Minnesota Liquor License Guide: City On-Sale and Off-Sale Licenses, AGED and Fees
Minnesota Liquor License Guide: City On-Sale and Off-Sale Licenses, AGED and Fees
Minnesota does not issue a general statewide business license, and it does not issue your liquor license either. You apply to a city or county, so the fee, the paperwork and the timeline depend on where your business sits. This guide covers the on-sale and off-sale license types, the state fee caps and typical city fees, the background investigation, the state side handled by the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED), and the entity and tax steps that come before you apply.
This guide is informational only. It is not legal or tax advice. Liquor licensing rules, city ordinances and fee schedules change, so confirm every figure with the city clerk, the county or the agency named here. For a bar or restaurant that involves a lease, financing or a multi-owner structure, talk with a licensing attorney and a CPA before you commit.
Who issues your Minnesota alcohol license
Cities issue on-sale and off-sale intoxicating liquor licenses within their limits (Minn. Stat. 340A.404 and 340A.410). Counties license areas outside cities, and the state fee caps below also cover towns. Minnesota has 87 counties, about 853 cities and about 1,780 townships, so start by confirming which unit governs your address. The city clerk or county can tell you, and that answer decides whose fee schedule and forms you use.
The state side is handled by the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED). Your city or county grants the local license, but ask AGED which state requirements apply to your operation before you open.
On-sale, off-sale and wine: what each license covers
- On-sale: drinks served and consumed on the premises at a bar, restaurant or event venue. This is the license most people mean when they search for a minnesota bar license.
- Off-sale: intoxicating liquor sold in sealed containers to take away, the way a liquor store operates.
- Wine: a license limited to wine. Its fee may not exceed half the on-sale fee or $2,000, so confirm the exact limit with the issuing city.
Minnesota liquor license cost: fee caps and city examples
Off-sale fees are capped by the size of the city. Each cap covers the license fee plus any occupation tax the city adds (Minn. Stat. 340A.408, subd. 3).
| City or area | Maximum off-sale fee (fee plus occupation tax) |
|---|---|
| First-class cities | $1,500 |
| Cities over 10,000 outside the seven-county metro | $560 |
| Other cities over 10,000 | $380 |
| Cities from 5,000 to 10,000 | $310 |
| Cities under 5,000 | $240 |
| Counties and towns | $800 |
On-sale fees have no flat state cap. Each city sets its own fee to cover its costs, so the same bar can pay very different amounts from one city to the next. These 2026 city examples show the range. Treat them as examples and check the current schedule before you budget:
| City | License | Example fee |
|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis | Liquor on-sale, by entertainment tier | About $7,124 to $11,807 |
| Minneapolis | Off-sale | $1,500 |
| St. Paul | On-sale, 100 seats or less | $5,361 |
| St. Paul | On-sale, 291 seats or more | $6,448 |
| St. Paul | Off-sale | $1,500 |
| Rochester | Restaurant on-sale | $5,400 |
| Rochester | Exclusive on-sale | $7,900 |
Background and financial investigation
For an initial on-sale application, the city or county runs a background and financial investigation on the applicant. State law allows the issuing unit to charge up to $500 for it (Minn. Stat. 340A.412). Have ownership records, identification and financial information ready. Incomplete answers are the easiest way to slow this step down, so answer every question fully the first time.
Buyers must be 21 or older. Build that rule into your staffing and check-in process from day one.
Form the entity and register before you apply
A liquor license is issued to a legal entity, so most owners form one first. The filings below are Secretary of State filings. They are not licenses.
- LLC Articles of Organization: $155 online or in person, or $135 by mail. LLC formation needs no publication. The yearly Annual Renewal costs $0 and is due December 31. If the LLC is terminated for missing that date, reinstatement is $65 by mail or $85 online or in person on the current Secretary of State fee schedule, so confirm the figure there before you file.
- Corporation Articles of Incorporation: $155. The corporation franchise tax is 9.8 percent for C corporations.
- Name reservation: $55 for 12 months, renewable in 12-month periods.
- Assumed name (DBA): if the bar trades under a name other than the entity's legal name, file a Certificate of Assumed Name for $50 online or in person, or $30 by mail. It must be published for two successive issues in a qualified legal newspaper in the county of your principal place of business, and failure to publish may make it invalid. Renew it annually at no charge.
- Registered office: Minnesota requires a registered office at a Minnesota street address. A PO box alone is not accepted.
Before your first taxable sale, register with the Department of Revenue for a Minnesota Tax ID and a sales and use tax account. The state sales tax rate is 6.875 percent, with local taxes on top. Confirm with Revenue which of your sales are taxable.
Zoning, health and other approvals
Minnesota has no general statewide business license. Licensing happens by trade and activity, and local zoning and city licenses apply by category. License Minnesota (mn.gov/elicense) lets you browse required licenses by topic, by agency or through an A to Z index. Minneapolis and St. Paul license by category, and neither issues a general business license.
Check zoning before you sign a lease. Ask the city planning office whether the address allows the license type you want, because a site that does not fit the use can stop an application outright. If you serve food, confirm the health requirements with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and your local health authority.
How to apply, step by step
- Confirm which unit governs the address and get its current application and fee schedule.
- Confirm that zoning allows the site and the license type.
- Form the entity, reserve the name if needed, file any assumed name, and register for sales tax.
- File the application with the city or county and pay the fee on its schedule, including any occupation tax.
- For an initial on-sale application, expect the background and financial investigation and any charge of up to $500.
- Ask the clerk for the current timeline. This guide does not list a processing time for any city, so get the number in writing.
- Do not sell or serve until the license is issued.
What to budget for
- Entity filings: $155 for Articles, plus $55 if you reserve a name and $50 or $30 if you file an assumed name.
- Off-sale license: fee caps range from $240 to $1,500 depending on city size.
- On-sale license: city-set fees, which in the examples above run from several thousand dollars up to about $11,807.
- Background investigation: up to $500 for an initial on-sale application.
Where to get help
- Minnesota Secretary of State: https://www.sos.mn.gov/, with business filings at https://mblsportal.sos.mn.gov/Business/Search and assumed name forms at the assumed name page.
- Minnesota Department of Revenue: https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/, with the sales tax registration at the new business registration page.
- Minnesota Small Business Development Center Network, administered by the Department of Employment and Economic Development: https://mn.gov/deed/business/help/sbdc/.
- A licensing attorney for the application and ownership structure, and a CPA for the entity and sales tax setup.
Once you know which unit governs your address and what its schedule says, the rest of the process is a sequence of filings. Start with the zoning check. A complete application for a site that cannot host the use wastes the fee and the time, so settle the location first.