How to become a pest control technician in Minnesota

The path in Minnesota, step by step

Minnesota licenses pest control work at the state level through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Pesticide and Fertilizer Management. These are the steps it lays out, in order.

1. Apply and pay the application fees, ideally online before your test date.
2. Pass the Core (A) and SPCA Journeyman exams.
3. Work two years as a licensed journeyman, then become a master.
4. License your company: a master on staff, workers' compensation information and financial responsibility.
5. Renew by December 31 each year.

The full license guide, with every fee and form: pest control license in Minnesota.

Finding an apprenticeship in Minnesota

Minnesota runs Registered Apprenticeship through its own State Apprenticeship Agency, recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor to register and oversee programs there. Its staff are state employees, and it may use the federal paperwork or forms of its own. Apprenticeship.gov lists the Minnesota State Apprenticeship Agency as the contact.

Either way, a registered program means paid work with a mentor, raises as you progress, classroom instruction and a credential recognized in every state. Search open spots in the Apprenticeship Job Finder.

Across the country. Pest control is learned mostly on the job rather than in a long apprenticeship. Training can usually be finished in less than 3 months.

License levels and exams in Minnesota

The license to aim for: Structural Pest Control Company license, with an SPCA Master license.

Trade exam. The Core (A) exam and the SPCA Journeyman exam, then the master exam later. A fumigation endorsement takes one more exam.

Keeping it. Every year. Licenses expire December 31, with yearly recertification. Late renewals pay 50 percent more, and after March 31 you start over as a new applicant.

What pest control technicians earn in Minnesota

The median pest control technician in Minnesota earned $20.02 an hour in May 2025, 36th of 50 states, with 670 on payrolls. The national median was $21.75.

At the bottom of the range, a quarter of pest control technicians in Minnesota earned under $17.68 an hour and a tenth under $13.07. At the top, a quarter earned over $28.81 and a tenth over $34.00.

Every state, the neighbors and what a business should charge: pest control technician salary in Minnesota.

Starting your own pest control technician business in Minnesota

To contract on your own in Minnesota, the license is the Structural Pest Control Company license, with an SPCA Master license.

Insurance. The company gives workers' compensation information and meets financial responsibility rules, shown by net assets of $50,000 or more, or a bond or insurance the commissioner sets.

Pricing comes next. Paying yourself the Minnesota median of $20.02 an hour, the labor rate calculator's starting numbers (one person, 2 unbilled hours a day, $90,000 of overhead, 15% profit) come to $105.75 per billable hour. Try your own in the labor rate calculator.

The full checklist is in how to start a pest control business. The free Koira Office plan gives you a website on a Koira address, estimates customers sign with a deposit, invoices with card payments and your day's jobs in one place, with no per-person fee. See the plans.