Data Editor

MaryJo Webster is the data editor for the Star Tribune. She teams up with reporters to analyze data for stories across a wide range of topics and beats and also oversees a small team of other data journalists.

Webster is most interested in telling stories that get behind the daily news, give readers a deeper understanding of what's happening around them and hold government agencies and officials accountable. Previously, she worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, USA Today, the Center for Public Integrity, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Oshkosh Northwestern and the New Ulm Journal. She has journalism bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and the University of Missouri-Columbia, respectively. Webster is board member for the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information (MNCOGI), which is the state's all-volunteer freedom of information council. She is also a senior fellow for the Center for Health Journalism's Data Fellowship program, where she trains and mentors journalists on how to incorporate data into their reporting. She previously taught part-time at the University of Minnesota's journalism school and is a regular panelist and teacher at national journalism conferences and workshops.


The gender wage gap continues to plague Minnesota, U.S.

The gender pay gap exists at all income levels, but it widens as women earn more. Race exacerbates the disparity.


Why Minnesota millennials feel worse off than their parents

The specter of the 2008 recession continues to haunt many millennials, whose income started slow and might not catch up to their parents.


The middle class remains elusive for Native Americans in Minnesota

For Native Americans in Minnesota, the economic story of the recent decades is one of tenuous and fragile growth. Native American income was the fastest growing between 2005 and 2019, according to new data, yet no other group remains as likely to fall down the economic ladder.


Asian Americans have the most income mobility in Minnesota

Asian Minnesotans have higher income mobility rates than not only other racial groups in the state but also Asian Americans in other states.


At one point, Black income grew the fastest of any race in Minnesota, but disparities persist

The 2008 Great Recession hit Black Minnesotans the hardest, and it took them the longest to recover. Such income disproportion concerns Black leaders, state officials and economists who noted half of Black wage earners in the state still don't make enough to live comfortably.


Minnesotans among least likely to climb income ladder in U.S.

New data shows income stagnation is widespread in America, and Minnesotans are among those least likely to move out of their current bracket. Those who start at the bottom tend to stay at the bottom, and those who start at the top tend to stay at the top.


Gophers NIL deals: Social media, women and football lead the way

A review of 272 NIL deals signed by Gophers athletes revealed a few surprises and some findings you could have guessed.


Reporting errors, missing graduates mar Minnesota grad rate calculations

The Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts clarified reporting errors, but the episode points to ongoing needs to better collect and organize student data.


Middle-income buyers struggle to find a house in their budget in most Twin Cities suburbs

A Star Tribune analysis shows how much income a buyer would need to afford the median priced home in each city.


Inside the most expensive city in the metro: Wayzata

The most expensive city in the metro on the Star Tribune's Hot Housing Index sold for $394 per square foot last year.