Minnesota’s Working Family Tax Credit boosts the incomes of working people across the state so they are better able to meet their basic needs and get their kids off to a strong start; it also makes Minnesota’s tax system more equitable. In 2022, more than 387,000 households received the Working Family Credit, including 14.6 percent of all Greater Minnesota households who filed Minnesota income taxes and 12.7 percent of all Twin Cities metro area income tax filers.1
Minnesota’s Working Family Credit is calculated based on a family’s earnings from work and family size. Families with children qualify for larger credits on average, and workers without dependent children in the home qualify for less. The Working Family Credit offsets a portion of the state and local taxes, such as sales taxes, that low- and moderate-income people pay.
The Working Family Credit especially reaches those Minnesotans who face structural barriers to economic security. Eligibility for the Working Family Credit is fairly similar to the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), for which some disaggregated data is available. In 2018, 35 percent of Minnesota households estimated to be eligible for the EITC were people of color; 15 percent were Black, non-Hispanic; 8 percent Hispanic or Latino; 6 percent Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic; and 6 percent another race or multi-racial (not white, non-Hispanic).3
| Working Family Credit Income Limits Tax Year 20222 | ||
| Number of children | Single or head of household filers | Married joint filers |
| None | $24,100 | $30,200 |
| One | $43,800 | $50,000 |
| Two | $50,300 | $56,500 |
| Three or more | $54,100 | $60,300 |
When data on the Working Family Credit becomes available for tax year 2023 and beyond, there will be big changes. Minnesota’s nation-leading Child Tax Credit (CTC) was implemented in 2023, along with substantial changes to the Working Family Credit. These income-boosting tax credits for low- and modest-income Minnesotans and their families aim to reduce child poverty and improve economic well-being.4
Thirty-one states including Minnesota, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, have tax credits like the Working Family Credit that are based on the federal EITC. Fourteen states, including Minnesota, plus Washington, D.C., have a Child Tax Credit.5 These credits build on the federal EITC’s and CTC’s documented success in supporting work, reducing poverty, and improving the health and education of children.6 Children in households receiving the EITC and CTC are also more likely to attend college and earn more as adults.7
The table below provides information about the importance of the Working Family Credit to each Minnesota county and the state as a whole in 2022.
Working Family Credits received by county of residence, Tax Year 20228
| County | Total Working Family Credits received | Number of households receiving the Working Family Credit | Average credit | Percent of filing households receiving the Working Family Credit |
| Aitkin | $702,255 | 1,137 | $618 | 15.2% |
| Anoka | $16,120,171 | 23,029 | $700 | 12.8% |
| Becker | $1,621,727 | 2,373 | $683 | 15.1% |
| Beltrami | $3,058,804 | 4,159 | $735 | 21.7% |
| Benton | $2,251,199 | 3,202 | $703 | 16.2% |
| Big Stone | $223,141 | 307 | $727 | 13.7% |
| Blue Earth | $3,006,073 | 5,590 | $538 | 18.0% |
| Brown | $1,091,949 | 1,621 | $674 | 12.8% |
| Carlton | $1,446,971 | 2,387 | $606 | 14.6% |
| Carver | $2,251,323 | 3,982 | $565 | 7.7% |
| Cass | $1,891,366 | 2,593 | $729 | 18.1% |
| Chippewa | $776,009 | 940 | $826 | 16.5% |
| Chisago | $1,881,285 | 3,092 | $608 | 11.1% |
| Clay | $3,239,568 | 4,379 | $740 | 16.1% |
| Clearwater | $521,888 | 704 | $741 | 18.9% |
| Cook | $250,052 | 440 | $568 | 15.1% |
| Cottonwood | $696,965 | 883 | $789 | 15.9% |
| Crow Wing | $3,252,663 | 4,971 | $654 | 15.5% |
| Dakota | $16,786,109 | 24,548 | $684 | 11.3% |
| Dodge | $766,751 | 1,179 | $650 | 11.7% |
| Douglas | $1,447,792 | 2,341 | $618 | 11.9% |
| Faribault | $770,111 | 1,047 | $736 | 16.2% |
| Fillmore | $828,354 | 1,204 | $688 | 12.3% |
| Freeborn | $2,025,557 | 2,571 | $788 | 18.1% |
| Goodhue | $1,638,144 | 2,531 | $647 | 10.8% |
| Grant | $278,187 | 408 | $682 | 14.9% |
| Hennepin | $53,343,673 | 77,879 | $685 | 12.8% |
| Houston | $637,495 | 1,048 | $608 | 11.9% |
| Hubbard | $1,250,465 | 1,680 | $744 | 17.0% |
| Isanti | $1,802,643 | 2,794 | $645 | 13.6% |
| Itasca | $2,316,016 | 3,405 | $680 | 16.7% |
| Jackson | $428,010 | 635 | $674 | 13.2% |
| Kanabec | $904,006 | 1,263 | $716 | 16.7% |
| Kandiyohi | $2,728,574 | 3,551 | $768 | 16.9% |
| Kittson | $156,046 | 227 | $687 | 12.5% |
| Koochiching | $569,446 | 893 | $638 | 16.3% |
| Lac Qui Parle | $292,964 | 427 | $686 | 14.0% |
| Lake | $405,958 | 666 | $610 | 13.0% |
| Lake of Woods | $223,625 | 297 | $753 | 15.8% |
| Le Sueur | $1,026,260 | 1,616 | $635 | 11.2% |
| Lincoln | $182,422 | 300 | $608 | 12.6% |
| Lyon | $1,472,284 | 1,928 | $764 | 16.7% |
| Mahnomen | $517,605 | 599 | $864 | 29.4% |
| Marshall | $374,102 | 553 | $676 | 13.6% |
| Martin | $1,208,042 | 1,664 | $726 | 17.6% |
| McLeod | $1,435,938 | 2,250 | $638 | 12.2% |
| Meeker | $906,317 | 1,307 | $693 | 11.8% |
| Mille Lacs | $1,396,998 | 1,984 | $704 | 16.2% |
| Morrison | $1,616,826 | 2,452 | $659 | 15.3% |
| Mower | $2,708,450 | 3,528 | $768 | 19.4% |
| Murray | $344,509 | 448 | $769 | 11.5% |
| Nicollet | $1,365,043 | 2,260 | $604 | 14.1% |
| Nobles | $1,205,110 | 1,478 | $815 | 15.5% |
| Norman | $322,454 | 467 | $690 | 16.5% |
| Olmsted | $6,821,189 | 9,978 | $684 | 12.6% |
| Otter Tail | $2,810,573 | 4,005 | $702 | 14.2% |
| Pennington | $650,868 | 1,010 | $644 | 15.6% |
| Pine | $1,462,253 | 2,222 | $658 | 17.0% |
| Pipestone | $429,197 | 602 | $713 | 14.6% |
| Polk | $1,552,083 | 2,159 | $719 | 16.2% |
| Pope | $442,739 | 660 | $671 | 11.8% |
| Ramsey | $33,638,867 | 43,541 | $773 | 17.1% |
| Red Lake | $176,473 | 238 | $741 | 13.8% |
| Redwood | $784,901 | 1,100 | $714 | 15.0% |
| Renville | $751,327 | 999 | $752 | 14.4% |
| Rice | $3,069,982 | 4,066 | $755 | 13.7% |
| Rock | $432,110 | 604 | $715 | 13.9% |
| Roseau | $719,309 | 1,074 | $670 | 14.7% |
| Scott | $5,377,342 | 7,758 | $693 | 10.5% |
| Sherburne | $3,823,927 | 5,547 | $689 | 11.8% |
| Sibley | $604,461 | 901 | $671 | 12.4% |
| St. Louis | $7,908,601 | 13,858 | $571 | 15.3% |
| Stearns | $9,320,443 | 12,492 | $746 | 16.7% |
| Steele | $1,898,031 | 2,693 | $705 | 14.7% |
| Stevens | $339,888 | 552 | $616 | 12.6% |
| Swift | $530,450 | 700 | $758 | 16.1% |
| Todd | $1,557,306 | 2,040 | $763 | 18.2% |
| Traverse | $142,820 | 177 | $807 | 13.2% |
| Wabasha | $807,837 | 1,249 | $647 | 11.5% |
| Wadena | $918,462 | 1,179 | $779 | 19.0% |
| Waseca | $915,910 | 1,342 | $682 | 15.0% |
| Washington | $7,891,703 | 12,684 | $622 | 9.5% |
| Watonwan | $651,961 | 852 | $765 | 17.8% |
| Wilkin | $300,161 | 413 | $727 | 14.3% |
| Winona | $1,723,509 | 3,095 | $557 | 14.1% |
| Wright | $4,366,609 | 7,055 | $619 | 10.1% |
| Yellow Medicine | $417,202 | 621 | $672 | 13.6% |
| Undesignated/ Other | $7,624,036 | 20,807 | $366 | 6.6% |
| TOTAL | $260,828,225 | 387,490 | $673 | 12.8% |
By Haleigh Sinclair
[1] Minnesota Department of Revenue, Tax Year 2022 Minnesota Income Tax Statistics by County. In this issue brief, we use the term “number of households” to refer to the number of income tax returns filed.
[2] Minnesota Department of Revenue, 2022 Schedule M1WFC, Minnesota Working Family Credit.
[3] Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Program Participation Data Dashboard, EITC – Estimated Race/Ethnicity, Education, and Language of Eligible Filers, data for 2018. We acknowledge that this data source does not include details about Native American communities or other disaggregated data that are important to fully illustrate the impact of this policy.
[4] Minnesota Budget Project, A Minnesota Child Tax Credit would unleash the power of the tax code to fight child poverty, May 2023.
[5] Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Interactive Map: States Should Continue Enacting and Expanding Child Tax Credits and Earned Income Tax Credits, August 2024.
[6] Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, States Can Enact or Expand Child Tax Credits and Earned Income Tax Credits to Build Equitable, Inclusive Communities and Economies, March 2023.
[7] Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, EITC and Child Tax Credit Promote Work, Reduce Poverty, and Support Children’s Development, Research Finds, October 2015.
[8] Minnesota Department of Revenue.