What to know about minimum wage in Minnesota

Did you know Minnesota’s minimum-wage rates are adjusted yearly?

Effective Jan. 1, 2023, Minnesota's minimum-wage rates will increase from $10.33 to $10.59 an hour for large employers and from $8.42 to $8.63 an hour for other state minimum wages.

How minimum wage works and other factors that determine which minimum-wage rate employers must pay can be confusing, so the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) is here to help.

Here are some facts about Minnesota’s minimum wage laws:

• There are different minimum wage rates, including the large-employer wage and the small-employer wage. There is also a 90-day training wage for workers 18 and 19 years old and the youth wage for workers 17 years old or younger, both of which are the same as the small-employer wage.
• Large employers are companies with annual gross revenues of $500,000 or more and small employers make less than $500,000. Neither distinction includes the number of workers they employ.
• The training wage may be paid to employees under the age of 20 for the first 90 consecutive days of employment while the youth wage may be paid to employees younger than 18.

How minimum-wage rates are determined is an important topic as inflation and costs have increased in the U.S. The annual minimum-wage increase is determined using a process outlined by law. Essentially, it raises by either 2.5% or the percentage increase in the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, rounded to the nearest cent.

Find additional resources regarding Minnesota’s minimum-wage rates, including a fact sheet, a video and more at dli.mn.gov/minwage.

Minimum-wage poster to be updated, posted online

Minnesota law requires employers to display five state-mandated posters in a location where employees can easily see them. The new minimum-wage poster will be available for download next month.