Statewide pay Government data
Telecom equipment installers in Minnesota earn a statewide median of $75,150 a year, 21% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #14 of 50 states and DC. About 1,900 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Minnesota
See all states on the telecom equipment installers nationwide.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes telecom equipment installer pay for 4 Minnesota metros. The highest-paying is Duluth at $79,280, followed by Minneapolis and Rochester.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| DuluthMINNESOTA · MN | $79,280 | $89,311 | 50 |
| MinneapolisMINNESOTA · MN | $76,990 | $73,448 | 890 |
| RochesterMINNESOTA · MN | $74,330 | $81,842 | 80 |
| MankatoMINNESOTA · MN | $72,100 | $79,270 | 60 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for Minnesota's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Install, set up, rearrange, or remove switching, distribution, routing, and dialing equipment used in central offices or headends. Service or repair telephone, cable television, Internet, and other communications equipment on customers' property. May install communications equipment or communications wiring in buildings.
Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3.3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,300 openings a year. Typical training: moderate-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, telecom equipment installers have 168 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 1.9× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is overexertion and repetitive strain.
What the work is like Government data
How often telecom equipment installers deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes medium preparation (vocational training or an apprenticeship, often 1–2+ years).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Registered apprenticeships Government data
Of telecom equipment installer apprentices in Minnesota who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 54% completed (U.S.: 44%), about 35 graduates a year. Search open registered programs near you on the official Apprenticeship Finder.
U.S. Department of Labor, RAPIDS apprentice records (Completion Rate Analysis), FY2020–2024 exits.
Licensing in Minnesota Official source
The main state licensing office in Minnesota is the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. It can point you to the right license for telecom equipment installers.
Official Minnesota licensing site ↗
Requirements for telecom equipment installers vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 14.1% of wage and salary workers in Minnesota were union members, above the U.S. rate of about 10% (#11 of 51 states and D.C.), and 15.8% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only telecom equipment installers.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Minnesota
All trades in Minnesota.