Virtual receptionist in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area: cost vs in-house

Pay in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area against Minnesota and the US

The middle half of virtual receptionists in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area earns $29,270–$42,130. The top tenth earns $47,260 or more, 1.7 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 1.7 times. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $12,860 wide, between the figure for Minnesota ($12,930) and the US figure ($11,170).

What to budget for a virtual receptionist here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $5,970 a year in pay and about $7,703 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $6,890 in pay. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $38,010 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area, and the Minnesota statewide median of $37,510 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $10,498 to the $36,160 median and brings it to $46,658 a year. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for virtual receptionists we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area

Virtual receptionists have the lowest median of the 17 roles we track in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area; project coordinators have the highest, at $92,570.

Measured against the US median, virtual receptionists rank #12 of the 17 roles we track in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area (-4.9%), between HR assistants (-3.6%) and accountants (-6.2%). The typical role here is at -1.4%, so, measured against the US, virtual receptionists cost less in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Virtual receptionists hold 4.8% of the jobs in these 17 roles in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area, 4.0% across Minnesota and 5.7% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Minnesota

Across the 9 areas of Minnesota with data for this job, the median runs from $35,350 in Duluth to $39,570 in the Northwest Minnesota nonmetro area, a gap of $4,220 a year. Of the 3 areas in Minnesota with more virtual receptionists than the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area, 1 pays less: Duluth, MN-WI ($35,350).

the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area is #298 of 521 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside Minnesota, Watertown-Fort Drum and Davenport-Moline pay just above the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area and Jackson and St. George just below. All four are within $70 a year of the median in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many virtual receptionists, all three pay more.

Questions

Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.