Take-home pay on a $30,000 salary in Minnesota
A $30,000 salary in Minnesota leaves $25,367 a year after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Minnesota income tax and MN Paid Leave — $2,114 a month, or $975.64 in a two-week paycheck. Those are the figures for a single filer on the standard deduction, and every one of them below is computed from the published tables, not estimated.
Where every dollar of $30,000 goes
Modelled as a single filer on 2026 rules taking the standard deduction, with no 401(k), no health premiums and no dependents. Social Security is the heaviest line here at $1,860, and MN Paid Leave the lightest at $132.
| Line | Per year | Per month | Per 2 weeks | % of gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | $30,000 | $2,500 | $1,153.85 | 100.0% |
| Federal income tax | −$1,420 | −$118 | −$54.62 | 4.7% |
| Social Security (6.2%) | −$1,860 | −$155 | −$71.54 | 6.2% |
| Medicare (1.45%) | −$435 | −$36 | −$16.73 | 1.5% |
| Minnesota income tax | −$786 | −$66 | −$30.25 | 2.6% |
| MN Paid Leave | −$132 | −$11 | −$5.08 | 0.4% |
| Total withheld | −$4,633 | −$386 | −$178.21 | 15.4% |
| Take-home pay | $25,367 | $2,114 | $975.64 | 84.6% |
The federal income tax on $30,000, bracket by bracket
No single rate is applied to a whole salary federally. The $16,100 standard deduction is subtracted before anything else, and on $30,000 that is 53.7% of the pay — enough that a large part of this salary never meets a bracket at all. What is left, $13,900, is then cut across two bands, and only the topmost cut is charged at 12%.
| Federal band | Rate | Income taxed here | Tax from this band |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 – $12,400 | 10% | $12,400 | $1,240 |
| $12,400 – $50,400 | 12% | $1,500 | $180 |
| Total | $13,900 | $1,420 |
Federal tax on $30,000 totals $1,420, which is 4.7% of gross pay even though the top band reached is 12%. The gap between those two numbers is the whole point of a graduated system.
The Minnesota income tax on $30,000, bracket by bracket
Minnesota runs a separate ladder and subtracts a separate amount only a little smaller before it starts: $15,300, against the federal $16,100. That leaves $14,700 of Minnesota taxable income, $800 more than the federal figure. $30,000 works through one of Minnesota's bands, topping out at 5.35%.
| Minnesota band | Rate | Income taxed here | Tax from this band |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 – $33,310 | 5.35% | $14,700 | $786 |
| Total | $14,700 | $786 |
Minnesota income tax on $30,000 totals $786, 2.6% of gross pay, against a top band rate of 5.35%. MN Paid Leave is charged separately, on the full salary and not on taxable income, so it is not in this table.
What applies to you at $30,000, and what does not
The federal band that governs a raise at $30,000
At $30,000 your next dollar falls in the second band up, a stretch of $38,000 — 3.1 times the run of the band below it. A raise here is about as cheap as a raise gets: the extra income is treated exactly like the income underneath it, all the way to the edge. The band still has $36,500 of headroom, which is about $36,500 of raise before a higher rate touches any part of it.
Why a Minnesota bonus does not follow the rate on this page
Minnesota withholds supplemental wages — a bonus, a commission, a payout — at a flat 6.25%, not at the rate the rest of your pay is charged. That is above the 5.35% your salary is charged at this rung, so a bonus is over-withheld and the difference comes back at filing. On $1,000 of bonus it is the difference between $62.50 and $53.50 of Minnesota withholding. Withholding is not the tax: what you owe is settled on the return either way.
$30,000 is the bottom of this ladder
Nothing below this level is modelled here. Going up to $40,000 would add $7,456 a year, $621 a month, out of $10,000 of extra gross — 74.6% of the raise survives withholding, the highest keep rate anywhere on this page, because the bands down here are the cheapest ones.
The childcare credit rate that $30,000 buys you
Qualifying childcare costs earn a credit worth a percentage of the spend, on expenses of up to $3,000 for a single dependent and $6,000 where there are two or more. Which percentage you get depends on what you earn. At $30,000 it is 43.0%: you are on the first slide, where the rate drops a point for every $2,000 of income above $15,000. It levels off at 35.0% once income reaches $45,000, so a raise from here costs you a little of this credit on the way. It is a nonrefundable credit and none of the figures above include it: they model a filer with no dependents.
Minnesota's payroll premiums on $30,000
Separately from income tax, Minnesota withholds one employee-funded premium from this paycheck.
- MN Paid Leave at 0.44% costs $132.00 a year, $5.08 a paycheck. It is charged on only the first $184,500 of wages, which $30,000 does not reach, so the whole salary carries it.
That takes $132.00 a year out of $30,000, 0.4% of gross pay. It is withheld after tax, so unlike a 401(k) contribution it reduces nothing else, and it appears in no bracket table anywhere.
Where Minnesota ranks on $30,000
Run the same $30,000 through all fifty states and the District of Columbia and Minnesota comes 36 from the top on take-home pay — 16 from the bottom — keeping $25,367. The jurisdictions immediately above it at this salary are Indiana and Hawaii; immediately below are Kentucky and Pennsylvania. North Dakota tops the table at $26,285, $918 more than Minnesota on identical gross pay, and Oregon is last at $24,024. That ranking is specific to $30,000: flat-rate and graduated states change places as income rises, so Minnesota's neighbours on this table are different at other salaries.
Which of Minnesota's bands $30,000 tops out in
Minnesota taxes a single filer through four bands. $30,000 reaches the first of them, so the top slice of your Minnesota taxable income ($14,700 after the $15,300 Minnesota takes off first) is charged at 5.35%. The next band up begins $18,610 further on, so a raise of roughly that size is where your Minnesota rate next moves. The band $30,000 tops out in runs $33,310 from edge to edge, so it governs a long stretch of income. A raise has to be substantial before any of it is charged at a higher Minnesota rate.
This is the first band Minnesota publishes and $30,000 does not leave it, so every dollar of Minnesota taxable income here is charged at the one rate — there is nothing below it to be charged at less. The next edge is $18,610 of taxable income further on, and higher rungs of this ladder do cross it.
Maxing a 401(k) is not realistic at $30,000
The 2026 elective deferral limit is $24,500, which is 81.7% of a $30,000 salary. Nobody at this income is hitting it, and the advice to "max out your 401(k)" is written for a salary several rungs up this ladder. What is worth knowing is the rate: every dollar you do defer comes off at 12% federally plus 5.35% in Minnesota, so even a small contribution is bought at a real discount.
$30,000 beside the Minnesota minimum wage
The minimum wage in Minnesota is $11.41 an hour, which is $23,733 a year at forty hours a week. $30,000 is 1.3 times that. Run the floor through the same engine and it keeps $20,598 of that $23,733 — 13.2% withheld — against 15.4% at $30,000. The gap between those two shares is the graduated system doing its work: the extra $6,267 of gross is charged at higher rates than the first $23,733 ever is.
Statewide rate effective Jan 1, 2026 (inflation-adjusted, applies to all employers). 90-day training wage for under-20 workers is $9.31. Minneapolis ($16.37) and St. Paul (large/macro employers, $16.37) set higher local minimums.
The same $30,000 on the other filing statuses
Your filing status moves the standard deduction and stretches every federal band, and on $30,000 that is worth having: filing jointly on this same salary leaves $2,206 more in the year than filing single, and head of household $1,247 more. FICA and MN Paid Leave are identical in all three — they take no notice of who you are married to.
| Filing status | Federal tax | MN income tax | Take-home a year | Share withheld |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single / Married filing separately | $1,420 | $786 | $25,367 | 15.4% |
| Married filing jointly | $0 | $0 | $27,573 | 8.1% |
| Head of household | $585 | $375 | $26,614 | 11.3% |
How this figure was computed
Every number above is computed at build time by the same engine that runs the Minnesota paycheck calculator, from this repository's 2026 tax data file. Nothing is hand-typed and nothing is copied from another site.
- Gross
- $30,000 a year, spread evenly: $14.42 an hour, $1,153.85 a fortnight.
- Federal
- 2026 brackets on $13,900 taxable (gross less the $16,100 standard deduction), Rev. Proc. 2025-32 → $1,420.
- FICA
- Social Security $1,860 on all of $30,000, under the $184,500 base. Medicare $435.
- Minnesota
- Its own schedule on $14,700 after the $15,300 Minnesota subtracts first, through one band → $786. Plus MN Paid Leave at 0.44% → $132.00.
What this does not include
- Left out of the sums. Anything taken pre-tax (401(k), HSA, FSA, insurance premiums), any dependants or credits, itemised deductions, income that is not wages, and the half of FICA your employer pays. There is no local wage income tax in Minnesota, so that line is not missing anything.
- What is specifically live at $30,000. None of the following is in the take-home figure above, and all of it is real at this income: the Child and Dependent Care Credit, whose rate at this income is set by the §21 schedule described above.
A computed estimate, not tax advice. Your own W-4, benefits and credits move the number.
Frequently asked questions
What is the take-home pay on a $30,000 salary in Minnesota?
About $25,367 a year for a single filer taking the standard deduction, after federal income tax of $1,420, Social Security of $1,860, Medicare of $435, Minnesota income tax of $786 and MN Paid Leave of $132. In total 15.4% of gross pay is withheld.
What does $30,000 come to monthly after Minnesota taxes?
$2,114 a month, $975.64 on a fortnightly cycle and $1,056.94 paid twice a month. Federally you are in the 12% bracket and in Minnesota the 5.35% band, though neither rate applies to the whole salary.
What else does Minnesota withhold from $30,000 besides income tax?
MN Paid Leave at 0.44%, $132.00 a year. That is 0.4% of gross pay, withheld after tax, so it does not reduce your federal or state taxable income.
What does going from $30,000 to $40,000 actually add?
$7,456 more a year, $621 a month. That is 74.6% of the $10,000 raise; the rest goes to federal tax, FICA and Minnesota withholding.
Is $30,000 a good salary in Minnesota?
Context, not advice: it is below Minnesota's median HOUSEHOLD income of $87,117, a figure that often covers two earners, so a single earner on $30,000 is not as far off the middle as that comparison suggests. Housing cost is not modelled anywhere here.
Will this match my actual paycheck?
Not exactly. It models a single filer on the standard deduction with no 401(k), no premiums and no dependents; your W-4 and benefits move it. Use the Minnesota paycheck calculator for your own.
Sources
- Minnesota: source for the state figures on this page
- Minnesota: source for the state figures on this page
- MN Paid Leave: rate and withholding
- IRS: 2026 inflation-adjusted tax brackets
- IRS: Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 brackets, all statuses)
- Social Security Administration: Contribution and Benefit Base
- IRS: Topic no. 751, Additional Medicare Tax
Federal figures were last verified 2026-08-02.
Found an error? See our corrections log or contact us.