Live in Minnesota, work in Wisconsin
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Wisconsin takes
$2,107
on wages earned there
Minnesota takes
$449
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,557
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
credit covers itMinnesota charges more, so its credit covers everything Wisconsin takes. Both states collect; your total does not change. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Minnesota bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Crossing into Wisconsin for work does not raise your state tax at all. Minnesota asks for more than Wisconsin does, so the credit it gives you absorbs the whole Wisconsin bill. You end the year at $2,557 either way. The one thing the commute does cost you is a second tax return.
- Around 30,224 jobs link Minnesota to Wisconsin this way. That is modest next to the country's large corridors, and it makes no difference at all to what you owe. It might mean explaining your situation to a payroll department that sees it less often.
- Both states tax these wages and the commuter pays no more than they would have at home. Wisconsin takes its non-resident share first — $2,107 at the reference salary — and Minnesota, whose own liability on the same income is the larger of the two, credits that amount in full and collects the balance. The total is $2,557, identical to what an earner living and working in Minnesota would owe. ⚠️ The money is split between two treasuries rather than reduced, which matters at filing time: two state returns, not one.
- This is a smaller corridor by national standards — 30,224 jobs in Wisconsin held by Minnesota residents — but the rules that govern it are the same rules that govern the largest ones. Corridor size changes how familiar an employer's payroll department is with the paperwork, never the tax treatment.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,577
- Yours$58,016
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.77% | $3,577 |
| Yours77.35% | $58,016 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| Wisconsin takes, on wages earned there | $2,107 |
|---|---|
| Minnesota charges its residents | $2,557 |
| Less the credit Minnesota gives | $2,107 |
| Total state tax | $2,557 |
| If you also worked in Minnesota | $2,557 |
| Difference | $0 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- City wage taxes are not in these numbers. A few places charge them, and where they do the money is real. If your job in Wisconsin is inside a city that taxes workers, add that on top. Where it is not, the state figures above are the whole of it for Minnesota residents.
- Two assumptions sit under this page. First, that Wisconsin is where all your pay comes from. Second, that you go there rather than working from your kitchen in Minnesota. Mixed income changes how the credit is worked out, and remote days have their own rules in some states.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of Minnesota and Wisconsin takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether Wisconsin or Minnesota carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Wisconsin and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Minnesota limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Wisconsin portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Wisconsin rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Minnesota to Wisconsin comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in Wisconsin's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Minnesota and Wisconsin?
Not twice over. Both states have a claim — Wisconsin because you earn the money there, Minnesota because you live there — but Minnesota gives you credit for what Wisconsin took. The credit stops at what Minnesota would have charged on its own, so what you actually pay is the bigger of the two bills. Here that comes to $2,557 for the year.
Does working in Wisconsin cost me anything extra?
No. The state line is real on a map and invisible on your pay stub here. Your total is $2,557 either way. Keep the paperwork in mind though: crossing a line usually means filing twice even when it changes nothing.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Minnesota and Wisconsin?
Expect two. Living in Minnesota means filing there on everything you earn. Working in Wisconsin usually means filing there as well, on the part you earned inside it. The second one is often how the credit gets claimed, so skipping it can cost you money you are owed.
What if I work from home in Minnesota some days instead of going to Wisconsin?
Normally, days worked at home in Minnesota belong to Minnesota, and only the days you spend in Wisconsin are taxed there. That is the ordinary rule. The exception is real though: some states count your remote days as worked at the employer's location anyway. That flips the answer completely, so check Wisconsin's rule rather than assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Wisconsin on a source basis, Minnesota on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,557 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Why is the marginal state-tax cost of this crossing zero?
Marginal cost is zero because the binding liability is the residence state's. Minnesota's own charge on this income equals or exceeds Wisconsin's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,557. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in Wisconsin.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Minnesota requires a resident return reporting all income; Wisconsin requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Minnesota fall outside Wisconsin's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in Wisconsin throughout.