If you work inside Duluth city limits, the Duluth MN minimum wage is higher than Minnesota’s statewide floor of $11.41 per hour, and every employer in the city owes the same local rate regardless of company size. The rate is set by city ordinance and adjusts automatically each January based on inflation, so the dollar figure changes year to year without any new vote.
Current Rate and How It Adjusts
Duluth once split employers into two tiers. Large employers with more than 100 workers hit $17.00 per hour first, while small employers followed a slower schedule and were paying $15.53 per hour during the final phase-in year. That split ended on January 1, 2025. Since then, one rate applies to every employer in the city.
Each January the rate rises according to an inflation index, following the same general approach the state uses, which relies on a federal consumer price measure and caps annual increases at 5 percent.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 177.24 – Payment of Minimum Wages Because the figure moves every year, confirm the current dollar amount with Duluth’s city administration or by checking the required workplace poster at your job site.
The old employer-size distinction matters now only as history. Any employer in Duluth still paying the lower small-employer rate after January 1, 2025, is out of compliance.
Duluth Rate vs. Minnesota State Minimum
Minnesota’s statewide minimum wage is $11.41 per hour as of January 1, 2026.2Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Minimum Wage in Minnesota When a city ordinance sets a higher floor, workers in that city are owed the higher local rate. The Minnesota Supreme Court confirmed in 2020 that state wage and hour law does not block local minimum wage ordinances.3Justia Law. Graco Inc v City of Minneapolis
For you, the practical point is simple. If you work inside Duluth, your employer owes the Duluth rate for those hours, even if the business is headquartered elsewhere or runs other locations where only the state minimum applies. Paying the $11.41 state figure is not enough.
Tipped Workers
Minnesota prohibits tip credits outright. The statute says no employer may directly or indirectly credit gratuities toward payment of the minimum wage.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 177.24 – Payment of Minimum Wages That rule carries straight into Duluth.
Servers, bartenders, baristas, and other tipped employees in Duluth must receive the full local minimum wage as base hourly pay. Tips sit on top. Your employer cannot count any share of your gratuities against the hourly rate they owe you.
Training Wage for Workers Under 20
Minnesota still allows a reduced training wage for workers under age 20 during their first 90 consecutive days on the job. At the state level, that rate is $9.31 per hour as of January 1, 2026.2Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Minimum Wage in Minnesota The training-wage concept applies to young workers in Duluth as well.
An employer cannot fire or cut hours for an existing employee to replace them with a cheaper under-20 trainee.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 177.24 – Payment of Minimum Wages Once the 90 days end or the worker turns 20, whichever comes first, full pay kicks in. In Duluth, full pay means the full local rate, not just the state floor.
If You’re Being Underpaid
If your paycheck is coming in below Duluth’s rate, you have options. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry’s Labor Standards division handles wage complaints statewide, including cities with their own ordinances. Reach them at 651-284-5075 or 800-342-5354 (press 5), or email dli.laborstandards@state.mn.us.4Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Contact Us Spanish-language help is available at the same number by pressing option 2.
You can also submit a written demand to your employer for the wages owed. Failure to pay within 24 hours of the demand can trigger a penalty, and you may bring a private lawsuit to recover the money plus liquidated damages and attorney fees.5Minnesota Office of the Attorney General. Common Employment Issues and Where to Go for Help
The deadline to file a wage claim is two years from the date each paycheck should have been paid. Wait longer and those wages are gone. Retaliation for filing a complaint or asserting your rights under Minnesota labor law is illegal, so your employer cannot lawfully fire you, cut your hours, or take other adverse action for raising the issue.
Workplace Posters
Minnesota requires employers to display minimum wage posters where employees can easily see them and to update those posters when the law changes.2Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Minimum Wage in Minnesota Duluth employers need to post both the state notice and any required local notice. If nothing is up at your workplace, that is itself worth raising with your employer or with the Department of Labor and Industry.