Surgical Tech Jobs in Minnesota

Type

Location

Salary

Minnesota

Surgical Tech Jobs

Minnesota pays surgical technologists a mean wage of $71,380, among the highest in the Midwest, driven by Mayo Clinic and three competing Twin Cities systems bidding for the same credentialed OR staff. The gap between that mean and the $62,830 median tells you most of what you need to know about where the money actually sits. Live scrub tech and OR technician openings across the state are below.

Written by Matthew Sorensen, 15+ years in executive recruiting and 500+ skilled trades and healthcare placements, including perioperative and OR roles.

Where Surgical Techs Work in Minnesota

Most job volume concentrates in the Twin Cities metro, where three networks compete head to head. Rochester and Duluth are active secondary markets with a different dynamic: one dominant employer each, which changes your leverage.

Mayo ClinicRochester

One of the highest-volume surgical programs in the world and the state's most prominent OR employer.

Allina HealthTwin Cities

Large network staffing ORs across Minneapolis and St. Paul.

M Health FairviewTwin Cities

Academic system with hospital and specialty surgical services throughout the metro.

HealthPartnersTwin Cities

Competing metro network running both hospital and outpatient surgical sites.

Essentia HealthDuluth / Northern MN

Anchors the northern Minnesota market and is the primary OR employer outside the metro corridors.

Surgical Tech Salary in Minnesota

$62,830 median

The number a typical Minnesota surgical tech actually earns, modestly above the national median of roughly $60,000.

$71,380 mean

An $8,550 gap over the median. That spread is not normal. It means a concentrated group of high-paying seats, Mayo and the large academic Twin Cities positions, is dragging the average well past where most techs land. Read the median, not the mean, when you evaluate an offer.

$43,290 to $90,700

Entry-level floor to the 90th percentile. Closing that $47,000 spread is a function of setting, specialty, and shift, not tenure alone. Run your own number through the salary estimator or compare by specialty.

Certification and Training

Minnesota mandates no licensure, but Mayo, Allina, and most Twin Cities systems treat CST certification as an expectation rather than a preference. In a market where the top employers compete for the same credentialed pool, the certification is what gets your resume read at all.

Programs

CAAHEP and ABHES accredited programs run 9 to 24 months through community and technical colleges statewide, including Century College in the Twin Cities metro, which places students clinically at regional system facilities. Compare options in the state-by-state program guide.

Questions Candidates Ask

Why is Minnesota's average wage so much higher than its median?

Because a small number of very well-paid positions, concentrated at Mayo and the large Twin Cities academic systems, pull the average up. If you are negotiating, anchor on the $62,830 median. A recruiter quoting you the $71,380 mean is quoting you a number most techs in the state never see.

Do I need certification to work as a surgical tech in Minnesota?

Not by state law. Minnesota has no mandatory licensure requirement. In practice the dominant employers screen for CST, so certification is the difference between a full field of openings and a narrow one.

Twin Cities or Rochester?

The Twin Cities gives you three competing systems, which means real mobility and the ability to leverage one offer against another. Rochester gives you exceptional case volume and complexity at a single employer, with correspondingly less negotiating room. Pick based on whether you are optimizing for experience or for leverage.

Minneapolis, MN

Surgical tech jobs in the Twin Cities metro

Jobs by Location

Browse every city and state

State Requirements

Certification rules by state

Salary Guide

What surgical techs earn nationally

Wisconsin

Openings across the state line

New Grad Jobs

Getting hired with no OR experience