St. Paul minimum wage 2026: $16.37 an hour

$16.37 an hour, in force since January 1, 2026, set by the Saint Paul minimum wage ordinance, which phases in by employer size. That is $4.96 an hour above the Minnesota state minimum of $11.41 and $9.12 above the federal $7.25, which has not moved since July 24, 2009. Over a full-time year the gap over the state rate is worth $10,317 in gross pay. Macro and large employers, meaning 101 or more employees.

At $16.37 and 40 hours a week, gross pay is $655 a week, $2,837 a month and $34,050 a year. A single filer with no other deductions takes home about $548 a week, $1,097 every two weeks, $2,376 a month or $28,517 a year, an effective rate of 16.2% across federal income tax, Minnesota income tax, Social Security and Medicare.

Whichever is higher, and for work performed in St. Paul that is the St. Paul rate of $16.37. A local wage floor can rise above the state and federal figures but never fall below them, so the three rates are a floor stack rather than alternatives. What decides it is where the work is physically done, not where your employer is headquartered or where you live. Macro and large employers, meaning 101 or more employees.

There isn't one. St. Paul pays tipped staff the full $16.37 in direct cash wages, and tips are on top rather than counted towards the floor. That means a tipped worker here is guaranteed $16.37 an hour before a single tip is added. Tips remain taxable wages reported through payroll, and for 2026 up to $25,000 of qualified tips is deductible on your federal return.

Before. $16.37 is a floor on gross pay, the figure your employer must pay for each hour worked with nothing withheld yet. Social Security takes 6.2% and Medicare 1.45% from the first dollar, and Minnesota income tax applies on top. On a full 40-hour week that turns $655 gross into about $548 net, a difference of $106.

Check the stub first: multiply hours worked by $16.37 and compare against gross pay for the period, before deductions, because the test is gross. Underpayment is a wage claim, and a local ordinance usually gives you a city enforcement office as well as the state labor office and the U.S. Department of Labor. Deductions for uniforms, tools or till shortages that push effective pay below the floor are generally not permitted.