How Minnesota taxes a paycheck
Minnesota has four brackets, indexed annually: for 2026 a single filer pays 5.35% on the first $33,310 of taxable income, 6.8% to $109,430, 7.85% to $203,150 and 9.85% above. Married thresholds are $48,700, $193,480 and $337,930. The 9.85% top rate, added in 2013, is among the five highest in the country. The standard deduction is $15,300 single and $30,600 married, close to the federal figure, and a $5,300 exemption is allowed per dependent but not for the filer.
Two things arrive on Minnesota paychecks in 2026. Minnesota Paid Leave begins collecting premiums on 1 January 2026, 0.88% of wages split between employer and employee with the employee share up to 0.44%; it is not included here. And the state's 2023 child tax credit of up to $1,750 per child, claimed on the return, is not part of a wage estimate. There are no local income taxes in Minnesota.
How much taxes are taken out of paychecks in Minnesota?
On a $60,000 salary in 2026, a single filer in Minnesota pays about $5,020 in federal income tax, $4,590 in Social Security and Medicare, and about $2,560 in Minnesota income tax, leaving roughly $47,830 a year or $1,840 every two weeks. Paid Leave would take up to $264 more. The state share is 4.3% of gross.
At $150,000 Minnesota's tax is about $8,940, an effective rate of 6%, since the 7.85% bracket applies above $109,430. A married couple on $100,000 pays about $4,010.
Minnesota compared with its neighbours
Minnesota borders two no-tax states, South Dakota and North Dakota (which taxes nothing below $48,475), and two that tax wages more lightly: Iowa's flat 3.8% takes about $1,630 on a $60,000 single salary and Wisconsin's schedule about $1,860. Minnesota's $2,560 is the highest in the upper Midwest at that salary and the gap widens quickly above $109,430.
The Fargo-Moorhead line is the clearest case: a $60,000 earner in Moorhead pays about $2,560 in Minnesota tax while a Fargo resident pays $0, because North Dakota's zero bracket covers the whole of a salary that size after the federal deduction.
Withholding forms and filing status in Minnesota
Minnesota employers withhold from Form W-4MN, on which employees claim allowances; Minnesota's tables apply the four brackets after the standard deduction. Married couples get wider brackets ($48,700 rather than $33,310 for the 6.8% rate, not doubled) and a $30,600 deduction, so a one-earner couple on $60,000 pays about $1,570 against a single filer's $2,560. Minnesota's married brackets are narrower than double, which creates a modest marriage penalty for two-earner couples above about $100,000.
Minnesota has reciprocal agreements with Michigan and North Dakota; its agreement with Wisconsin ended in 2010 and has not been restored, so Minnesota residents working in Hudson or La Crosse file in both states. The Paid Leave premium is withheld on all wages earned in Minnesota regardless of the employee's state of residence.