- Date:
- Category: Wage and Hour
Minnesota’s general minimum wage under Chapter 177 is $11.41 an hour in 2026 and rises to $11.87 on January 1, 2027.
That is the general floor rather than the whole picture. If you work in Minneapolis or Saint Paul, a higher city rate applies to the hours you work inside those city limits. And separate industry-specific wage standards can require more again, which from September 10, 2026 they do for nursing home workers across the state.
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The Current Rates
| Provision | As of January 1, 2026 | As of January 1, 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| State minimum wage, all employers | $11.41 an hour | $11.87 an hour |
| 90-day training wage, workers under 20 | $9.31 an hour | $9.68 an hour |
Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, minimum wage in Minnesota. The 2027 rates reflect a 3.99 percent inflation adjustment. Verified September 5, 2026.
Those are the two rates in Minnesota’s general Chapter 177 schedule. If you have seen a Minnesota rate table with four or five rows, it is out of date. Separate wage standards can impose higher floors on particular workers, and the section below covers the one that reaches the most people.
How the Rate Is Set Each Year
Minnesota indexes its minimum wage to inflation, and the mechanism is worth understanding because it tells you what next year’s number will look like before it is announced.
Minn. Stat. § 177.24, subd. 1(c) requires the commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry, no later than August 31 each year, to determine the percentage increase in the rate of inflation as measured by the implicit price deflator for national personal consumption expenditures, as determined by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, over the preceding 12-month period.
The rates are then increased by the lesser of five percent, rounded to the nearest cent, or the percentage the commissioner calculated, rounded to the nearest cent. A rate may not be reduced under this provision. The new rates take effect the following January 1.
So the state rate moves once a year, always upward or flat, always on January 1, and never by more than five percent.
One Statewide Rate, Which Is Recent
Minnesota used to run two state rates, a higher one for large employers and a lower one for small employers defined by annual gross volume of sales. That split is gone. The current section requires every employer to pay the same rate, and the change took effect for 2025.
This matters when reading older material. A great deal of published guidance about Minnesota wages, including some still online, describes a large employer rate and a small employer rate. If a source you are relying on lists two state figures, it predates the change.
Employer size still matters in Saint Paul, which runs its own tiers under its own ordinance. It does not matter under state law and it does not matter in Minneapolis.
Nursing Home Workers Have Their Own Statewide Floor
From September 10, 2026, Minnesota’s Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board minimum-wage standards apply to nursing home workers statewide. They are set well above the general Chapter 177 rate, and they are not a city rule, so they reach nursing homes anywhere in Minnesota.
| Occupation | From September 10, 2026 | From January 1, 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing home worker, general | $19.00 an hour | $20.50 an hour |
| Certified nursing assistant | $22.50 an hour | $24.00 an hour |
| Trained medication aide | $23.50 an hour | $25.00 an hour |
| Licensed practical nurse | $27.00 an hour | $28.50 an hour |
Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, NHWSB minimum-wage and holiday pay rules. The standards take effect 30 days after federal approval of the State Plan Amendment on August 11, 2026. Verified September 6, 2026.
The board also set holiday pay standards, effective January 1, 2025, requiring at least time and a half for nursing home workers who work on 11 named state holidays.
If you meet the statutory definition of a nursing home worker in a covered nursing home, the applicable standard above is your floor when it exceeds the general state or city rate. Coverage includes direct care staff, non-direct care staff and contractors, and excludes certain categories including administrative staff, medical directors, nursing directors, physicians and individuals employed by a supplemental nursing services agency. A covered nursing home is one licensed under chapter 144A and reimbursed under chapter 256R, or a qualifying boarding care home.
The standards attach to the setting and the job category rather than to a certification you hold, so a certified nursing assistant working in a hospital or an assisted living facility is not covered by the nursing home rate on that basis alone.
Minneapolis and Saint Paul Require More Than the General Rate
Both cities have their own minimum wage ordinances setting higher rates for work performed inside city limits. DLI states this directly and points employees to both city programs.
The practical rule is that you are entitled to the highest applicable wage floor for the work you actually perform. For most employees working in Minneapolis that is the Minneapolis rate, and in Saint Paul the applicable Saint Paul rate for their employer’s size band. Where an industry-specific standard such as the nursing home standards applies and is higher, that standard governs instead.
Both city rates apply by where the work is performed rather than where the employer is based, and if you work in more than one place the hours are allocated by location, so a suburban employer owes the Minneapolis rate for the hours its employee works inside Minneapolis.
Minnesota Allows No Tip Credit
Section 177.24, subd. 2 provides that no employer may directly or indirectly credit, apply or utilize gratuities toward payment of the minimum wage set by that section or by federal law. DLI states the same rule and adds that an employee must be paid at least the minimum wage per hour plus any tips earned.
This is a real difference from federal law and from most states. A tipped worker in Minnesota is owed the full applicable minimum wage as wages, with tips on top, and a good night in tips does not reduce what the employer owes. The same section also bars an employer from requiring employees to share or pool their tips.
Who Is Covered
The minimum wage requirement applies to employees as that term is defined in the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act at Minn. Stat. § 177.23, subd. 7, and the rate applies to all hours worked whether the employee is part time or full time.
The Act contains exemptions for more than 20 categories of worker. DLI identifies among them nonprofit volunteers, elected officials, police and firefighters, clergy working in schools, hospitals or nonprofits operated by a church or religious order, certain agricultural workers paid on a salary basis, outside salespersons, and executive, administrative and professional employees. Some exemptions apply only to overtime rather than to the minimum wage, so the category matters as much as the label.
Two cautions belong with any exemption discussion. Being paid a salary does not create an exemption, and neither does a job title. DLI emphasizes that the executive, administrative and professional exemptions require both a guaranteed and predetermined weekly salary and satisfaction of duties tests set out in Minnesota Rules. And independent contractor status is a separate question that turns on the applicable classification tests rather than on what a contract or a 1099 says.
The 90-Day Training Wage
Section 177.24, subd. 1(b) permits an employer to pay an employee under the age of 20 the training wage during the first 90 consecutive days of employment. The rate is $9.31 in 2026 and $9.68 in 2027.
The same paragraph carries a protection that is easy to miss. No employer may take any action to displace an employee, including a partial displacement through a reduction in hours, wages or employment benefits, in order to hire an employee at the training wage. An employer that cuts an existing worker’s hours to bring in a younger worker at the lower rate is acting against the statute.
The city rules are different again. Minneapolis has no general youth rate at all, only a training exception for city-approved programs, and Saint Paul runs its own youth and training provisions under its ordinance, one of which ends on January 1, 2027.
If You Are Being Paid Less Than the Minimum
Underpayment of the minimum wage is a wage claim, and Minn. Stat. § 177.27, subd. 8 lets an employee take a claim straight to district court. An employer that pays less than what is owed in wages, gratuities and overtime compensation is liable for the shortfall plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, and subdivision 10 obligates the court to add the employee’s reasonable costs, disbursements, witness fees and attorney fees.
Minimum wage shortfalls can appear alongside unpaid overtime, unpaid preparation time and deductions that push effective pay below the floor, and those violations may be pursued together in the same action. An automatic meal deduction on a shift you worked through is a common example of a deduction that does exactly that. The firm’s Minnesota employment law section covers the other areas we handle, and workers in the city can read our page on unpaid wages in Minneapolis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Minnesota minimum wage right now?
In 2026, Minnesota’s general minimum wage is $11.41 an hour, and it adjusts again every January 1 under the statute’s inflation-indexing formula, capped at 5 percent. If you work in Minneapolis or Saint Paul, a higher city rate applies to the hours you work within those cities, and nursing home workers statewide have their own higher standards.
Why is the Minneapolis rate so much higher than the state rate?
Minneapolis and Saint Paul each adopted minimum-wage ordinances for covered work inside city limits. The applicable rate is the highest wage floor that governs the work, including any higher industry-specific statewide standard.
Does my employer’s size change my state minimum wage?
No. Minnesota eliminated its large and small employer split, and the general Chapter 177 rate is now the same for every employer. Employer size does still determine the rate in Saint Paul, which runs three size bands under its own ordinance, and industry-specific standards such as the nursing home wage standards can require a higher rate regardless of employer size.
Can my employer count my tips toward the minimum wage?
No. Section 177.24, subd. 2 prohibits an employer from directly or indirectly crediting, applying or utilizing gratuities toward payment of the minimum wage. You are owed the full applicable minimum wage as wages, with tips on top.
How much notice do I get before the rate changes?
The state adjustment is determined no later than August 31 and takes effect the following January 1, so it is usually public four months ahead. Separately, Minnesota’s employee notice requirement obliges employers to give each employee written notice of a change to their rate of pay before the change takes effect.
This article provides general information about Minnesota law and is not legal advice. Rates change annually and this page is reviewed each January and September. Confirm current figures with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry before relying on them.
