott County, MN?
Total taxes are $6,149 a year, an effective rate of 16.9%: $2,229 federal income tax, $2,778 FICA and $1,143 Minnesota income tax.
Do Childcare Workers earn more in Scott County, MN than elsewhere in Minnesota?
Yes. The local median of $36,310 is +7.2% versus the Minnesota average of $33,870, a difference of $2,440 a year.
Can Childcare Workers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Scott County, MN?
A one-bedroom costs $1,427 a month against take-home pay of $2,513, which is 56.8% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $908 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Childcare Workers in Scott County, MN?
About $509 a month ($6,102 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $24,059 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Scott County, MN at the 30% guideline?
$27.44 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $17,124 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Childcare Workers is $17.46.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Minnesota rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.