Minnesota Paycheck Calculator 2026

How Minnesota withholding is calculated

Minnesota's payroll formula annualizes your wages, subtracts $5,300 for each allowance on Form W-4MN, and applies four graduated rates to what remains^[mn1]. The booklet's computer formula has six steps: wages for the period, times the number of pay periods (52 weekly, 26 every two weeks, 24 twice a month, 12 monthly, 360 daily), minus the allowances, through the chart below, divided back by the pay periods. Employers may round the result to the nearest dollar.

Nothing is withheld on the first $4,700 (single) or $14,700 (married) after allowances. Those thresholds and the allowances work together. A single employee with the typical two allowances is shielded on 2 × $5,300 + $4,700 = $15,300, which matches the 2026 single standard deduction printed on the W-4MN. A married employee with three allowances is shielded on $30,600, the joint standard deduction^[mn2].

Minnesota follows the federal rules for taxable wages^[mn3], so pre-tax 401(k) and health premiums are taken out before this formula. Any "Married, but withhold at higher Single rate" election uses the single chart.

W-4MN allowances on the MN paycheck calculator

Minnesota uses its own allowance certificate: the federal W-4 no longer computes allowances, so every employee who files a W-4 must also file a W-4MN^[mn1]. Without one, the employer withholds as if you were single with zero allowances. Section 1 of the 2026 form builds the count^[mn2]:

• A: 1 if no one else can claim you as a dependent.
• B: 1 if you are single with one job, married with one job and a spouse who does not work, or if the second job or spouse earns $1,500 or less.
• C: 1 if married (0 if your spouse works or you hold more than one job).
• D: the number of dependents you will claim. E: 1 for head of household.

Each allowance is worth about $360 a year at the 6.80% rate. On $60,000, Minnesota withholding is $2,917 with one allowance, $2,557 with two and $2,196 with three. An itemizer can add allowances through the form's worksheet. Employers send the W-4MN to the Department of Revenue when it claims more than 10 allowances, and an exemption from withholding must be renewed each year by February 15.

Minnesota Paid Leave premiums, new in 2026

Minnesota Paid Leave started on January 1, 2026, and its premium is 0.88% of wages for 2026 and 2027: 0.61% for medical leave and 0.27% for family leave^[mn4]. Employers can collect up to 0.44% from employees or choose to cover more^[mn5]. On $60,000, the full employee share is $264 a year.

Premiums stop at the Social Security (OASDI) wage cap, which the program states as $185,000 of wages for 2026^[mn4]. That figure is a little above the $184,500 base the Social Security Administration published for 2026; the calculator uses the program's own $185,000. Small employers (30 or fewer workers with average wages of no more than 150% of the state average) pay a reduced total rate of 0.66%, but the most an employee can be charged is the same 0.44%.

The calculator applies the employee share to gross pay minus pre-tax health premiums and assumes your employer deducts the full 0.44%. If your employer pays part of it, your check will be a little higher.

Bonuses, federal nonconformity and other 2026 details

Bonuses, commissions and overtime paid separately from regular wages are withheld at a flat 6.25%, whatever allowances you claim^[mn1]. When they arrive with regular wages, the employer either adds them to the regular pay and runs the normal formula, or, if the payroll records list them separately, applies 6.25% to the supplemental part.

• No conformity to H.R. 1: Minnesota withholding definitions follow the Internal Revenue Code as amended through May 1, 2023, and the state has not adopted the 2025 federal withholding changes.
• Indexed amounts: the allowance rose from $5,200 in 2025 to $5,300, and every bracket threshold moved up (the single 9.85% bracket now starts at $207,850, from $203,180).
• Reciprocity: Michigan and North Dakota residents working in Minnesota can avoid Minnesota withholding by giving the employer Form MWR each year.

For a cross-border comparison, run the same salary on the Wisconsin, Iowa or North Dakota calculators.

Minnesota take-home pay on common salaries

Worked example: $60,000 in Minnesota

1. Gross pay: $60,000 a year ÷ 26 paychecks = $2,307.69.
2. Federal income tax: the IRS percentage method annualizes $60,000 of taxable wages, subtracts the $8,600 built into the 2026 tables for a standard W-4, and applies the brackets (top rate 12%): $193.08^[p15t].
3. FICA: 6.2% Social Security $143.08 plus 1.45% Medicare $33.46^[tc751].
4. Minnesota: Minnesota income tax $98.33, MN Paid Leave (0.44%) $10.15.
5. Net pay: $1,829.59 per paycheck, $47,569 a year (79.3% of gross).

Compare Minnesota with nearby states

Same $60,000 salary, different state: Wisconsin $1,831.75 · Iowa $1,869.47 per paycheck. The state tax calculator ranks every state we cover on one salary, and the paycheck calculator switches states in one click. Hourly? Add overtime with the time and a half calculator.