Business licenses and permits in Minnesota

What applies everywhere in Minnesota

15 requirements are set by Minnesota itself and apply whichever city you open in. Local permits sit on top of them.

Sources

Every statewide figure above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

1. Minnesota Statutes section 302A.821 — the annual corporate renewal, its December deadline and administrative dissolutionMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
2. Minnesota Statutes section 322C.0705 — an LLC that has not filed a renewal is administratively terminatedMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
3. Minnesota Secretary of State — business filing and certification fee scheduleOffice of the Minnesota Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08
4. Minnesota Statutes section 322C.0201 — an LLC is formed when articles are filed with a payment of $135Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
5. Minnesota Statutes section 325F.58 — the Truth in Repairs Act's estimate duties, which create no licenceMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
6. A Guide To Starting a Business in Minnesota, forty-third edition, January 2025 — the state's own start-up guide and directory of licenses and permitsMinnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
7. Minnesota Statutes section 154.003 — barber board fees including shop registrationMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
8. Minnesota Board of Barber Examiners — Owning a Barbershop, stating that all barber shop registrations expire June 30 annuallyMinnesota Board of Barber Examiners · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08
9. Minnesota Statutes section 157.16 — food and beverage establishment license fees, the category bands and the statewide hospitality feeMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
10. Minnesota Rules 4626.0033 — the certified food protection manager requirement and its exemptionsMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
11. Minnesota Department of Health — how to become a certified food protection manager, and the three-year termMinnesota Department of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
12. Minnesota Statutes section 142B.12 — child care license fees by capacity, and the absence of a fee for family child careMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
13. Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry — residential contractor licensing, fees and insuranceMinnesota Department of Labor and Industry · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
14. Minnesota Department of Health — plan review and license fees, effective 1 July 2025Minnesota Department of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
15. Minnesota Department of Health — food, pool and lodging licensing, and how the type of food and the location decide which agency licenses youMinnesota Department of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
16. Hennepin County — 2026 food, beverage and lodging license fees, issued under delegationHennepin County Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
17. Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry — mechanical contractor bond requirements, confirming there is no state HVAC licenseMinnesota Department of Labor and Industry · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
18. Minnesota Statutes section 326B.89 — the contractor recovery fund, its per-license fees and its payout capsMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
19. Minnesota Statutes section 297A.83 — the complete requirements for a sales tax permit application, which impose no feeMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
20. Minnesota Statutes section 297A.84 — a sales tax permit is valid until cancelled or revokedMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
21. Minnesota Statutes section 155A.25 — cosmetology fees, including the three-year salon licenseMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
22. Minnesota Statutes section 156.015 — the complete Board of Veterinary Medicine fee list, which contains no facility feeMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
23. Minnesota Statutes section 156.121 — facility inspection, a complaint-triggered power with no registration behind itMinnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03

Which Minnesota city are you opening in?

• Hennepin County, MNHennepin County is almost entirely incorporated into cities, with the sole exception of the tiny unorganized territory of Fort Snelling (about 6.7 square miles, population 322). The county's own ordinance index runs to five categories — Health; Law enforcement; Licenses, property, and roads; Solid waste; and Special taxes — and carries no building or zoning ordinance at all, so building permits and zoning for ordinary commercial sites come from each city instead. What the county does regulate runs through three separate city-by-city delegation rosters that do NOT match each other: food/pool/lodging licensing excludes six cities (Minneapolis, Bloomington, Edina, Richfield, Minnetonka, Brooklyn Park), body art licensing excludes a different seven (the same six plus New Hope), and septic (SSTS) permitting excludes a third, unrelated five (Dayton, Independence, Medina, Orono, Woodland) — Wayzata is covered by the county for all of these, having joined the county's food/pool/lodging program on February 1, 2025. Family child care home licensing and the hazardous waste generator license apply countywide with no city exclusion at all, Minneapolis included. Retail tobacco licensing runs the other way: the county's own jurisdiction is narrow, reaching only a handful of small cities and unincorporated pockets without their own compliant ordinance. Hennepin County's own business licenses and certificates page lists no general business license, no contractor license or registration, no animal-control/kennel/veterinary programme and no salon/cosmetology license, and Minn. Stat. §340A.404, subd. 6 confines the county board's liquor-licensing authority to the unorganized or unincorporated area — for Hennepin, essentially only Fort Snelling — so each of these is a city or a state function instead.20 published records
• Dakota County, MNDakota County is a Twin Cities metropolitan county seated in Hastings, and its cities and townships are separate governments: the county's building and zoning page states that "All cities and townships in Dakota County have land use and zoning authority. Building permits are issued by the city or township. Additional county permits are required in townships within designated shoreland and floodplain." The county's Cities & Townships page lists the cities of Apple Valley, Burnsville, Coates, Eagan, Empire, Farmington, Hampton, Hastings, Inver Grove Heights, Lakeville, Lilydale, Mendota, Mendota Heights, Miesville, New Trier, Northfield, Randolph, Rosemount, South St. Paul, Sunfish Lake, Vermillion and West St. Paul, together with the county's townships; each city and township runs its own business licensing, building permits and zoning, which stack on top of anything the county requires. The county's own licenses reach different areas: liquor licensing covers businesses outside city limits, retail tobacco licensing covers townships, unincorporated areas and the cities of Coates, Empire, Hampton, Miesville and Vermillion, septic permits cover the county's septic jurisdiction (shoreland areas, the cities of Randolph, New Trier and Hastings and the townships of Randolph and Waterford), and shoreland/floodplain permits cover township shoreland and floodplain areas. The hazardous waste generator license and the Ordinance 110 business recycling and organics duties are stated by the county for businesses in Dakota County generally. Food, beverage and pool licensing is a state (Minnesota Department of Health) matter listed under the state record. The county's Business Licenses and Permits index lists Auctioneer, Marriage Officiant, Notary, Precious Metal Dealer, Transient Merchant, In-home Child Care, Tobacco, Liquor, Cannabis Retail, Gambling, Building and Land Use, Business Hazardous Waste, Well, Waste Hauler and Facilities, Highway, Assembly and Temporary Cannabis Events.17 published records
• Minneapolis, MNThe City's 2026 License Fees list prices activity-specific licenses, in more than 600 numbered fee lines, rather than a single blanket business license. Minneapolis runs its own municipal food licensing program directly, not Hennepin County. The City's Certificate of Occupancy Policy states that there is no fee for a certificate of occupancy inspection. The City publishes its fee tables as Smartsheet pages linked from official city pages.14 published records
• Washington County, MNWashington County, Minnesota, seat Stillwater; population 283,960 (U.S. Census Bureau 2024 estimate). Washington County Public Health and Environment licenses food establishments under Ordinance 215 and public pools and spas under Ordinance 183, each of which applies to establishments "located in Washington County", and the Minnesota Department of Health's list of local food, pools and lodging contacts names the county department for Washington County. The same department licenses hazardous waste generators in all incorporated and unincorporated areas (Ordinance 195), issues septic (SSTS) permits under Development Code Chapter 4 (Ordinance 206), and licenses tobacco retailers (Ordinance 216) and registers cannabis and hemp retailers (Ordinance 219) only in the cities and townships listed on each program's own page. Property Records and Taxpayer Services issues alcohol licenses for six townships, transient merchant licenses under Minn. Stat. §329.11 and precious metal dealer licenses under Minn. Stat. §325F.733. Community Services licenses family child care homes. The cities and townships in the county are separate governments, and each one's own license, permit and zoning rules stack on these county records for businesses within it.13 published records
• Anoka County, MNAnoka County, seat Anoka, is a north-metro Twin Cities county made up of cities and townships, among them Blaine, Coon Rapids, Andover, Fridley, Ramsey, Anoka and Linwood Township, and each city and township is a separate government that runs its own business licensing, building permits and inspections on top of anything the county requires. The county's Zoning & Planning page states: "In Anoka County, zoning and planning are handled by municipalities." Its Environmental Services page states that the county "does not have records for private septic systems in Anoka County municipalities and all permitting is done at the city level." Its Misc Licenses page states that "All other liquor licensing in the county are handled by the cities", the county handling temporary beer and liquor event applications for Linwood Township only. The county's own licenses that reach the industries on this site are environmental-health licenses from Public Health & Environmental Services (food establishments, mobile food units, temporary food stands, public pools and spas, hazardous waste and used oil generators, and retail tobacco where a city or town does not license), family child care home licensing by Human Services as an agent of the state, precious metal dealer and transient merchant licenses from the Vital Records Office, and access and right-of-way permits for work on county roads from the Highway Department.12 published records
• St. Paul, MNFood establishments in St. Paul are licensed directly by the Minnesota Department of Health — neither the city nor Ramsey County runs food-service permitting here, unlike most Minnesota cities. No blanket business license exists; roughly 200 activity-specific license types are issued by the Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI).11 published records
• Ramsey County, MNRamsey County, Minnesota, seat Saint Paul; population 542,015 (U.S. Census Bureau 2024 estimate). Saint Paul – Ramsey County Public Health's Environmental Health division licenses food establishments, mobile food units and food carts, food stands and public swimming pools in every Ramsey County city except Saint Paul and Maplewood, under the county's Food Protection Ordinance and Public Swimming Pool Ordinance; it also licenses hazardous waste generators throughout the county under the Hazardous Waste Management Ordinance. Property Tax Services issues precious metal dealer licenses (Minn. Stat. §325F.733) and transient merchant licenses (Minn. Stat. §329.11), and the county's Child Care Licensing unit licenses family child care in homes. Environmental Health fees come from the 2026 column of the county's 2026–2027 fee schedule as adopted by Resolution B2026-018 (January 27, 2026). Saint Paul, Maplewood and the county's other cities are separate governments, and each city's own business licenses, zoning and building permits stack on these county records for businesses within it.8 published records
• Rochester, MNThe City of Rochester's Business Licenses page states: 'There is no general business license required by the City of Rochester. Only certain specific types of businesses are required to obtain a license from the City.' Olmsted County Public Health Services runs food-service permitting for Rochester, a third model distinct from Minneapolis (city-run) and St. Paul (state-run directly). The City's 2026 Master Fee Schedule lists no salon, auto-repair or veterinary license category.8 published records
• St. Louis County, MNSt. Louis County, Minnesota, seat Duluth; population 200,794 (U.S. Census Bureau 2024 estimate). The County Auditor licenses liquor sales in organized and unorganized townships under Ordinance 28, and issues tobacco licenses under Ordinance 51, transient merchant licenses under Minn. Stat. §329.11 and precious metal dealer licenses under Minn. Stat. §325F.733. The Planning & Zoning Department's Land Use Division issues land use, home business and conditional use permits under Zoning Ordinance 62, which by its §1.3 covers the part of the county outside the incorporated limits of municipalities and by its §11.6 A does not apply in towns that have filed their own consistent zoning ordinance; the Onsite Wastewater Division issues septic (SSTS) permits under Ordinance 61. Public Health & Human Services licenses family child care homes. County fees come from the 2026 Fee Schedule (Resolution No. 25-527 as amended after the January 27, 2026 public hearing). Duluth and the county's other cities are separate governments: the Auditor's page directs liquor applicants inside a city to the city clerk, and each city's own license, zoning and building rules stack on the state records for businesses within it.7 published records

Is there a single Minnesota business license?

Who issues permits in Minnesota?

• Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing DivisionResidential contractor licensing · Electrical and plumbing contractor licensing · Mechanical contractor bonds4 permits
• Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, Business Services DivisionEntity formation · Annual renewals · Assumed names4 permits
• Minnesota Department of Health, Food, Pools and Lodging ServicesRestaurant, bar, caterer and food cart licensing · Certified food protection manager certification · Delegation agreements with local public health2 permits
• Minnesota Board of Barber ExaminersBarber shop registration · Barber licensing1 permit
• Minnesota Board of Cosmetologist ExaminersSalon licensing · Cosmetologist licensing1 permit
• Minnesota Board of Veterinary MedicineVeterinarian licensing · Veterinary technician licensing1 permit
• Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and FamiliesChild care centre licensing · Family child care oversight1 permit
• Minnesota Department of Revenue, Business RegistrationMinnesota tax ID · Sales and use tax accounts1 permit

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