Real estate license in Minnesota: cost, hours and steps
Minnesota builds its $208 entry cost from four separate charges, two of them set by statute outside the license fee.
Real estate license fees in Minnesota
$208
paid to the state and its exam and fingerprint vendors
| Application and license | $70 |
| Exams | $68 |
| Other state fees | $70 |
| Training: 90 pre-licensing course hours | about 6 weeks |
| Renewal fee | not on the pages read |
Real estate salesperson license. Fees read on official pages, October 20, 2026.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Initial salesperson license (Minn. Stat. 82.57) | $70 |
| Education, research and recovery fund, initial license | $30 |
| Technology surcharge (up to) | $40 |
| Salesperson combo state and national exam (PSI) | $68 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How the totals are built · Minnesota Department of Commerce · read October 20, 2026
A Minnesota real estate salesperson license costs $208 in fees when the technology surcharge is counted at its maximum: $70 for the initial license under Minnesota Statutes section 82.57, $30 for the education, research and recovery fund under section 82.86, a technology surcharge of up to $40, and $68 for the PSI salesperson exam combining the state and national portions. That equals Illinois and sits near the median of $203 for the 20 states priced here. The Department of Commerce licenses salespeople, and education comes as three courses of 30 hours each, 90 in total, with Course I taken before the exam and Courses II and III before applying for the license. The statute sets each renewal at $40, but the length of the license period and the continuing education hours were not on the official pages read.
Four lines on one license
Minnesota keeps its license fee low and adds separate statutory charges around it. Section 82.57 sets the initial salesperson license at $70 and allows a technology surcharge of up to $40; the calculator counts the full cap because the actual surcharge could not be confirmed. Section 82.86 then requires anyone receiving an initial license to pay $30 into the education, research and recovery fund, in addition to every other fee. Finally the PSI exam costs $68 for the combined state and national version.
Minnesota PSI exam if you sit more than once
Real estate exam fees in Minnesota
$136
| First attempt | $68 |
| Each retake adds | $68 |
| All first-license fees | $276 |
Courses interleaved with the exam
Unlike states where all education comes first, Minnesota splits its 90 hours around the exam. Course I must be completed before you sit for the exam. Courses II and III can follow, but both must be finished before the license application. That lets a candidate test early and keep studying, and it means the timeline is roughly 6 weeks of coursework at 15 hours a week, with the exam somewhere in the first third.
Renewal: what is known
The renewal fee is written in the same sentence of the statute as the initial fee: $40 for each renewal. Two things are missing from the pages read: how long each license period lasts, and how many hours of continuing education a renewal requires. The recovery fund also collects a smaller fee at each renewal, and the technology surcharge applies again. Because the cycle is unknown, the calculator does not project renewal costs for Minnesota; check the Department of Commerce before counting on any multi-year figure.
Licensed in another state
The PSI bulletin states that applicants licensed in another state only need to take the state portion of the exam. The fees for that route differ from the totals above. Illinois and Indiana show how two other Midwest states price entry.
Every real estate fee in Minnesota, with its source
| Fee | Amount | In the total | Read on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial salesperson license (Minn. Stat. 82.57) | $70 | counted | source |
| Education, research and recovery fund, initial license | $30 | counted | source |
| Technology surcharge (up to) | $40 | counted | source |
| Salesperson combo state and national exam (PSI) | $68 per attempt | counted | source |
| Renewal | Value |
|---|---|
| Cycle | not read on an official page |
| Fee | $40 |
| Continuing education | not read on an official page |
| Required training | 90 pre-licensing course hours. Courses I, II, III, 30 hours each; Course I before the exam, II and III before applying. |