Start with the answer
Traffic Technicians pay in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Traffic Technicians is $78,180 per year in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI. It is $92,710 per year in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI is 15.7% below San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 53-6041 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 30 wage and salary jobs in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI and 190 in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings