Saint Paul, MN
Saint Paul building permit cost
A Saint Paul building permit is priced from the City's own 103-row valuation table — "$0 to 500 = 36" at the bottom
stepping per $100 to $2,000 and per $1,000 from there to $1,522 at $100,000 — with three printed open bands above it ($1,499 + $8 per $1,000 to $500,000, $4,899 + $7 to $1,000,000, $8,463 + $5 beyond). On top: a plan check of 65% of the permit fee where the valuation exceeds $1,000, and the state surcharge Minnesota Statutes § 326B.148 states.
How this fee is calculated
These are the components the schedule defines for this permit, as they applied on 2026-09-28. A component only applies to your project if its conditions match — read that column before assuming a figure. Want a figure for your own project? Estimate this fee with the permit fee calculator.
| Component | Formula | Applies when | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building permit — $36.00 for the first $500, plus $5.00 per additional $100 or fraction thereofPermit fee | $36.00 + $50.00 per $1,000 of project valuation above $500, or fraction thereof | Project valuation up to $2,000 | — |
| Building permit — $2,001 to $25,000: $106.00 plus $21.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereofPermit fee | $106.00 + $21.00 per $1,000 of project valuation above $2,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $2,000 and up to $25,000 | — |
| Building permit — $25,001 to $50,000: $591.00 plus $15.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereofPermit fee | $591.00 + $15.00 per $1,000 of project valuation above $25,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $25,000 and up to $50,000 | — |
| Building permit — $50,001 to $100,000: $972.00 plus $11.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereofPermit fee | $972.00 + $11.00 per $1,000 of project valuation above $50,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $50,000 and up to $100,000 | — |
| Building permit — $100,001 to $500,000: $1,499.00 plus $8.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereofPermit fee | $1,499.00 + $8.00 per $1,000 of project valuation above $100,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $100,000 and up to $500,000 | — |
| Building permit — $500,001 to $1,000,000: $4,899.00 plus $7.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereofPermit fee | $4,899.00 + $7.00 per $1,000 of project valuation above $500,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $500,000 and up to $1,000,000 | — |
| Building permit — $1,000,000 and up: $8,463.00 plus $5.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereofPermit fee | $8,463.00 + $5.00 per $1,000 of project valuation above $1,000,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $1,000,000 | — |
| Plan check — 65% of the building permit fee, on valuations above $1,000Plan review | 65% of calculated permit fee | Project valuation over $1,000 | — |
| Minnesota state surcharge — one-half mill of the valuation, banded per M.S. 326B.148State surcharge | 0.05% of the first $1,000,000, plus 0.04% above $1,000,000, plus 0.03% above $2,000,000, plus 0.02% above $3,000,000, plus 0.01% above $4,000,000 | Every permit of this type | min $0.50 |
| Minnesota state surcharge — one-twentieth mill above $5,000,000State surcharge | $0.05 per $1,000 of project valuation above $5,000,000 | Project valuation over $5,000,000 | — |
A real permit fee is these components added together. The department’s final calculation is the one that applies — this is the schedule it will be based on.
A worked example
Follow the arithmetic by hand. Every line is produced by the engine from the rules above, so the total cannot drift away from the schedule behind it.
Worked example
A $150,000 addition — a valuation inside the first open band of the table, the ordinary mid-size commercial or multi-family job.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project valuation | $150,000 |
Example total
$3,208.35
An estimate, not an official fee. It is calculated from the published fee schedule as it applied on 2026-09-28. The permit office’s own calculation is the one that applies, and your project may fall under rules this schedule does not describe.
Fee schedule as of 2026-09-28Rules applied 3Rules considered 10
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Building permit — $100,001 to $500,000: $1,499.00 plus $8.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereofPermit feeThe sheet's printed open band, in full: "$100,001 TO $500,000 $1,499 for the first $100,000 plus $8 for each additional $1,000 or fraction thereof". The $1,499 is $23 below the $1,522 the closed table reaches at $100,000 — the document's own step down at the seam, charged as printed.Show the working
| $1,499.00 + $8.00 per $1,000 of project valuation above $100,000, or fraction thereof, in $1,000 steps | $1,899.00 |
Plan check — 65% of the building permit fee, on valuations above $1,000Plan reviewThe schedule's plan check block, read across its rows: "PLAN CHECK FEE: Valuations ≤ $1,000 = no fee; Valuations > $1,000 = 65% of permit fee from table above". Two things are stated there and both are modelled: the share is 65% of the permit fee rather than of the job, and a $1,000-or-less valuation is not charged a plan check at all — so the rule is gated on the valuation the table reads.Show the working
| 65% of calculated permit fee | $1,234.35 |
Minnesota state surcharge — one-half mill of the valuation, banded per M.S. 326B.148State surchargeThe schedule's surcharge block names the statute and defers to it above $1,000,000: "Value $1.00 - $1,000 = $0.50", "$1,000,000 = 0.0005 x Job Value", "> $1,000,000 = see statute", under the heading "Minnesota Statute 326B.148". The statute's bands are marginal and the marginal rates reproduce it exactly without a compensating base: one-half mill to $1,000,000 gives $500 at the seam, then two-fifths mill to $2,000,000 adds $400 for the $900 the statute prints at $2,000,000, and so on through three-tenths, one-fifth and one-tenth mill. The $0.50 is the schedule's own first row, the minimum the statute would otherwise let fall to a fraction of a cent.Show the working
| 0.05% of the first $1,000,000, plus 0.04% above $1,000,000, plus 0.03% above $2,000,000, plus 0.02% above $3,000,000, plus 0.01% above $4,000,000 | $75.00 |
| Total | $3,208.35 |
Fees that do not apply here
Listed so you can see what was considered and left out, rather than wondering whether something is missing. A rule can also be left out because it is not published for this permit at all, and that is stated where it matters.
- Building permit — $36.00 for the first $500, plus $5.00 per additional $100 or fraction thereof — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — $2,001 to $25,000: $106.00 plus $21.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereof — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — $25,001 to $50,000: $591.00 plus $15.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereof — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — $50,001 to $100,000: $972.00 plus $11.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereof — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — $500,001 to $1,000,000: $4,899.00 plus $7.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereof — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — $1,000,000 and up: $8,463.00 plus $5.00 per $1,000 or fraction thereof — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Minnesota state surcharge — one-twentieth mill above $5,000,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
Assumptions
- Calculated from 3 fee rules in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
The band's own words: "$100,001 TO $500,000 $1,499 for the first $100,000 plus $8 for each additional $1,000 or fraction thereof". $50,000 above the first $100,000 is fifty steps, so the permit fee is $1,499.00 + $400.00 = $1,899.00.
The plan check is 65% of that — $1,234.35 — because the sheet says "65% of permit fee from table above". The state surcharge is one-half mill of the valuation, $75.00. Total: $3,208.35.
Two seams are worth seeing from here. At $100,000 exactly the closed table pays $1,522.00 and the plan check is $989.30; one dollar more pays $1,507.00 and $979.55, because the printed open band's $1,499 base sits $23 below where the table stops. And at $500 or less the small end holds: $36.00 of permit fee, no plan check on a valuation at or under $1,000, and the surcharge's own $0.50 floor.
What is different in Saint Paul
Read as arithmetic rather than as rows, the table is four segments: $36.00 for the first $500 plus $5.00 per $100 to $2,000; $106.00 plus $21.00 per $1,000 to $25,000; $591.00 plus $15.00 to $50,000; and $972.00 plus $11.00 to $100,000. A $38,000 job lands in the third: $591.00 plus thirteen $15.00 steps, $786.00 — one of the 102 printed rows the arithmetic reproduces exactly.
Three rows it does not, and the page names them: the sheet omits its $81,001–$82,000 and $83,001–$84,000 rows entirely (the arithmetic gives $1,324 and $1,346), and prints $1,369 for $85,001–$86,000 where every neighbouring row says $1,368. The calculator charges the arithmetic, because the table states one rate across that band and the three rows are transcription noise rather than printed bases.
Above $100,000 the sheet prints bases instead of rows, and they step down at the seam: $1,499 for the first $100,000 against the $1,522 the closed table reaches at $100,000. Then the plan check at 65% of the permit fee — of the table's output, not of the job — and the state surcharge, one-half mill of the valuation with the sheet's own $0.50 floor, banded above $1,000,000 exactly as the statute bands it: $900 at $2,000,000, $1,500 at $5,000,000 and one-twentieth mill above.
What this figure does not include
Impact fees, utility connections and other departments’ permits are the usual omissions, and in some jurisdictions they are larger than the permit fee itself.
Not included in these figures
This is the building permit fee the schedule charges. It excludes:
- SAC, parkland dedication, zoning and other miscellaneous fees — the schedule's closing note says the calculation "does not include other fees that may be included to obtain your building permit".
- The demolition, fence, grading, stucco and moving rows on the same site — separate permits with their own bases (cubic feet, lineal feet, 1% of job cost).
- The valuation rules as a calculation — what Chapter 33.04 requires a valuation to include is quoted on the page; the calculator reads the valuation, it does not derive it.
- Plan review as a separate instrument — there is no plan-review table: the sheet states the relationship, 65% of the permit fee above $1,000 of valuation.
- Technology fees — none exist; the only levy above the City's own is the state surcharge, and the sheet prints it in the same table.
What you need before applying
- The valuation basis is fixed by the Legislative Code, not by the applicant's estimateRequired
The schedule is issued "Section 33.04 of the Saint Paul Legislative Code", and Chapter 33.04 also sets what a permit valuation must include. The City's other fee rows state the same discipline in words — the stucco/plaster page: "The value of the work must include the cost of installation, alteration, addition and repairs ... and all labor and materials necessary for installation. In addition, it shall include all material and equipment supplied by other sources when those materials are normally supplied by the contractor." The table reads a valuation the code defines; it does not derive one.
- The schedule is the building permit fee only — SAC, parkland dedication and zoning are separateRequired
The schedule's closing note, in full: "This calculation is for the building permit fee only and does not include other fees that may be included to obtain your building permit. An example would be SAC, Parkland Dedication, Zoning and other miscellaneous required fees)." A Sewer Availability Charge determination from the Metropolitan Council, parkland dedication, and the zoning review rows on the demolition and fence pages are all charged beside the permit, and none of them is in the table.
Common questions
How much is a building permit in Saint Paul?
The City's fee schedule prices it from total valuation: $36.00 for the first $500 plus $5.00 per additional $100 to $2,000, then $21.00 per $1,000 to $25,000, $15.00 to $50,000 and $11.00 to $100,000 — $1,522.00 at $100,000 — followed by three open bands at $1,499 + $8, $4,899 + $7 and $8,463 + $5 per $1,000. A $150,000 job is $1,899.00 of permit fee before the plan check and surcharge.
How is the plan check calculated?
The schedule's own two rows answer it: "Valuations ≤ $1,000 = no fee" and "Valuations > $1,000 = 65% of permit fee from table above". The share is of the permit fee rather than of the job — $1,234.35 on a $1,899.00 permit fee — and a valuation of $1,000 or less pays no plan check at all.
What is the Minnesota state surcharge on a Saint Paul permit?
The schedule prints the first rows and defers for the rest: $0.50 for a valuation of $1.00 to $1,000, one-half mill (0.0005) of the job value up to $1,000,000, and "see statute" above it. Minnesota Statutes § 326B.148 then bands it — $500 plus two-fifths mill above $1,000,000, $900 plus three-tenths above $2,000,000, and so on to $1,500 plus one-twentieth mill above $5,000,000. A $2,000,000 job pays $900.00.
Why does the fee drop between $100,000 and $100,001?
Because the sheet prints it that way. The closed table reaches $1,522.00 at $100,000, and the open band above it starts at "$1,499 for the first $100,000 plus $8 for each additional $1,000 or fraction thereof" — $23 lower at the seam. The calculator charges each row as printed, exactly as it does at Minneapolis's $25,000 seam; it does not smooth a step the document contains.
Does the schedule's table have missing or wrong rows?
Three, and the page names them: the sheet omits its $81,001–$82,000 and $83,001–$84,000 rows entirely, and prints $1,369 for $85,001–$86,000 where its own $11.00-per-$1,000 arithmetic gives $1,368. The calculator charges the arithmetic — the two omitted rows at $1,324 and $1,346 — because the table states one continuous rate across that band and the print defects are not printed bases. The unprinted rows are the only fees on the page that appear in no document.
Is the permit fee the whole cost of a Saint Paul building permit?
No, and the schedule says so in its closing note: "This calculation is for the building permit fee only and does not include other fees that may be included to obtain your building permit. An example would be SAC, Parkland Dedication, Zoning and other miscellaneous required fees)." A Sewer Availability Charge determination, parkland dedication, the $90.00 zoning review row on other permit types, and any contractor's plan review costs sit outside the table.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
DSI Building Permit Fee Schedule (effective 2/25/2023)
Three pages, read 2026-09-25 with pdftotext. The header: "DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY & INSPECTIONS (DSI) BUILDING PERMIT FEE SCHEDULE ... Section 33.04 of the Saint Paul Legislative Code ... Effective: 2/25/2023". Pages 1 and 2 are the closed valuation table — "$0 to 500 = 36" then $100-wide rows to $2,000 and $1,000-wide rows to "$99,001 to 100,000 = 1,522" — and page 3 prints the three open bands ($100,001-$500,000, $500,001-$1,000,000, $1,000,000 & Up), the state surcharge block under "Minnesota Statute 326B.148", the plan check block ("Valuations ≤ $1,000 = no fee; Valuations > $1,000 = 65% of permit fee from table above"), and the closing note: "This calculation is for the building permit fee only and does not include other fees that may be included to obtain your building permit. An example would be SAC, Parkland Dedication, Zoning and other miscellaneous required fees)." The table omits its $81,001–$82,000 and $83,001–$84,000 rows and prints $1,369 for $85,001–$86,000 where its own arithmetic gives $1,368 — three defects recorded in the research record and named on the page.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.