Every deadline, width and penalty here was read on September 23, 2026, off the city's own page or the municipal code that city hosts, and each one is quoted and linked beside the line it supports. Cities amend these ordinances between winters and several publish the deadline on a seasonal page that changes in autumn, so the link beside a line is what governs on the day.

Minnesota Sidewalk Snow Removal: 24 Hours in Every City

Q: How wide does a cleared path have to be in Minnesota?

Four Minnesota cities set a width, and Duluth sets the full width of the sidewalk down to the pavement, on all sides of the property. 57 cities nationally publish one; the rest describe the walk rather than measure it, and the city named on each line is the one that reads the result.

Q: Does snow have to be cleared from the sidewalk or the street in Minnesota?

The rules collected here are sidewalk rules, and the great majority of Minnesota cities publish a second one about where the snow may go once it has been moved, most often forbidding it on the travelled part of the road. Both come off the same city pages linked below, and the Minnesota cities that publish only the second are listed as such rather than folded in with the rest.

Q: Which cities in the country give you the least time?

St. Louis, Santa Fe, Sheridan, where the ordinance allows no hours at all. Above them, 57 of the 150 cities that count in hours give twelve hours or less, 74 give exactly a day, and 18 give more than a day. The widest gap inside a single state is Maine, from four hours to three days.

A rule, not a clock

What state law sets

Minnesota Statutes 429.101, subdivision 1

24h

What its cities allow

in every city that counts in hours

6 of 6

Cities with an ordinance

6 clear it themselves and bill

September 23, 2026

Read

3 publish a penalty

The short answer

Duluth gives a day, and Minnesota sets nothing above it

Minnesota has a statute that does one thing only, which is to let a local government pass a rule of its own. The clock is a city's instead, and six Minnesota cities count in hours. Nationally the deadlines run from no hours at all to three days across 150 cities, and no state legislature anywhere has put a number on it.

Three of the Minnesota cities below publish somewhere to report a walk that has not been cleared, linked on its own line. The city that publishes the rule is the city that answers questions about it.

A city may6 of 6 cities with an ordinance6 counting in hours6 clear it themselves

City by city, in each city’s own words

The 6 Minnesota cities that publish an ordinance

Six Minnesota cities publish a count of hours, and each one below is quoted from the ordinance or the city page it was read from. A day is the commonest figure in Minnesota as it is nationally: 74 of the 150 cities that count in hours land on exactly that.

Each card below carries what that city published and nothing else: the deadline in its own sentence, the sentence it was read from, and the width, the penalty and the wording about ice where the city printed them. The chip is a band derived from the wording for sorting, not a restatement of it.

Duluth
13h to 24h
within 24 hours after the end of a snowfall
Duluth ordinance requires that property owners clear sidewalks after the end of a snowfall within 24 hours.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
property owners
What it says about ice
Remove all ice from sidewalks. After the sidewalk is clear, sprinkling a little sand can help prevent slipping on frosty sidewalks.
- Width the full width of the sidewalk down to the pavement, on all sides of the property
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Duluth Legislative Code Chapter 45, Article VI Snow Removal, sections 45-56 to 45-62
- Published by City of Duluth Life Safety Division
Snow Shoveling Information, City of Duluth, read September 23, 2026
Mankato
13h to 24h
within 24 hours after such snow or ice has ceased to be deposited upon such sidewalk
Any accumulation of snow or ice upon any public sidewalk is hereby declared to constitute a public nuisance which shall be abated by the owner or occupant of the property abutting such sidewalk within 24 hours after such snow or ice has ceased to be deposited upon such sidewalk.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the owner or occupant of the property abutting such sidewalk
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Mankato Code of Ordinances section 14-2
- Published by Mankato Code of Ordinances, City of Mankato
Sec. 14-2 Ice and snow on public sidewalks, Mankato Code of Ordinances, read September 23, 2026
Minneapolis
13h to 24h
within the first twenty-four (24) hours after the ceasing to fall of any snow for one- and two-family dwellings; within the first four (4) hours of daytime for every other building or lot
The owners, occupants or persons having the care, custody and control of any building that is a one- or two-family dwelling shall cause the snow and/or ice to be removed from the public sidewalk abutting or adjoining the lot upon which such building is situated, within the first twenty-four (24) hours after the ceasing to fall of any snow, and shall cause sand to be sprinkled on the sidewalk where there is snow or ice upon the sidewalk that cannot be removed.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the owners, occupants or persons having the care, custody and control of any building that is a one- or two-family dwelling; elsewhere the person having the care, custody or control of any building or lot
What it says about ice
If the snow is packed down or there's ice you cannot remove, sprinkle sand until it's warm enough to remove the buildup.
- Width the entire width of the city sidewalk on the entire property, down to bare pavement
- Penalty a petty misdemeanor, and each hour after the deadline is a separate violation
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Minneapolis Code of Ordinances 445.20; penalty and daytime defined 445.30; removal by city 445.35
- Published by Minneapolis Public Works, City of Minneapolis
Chapter 445 Snow and Ice Removal, Minneapolis Code of Ordinances, read September 23, 2026 Where the city takes reports
Rochester
13h to 24h
within 24-hours of snowfall ending
All snow, ice, dirt and rubbish remaining on a public sidewalk or pedestrian ramp more than 24 hours after its deposit thereon is a public nuisance. The owner and the occupant of any property adjacent to a public sidewalk or pedestrian ramp shall use due diligence to keep such walk safe for pedestrians. No such owner or occupant shall allow snow, ice, dirt or rubbish to remain on the sidewalk or pedestrian ramp longer than 24 hours after its deposit thereon.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the owner and the occupant of any property adjacent to a public sidewalk or pedestrian ramp
What it says about ice
Remove ice to bare pavement or make as level as possible and treat with sand, sawdust or similar material.
- Width the width of the sidewalk
- Penalty in a residential zone $40 for a first citation, $60 for a second and $120 for a third or more; in a commercial, central business district or industrial zone $60, $100 and $200
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Rochester Code of Ordinances 9-6-2; removal by director of public works 9-6-3
- Published by Rochester Public Works, City of Rochester
Sidewalk Snow Removal, City of Rochester Minnesota, read September 23, 2026 Where the city takes reports
Saint Paul
13h to 24h
within twenty-four (24) hours after the snow and/or ice has ceased to fall, gather or accumulate
The owner or occupant of any building or lot abutting a public sidewalk is responsible for and shall remove any accumulation of snow and/or ice from said public sidewalk within twenty-four (24) hours after the snow and/or ice has ceased to fall, gather or accumulate.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the owner or occupant of any building or lot abutting a public sidewalk
What it says about ice
Property owners/managers must clear all ice from sidewalks. If you plan to use salt or sand to melt ice, remember: a little goes a long way.
- Width the full width of the sidewalk, including hard boulevards where there is street parking
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Saint Paul Legislative Code Chapter 113, sections 113.02, 113.03 and 113.07
- Published by Saint Paul Public Works, City of Saint Paul
Chapter 113 Snow and Ice on Sidewalks, Saint Paul Legislative Code, read September 23, 2026 Where the city takes reports
St. Cloud
13h to 24h
within 24 hours following the termination of any snowstorm or the formation of ice from any cause
The owner or occupant of every building or tract of land within the city fronting upon any street, having a sidewalk abutting upon the premises, will clear the sidewalk of snow and ice within 24 hours following the termination of any snowstorm or the formation of ice from any cause and will keep the same clear and free from snow and ice.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the owner or occupant of every building or tract of land within the city fronting upon any street
What it says about ice
The owner or occupant of every building or tract of land within the city fronting upon any street, having a sidewalk abutting upon the premises, will clear the sidewalk of snow and ice within 24 hours following the termination of any snowstorm or the formation of ice from any cause.
- Penalty a penal offense
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section St. Cloud City Code section 680:05; city removal 680:10; penal offense 680:15; public works fees 589:00
- Published by St. Cloud Public Works, City of St. Cloud
Section 680 Weed, Rubbish, Snow and Ice Removal, St. Cloud City Code, read September 23, 2026

What Minnesota itself did

The Minnesota statute, and what it does not do

Minnesota sets no statewide shovelling deadline. The statutes only let a city put the duty on the owner or occupant by ordinance and then collect the cost of clearing as a special assessment.

That is the national pattern rather than a Minnesota quirk. 13 of the 50 legislatures have a statute that touches sidewalk snow at all, 10 of those do nothing but let a city decide, and not one of them sets a deadline. The clock is a municipal ordinance everywhere in the country.

Permission for a local government to write one

Minnesota Statutes 429.101, subdivision 1

Office of the Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota

has a statute that does one thing only, which is to let a local government pass a rule of its own

In addition to any other method authorized by law or charter, the governing body of any municipality may provide for the collection of unpaid special charges as a special assessment against the property benefited for all or any part of the cost of: (1) snow, ice, or rubbish removal from sidewalks;

Office of the Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

What happens if it is not done

A bill or a penalty, depending on the Minnesota city

Six Minnesota cities publish a rule letting the city clear the walk and put the cost on the property. That is the commoner enforcement route nationally: 102 of the 187 cities with an ordinance carry one, against 105 that publish a penalty.

Three Minnesota cities print a penalty beside the rule, one of them as a dollar figure and the rest as the class of offence the ordinance creates. Each is reproduced below in the words its own ordinance used.

Both routes are printed on the cards above in the sentence each was read from, because a penalty clause paraphrased is a different statement than the one the city made. Where a city publishes a page for reporting a walk that has not been cleared, that link is on its card too.

How Minnesota compares

The same question in the other forty nine

150 cities nationally count in hours, and the counts run from no hours at all to 72. 74 land on exactly a day, 57 give twelve hours or less, and 18 give more than a day. A further 22 set a time of day or a depth of snow rather than a count of hours at all.

The bar splits those 150 cities by how long they allow, and the table beneath it orders the states by how tight their tightest city is, which is a different ranking from how much snow a state gets.

3 of 150No hours allowed
23 of 150Six hours or less
31 of 150Within twelve hours
75 of 150Within a day
18 of 150More than a day

Fifty states and 267 cities, read September 23, 2026.
State	What the legislature did	What its cities do	With an ordinance	Tightest city
Missouri	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	ImmediatelySt. Louis
Wyoming	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 3	ImmediatelySheridan
New Mexico	A cross reference	Cities count in hours	1 of 4	ImmediatelySanta Fe
Michigan	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	2hMarquette
Maryland	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	3hAnnapolis
Massachusetts	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	3hBoston
Pennsylvania	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	3hErie
Virginia	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 7	3hRoanoke
Connecticut	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	4hDanbury
Ohio	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	4hAthens
New York	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	4hNew York City
Maine	A city may	Cities count in hours	4 of 8	4hWaterville
Vermont	A city may	Cities count in hours	1 of 6	4hWinooski
Rhode Island	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	5hNewport
Indiana	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	6hWest Lafayette
Nebraska	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	8hFremont
New Jersey	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	8hJersey City
Utah	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	8hPark City
Iowa	Owner duty, no clock	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	10hAmes
Kansas	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	12hSalina
Delaware	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	12hMilford
Washington	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 4	12hSeattle
California	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	1 of 2	12hSouth Lake Tahoe
North Dakota	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	24hBismarck
Wisconsin	The city clears it	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	24hGreen Bay
Colorado	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hAurora
Illinois	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hChampaign
Minnesota	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hDuluth
Montana	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	24hBillings
South Dakota	A city may	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	24hWatertown
Oklahoma	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 7	24hTulsa
West Virginia	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 4	24hMorgantown
Alaska	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 3	24hSeward
Idaho	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 3	24hIdaho Falls
Texas	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 7	24hAmarillo
Arizona	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	1 of 5	24hFlagstaff
Oregon	Nothing at state level	Required, no time named	2 of 3	None published
Arkansas	Nothing at state level	Set by the clock or a depth	1 of 7	None published
Kentucky	Nothing at state level	Set by the clock or a depth	1 of 3	None published
Tennessee	Nothing at state level	Required, no time named	1 of 4	None published
Alabama	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Florida	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Georgia	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Hawaii	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 2	None published
Louisiana	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 6	None published
Mississippi	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Nevada	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
New Hampshire	A city may	No city rule found	0 of 7	None published
North Carolina	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 4	None published
South Carolina	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published

Minnesota sidewalk snow removal questions

How long do you have to shovel your sidewalk in Minnesota?

Minnesota has a statute that does one thing only, which is to let a local government pass a rule of its own. The clock is a city's instead, and six Minnesota cities count in hours. Nationally the deadlines run from no hours at all to three days across 150 cities, and no state legislature anywhere has put a number on it. Six Minnesota cities publish a count of hours, and each one below is quoted from the ordinance or the city page it was read from. A day is the commonest figure in Minnesota as it is nationally: 74 of the 150 cities that count in hours land on exactly that.

Does Minnesota have a state law about clearing sidewalks?

Minnesota sets no statewide shovelling deadline. The statutes only let a city put the duty on the owner or occupant by ordinance and then collect the cost of clearing as a special assessment. The section is Minnesota Statutes 429.101, subdivision 1, published by Office of the Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota. It reads: “In addition to any other method authorized by law or charter, the governing body of any municipality may provide for the collection of unpaid special charges as a special assessment against the property benefited for all or any part of the cost of: (1) snow, ice, or rubbish removal from sidewalks;”

Will the city clear my sidewalk in Minnesota?

Six Minnesota cities publish a rule letting the city clear the walk and put the cost on the property. That is the commoner enforcement route nationally: 102 of the 187 cities with an ordinance carry one, against 105 that publish a penalty. Duluth sets it out this way: “If the sidewalk has not been cleared upon re-inspection, crews will remove the snow and ice from the sidewalk and property owners will be billed for this service. Unpaid bills will be added to the owner's property tax.”

What is the fine for not shovelling a sidewalk in Minnesota?

Three Minnesota cities print a penalty beside the rule, one of them as a dollar figure and the rest as the class of offence the ordinance creates. Each is reproduced below in the words its own ordinance used. Minneapolis prints a petty misdemeanor, and each hour after the deadline is a separate violation: “Any person who violates, disobeys, omits or neglects, or refuses to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall be in violation of this Code and guilty of a petty misdemeanor, and each and every hour after the expiration of said four-hour daytime period, or twenty-four-hour period in case of a violation of section 445.20 (b), that the snow shall remain on such sidewalk, shall be deemed to be a separate violation of this Code.”

How wide does a cleared path have to be in Minnesota?

Does snow have to be cleared from the sidewalk or the street in Minnesota?

Which cities in the country give you the least time?

How current is this?

Sidewalk snow removal rules in every state

Minnesota ice damsWhat builds at the eaves while the walk is being cleared, and the conditions that put it there.Minnesota ground snow loadThe other winter number a city sets and the state usually does not, and who publishes it where.Minnesota snowpackWhat is actually on the ground this winter, measured daily, against the years behind it.Minnesota frozen pipesThe other thing a long cold spell does to a building, and the temperatures it starts at.

Minnesota read September 23, 2026: the municipal code and the city published pages of the 6 cities above, and Minnesota Statutes 429.101, subdivision 1. Every deadline, width, penalty and duty above links to the document it was published in and is reproduced in that document’s own wording. An hour count on this site is a sorting key derived from a city’s sentence and never a replacement for it. Councils amend ordinances on their own schedule, so the section linked beside a line is what governs on the day. What a particular property owes, and to whom, is a question for the city that published the ordinance.