Minnesota Home Occupation Rules Compared: Minneapolis, St. Paul, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth and Lakeville

If you run a business out of your home in Minnesota, the rules that matter most come from your city, not the state. Minnesota has no general statewide business license, and home occupation rules are set by each city's zoning code. A bookkeeper or home bakery can face very different rules two suburbs apart. This guide compares five cities and shows what to check before you sign a lease, buy equipment or take your first client.

Searching for a minnesota home occupation permit usually turns up one answer for the whole state. In practice there is no single statewide permit. Some cities issue a permit, some require a registration or a signed affidavit, and Minneapolis requires no permit at all.

What the state does and does not license

Before comparing cities, separate the three kinds of paperwork that home business owners tend to confuse.

• Entity filings with the Secretary of State. Forming an LLC or corporation is a filing, not a license. An LLC files Articles of Organization under Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 322C, for $155 online or in person, or $135 by mail. Corporations file Articles of Incorporation under Chapter 302A for the same $155 filing fee. Neither requires newspaper publication. The annual renewal costs $0 and is due December 31 every year. A corporation's franchise tax is 9.8 percent.
• Assumed name (DBA) certificates. If you operate under a name other than your legal name, you file a Certificate of Assumed Name with the Secretary of State under Chapter 333. The fee is $50 online or in person, or $30 by mail. The certificate must be published for two consecutive issues in a qualified legal newspaper in the county where your principal place of business is located, and failure to publish may make it invalid. It renews annually at no charge.
• Tax registration with the Department of Revenue. This is not a license either, but you must register before making taxable sales. The state sales tax is 6.875 percent, and local taxes are added on top.

Activity licenses come from the agency that regulates the work. That may be the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI), the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division, the Office of Cannabis Management, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), MnDOT, the Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) office or a professional board. Search License Minnesota at mn.gov/elicense to see what applies to your activity. Local zoning rules and city licenses sit on top of all of that.

Quick comparison

City	What you need	Fee	Key rule
Minneapolis	Nothing filed. Zoning rules only	None, because there is no permit	Public hours 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; one sign up to 1 sq ft, non-illuminated
St. Paul	Zoning affidavit under Sec. 65.141	Confirm with the city	No groups or classes; no business in detached garages or accessory buildings
Brooklyn Park	Home business permit plus city registration	$40 a year, permit year Jan 1 to Dec 31	Registration is required before you operate
Lakeville	Home Occupation Permit (administrative, through Community Development)	Check with the city	Application form dated January 2026; confirm you have the current version
Plymouth	Permitted tier or licensed tier	Check with the city for each tier	Two tiers; ask staff which one fits your business
Maple Grove	Home occupation rules apply	No registration required	Rules apply, but there is no registration step

Minneapolis: zoning rules, no permit

Minneapolis does not issue a home occupation permit, and it does not issue a general business license. Home businesses are governed by the zoning code, Chapter 545. The main limits are these:

• Work is limited to residents of the home plus at most one nonresident employee.
• More than five clients a day may be judged excessive.
• Public hours are limited to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• One non-illuminated sign is allowed, up to 1 square foot.

Because nothing is filed with the city, the responsibility to check falls on you. A call to the city's zoning staff before you buy equipment or print signs is cheap insurance. Zoning complaints usually come from neighbors, and the code is enforced on what the neighbors see and hear.

St. Paul: a zoning affidavit

St. Paul requires a zoning affidavit under Section 65.141 of the city code. An affidavit is a signed statement, so read the conditions before you sign. The main limits are these:

• At most two people may work in the business, or three if the home has 4,000 square feet or more of living area. One of them must live in the home.
• Work may not take place in detached garages or other accessory buildings.
• Signs are limited to 2 square feet.
• Groups and classes are not permitted.

Ask the city to confirm how it counts people, including residents who work in the business, before you sign the affidavit. Confirm the affidavit fee, if any, with the city as well.

Brooklyn Park: an annual permit

Brooklyn Park requires a home business permit and registration with the city. The permit costs $40 a year, and the permit year runs from January 1 to December 31, so you renew every year. Registration is required, so do not open until both steps are complete. Ask the city whether any conditions beyond the standard ones apply to your activity.

Lakeville: an administrative Home Occupation Permit

Lakeville issues a Home Occupation Permit. It is an administrative permit handled through Community Development. The city's application form is dated January 2026, so make sure you are working from the current version and not an older download. The fee is not set out here, so check with the city for the current amount before you apply.

Plymouth: permitted and licensed tiers

Plymouth separates home occupations into a permitted tier and a licensed tier. Which one applies depends on the business, so describe your operation to city staff before you file. Fees are not set out here. Check the city for the fee attached to each tier before you commit to a particular application.

Maple Grove and the rest of the state

Maple Grove applies its home occupation rules but does not require registration. The five cities in this guide are a sample, not a map. Minnesota has about 853 cities, 87 counties and about 1,780 townships, and a rule that works in one city does not carry over to the next city or to a township. If you are moving or expanding, check the rules at the address where the business will actually operate.

Home child care is a different question

Licensed home child care is handled differently from other home businesses. Under Minn. Stat. 462.357 subd. 7, licensed family child care for 12 or fewer children, and group family child care for 14 or fewer, is a permitted single-family residential use. That means the city's home occupation rules do not decide whether a licensed home daycare of that size can operate. Licensing itself runs through DCYF, so start there. Programs larger than those sizes fall outside that provision, so confirm the zoning with your city before you plan a larger operation.

The state-level overview of home-based business requirements is on our home-based business page. Use this guide for the city comparison and that page for the statewide framework.

Steps before you apply

1. Confirm zoning with your city before you sign a lease, buy equipment or order signs.
2. Ask the city about every limit in its code for employees, client visits, hours, signs and any activity you plan to add later.
3. If you are forming an LLC, file Articles of Organization. Put the annual renewal on your calendar for December 31, since the renewal is free but failing to file has consequences.
4. If you operate under a name other than your legal name, file a DBA for $50 online or in person, or $30 by mail, then publish it for two consecutive issues in a qualified legal newspaper in your county.
5. Register with the Department of Revenue before you make taxable sales.
6. Check License Minnesota for any activity license your work requires, then check your city for the local permit or registration.

Where to confirm

• Minnesota Secretary of State: https://www.sos.mn.gov/
• Business search and online filings: https://mblsportal.sos.mn.gov/Business/Search
• Assumed name (DBA) forms and fees: https://www.sos.mn.gov/business-liens/business-forms-fees/assumed-namedba/
• Minnesota Department of Revenue: https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/
• License Minnesota: https://mn.gov/elicense
• Minnesota Small Business Development Center Network: https://mn.gov/deed/business/help/sbdc/

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. City zoning codes change, and the figures here reflect what was verified in October 2026. Confirm current rules, fees and forms with your city and the named state agency before you act. For a lease dispute, a home daycare, employees, or any tax question, talk with a qualified Minnesota attorney or a CPA.