What the statute says about how dark and how reflective your windows can be, which vehicles are exempt, and where the rules are stricter than people expect. Written out in plain English, with the exact limits.
VLT means visible light transmission, the share of light that passes through the glass. A lower number is a darker window.
| Window | Passenger car | Pickup truck | Van |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windshield | No material that reduces light transmittance | Same | Same |
| Front side windows | 50% VLT minimum | 50% VLT minimum | 50% VLT minimum |
| Back side windows | 50% VLT minimum | 50% VLT minimum | Exempt behind the driver |
| Rear window | 50% VLT minimum | Exempt | Exempt |
| Reflectance | 20% maximum, no mirrored film | 20% maximum, no mirrored film | 20% maximum, no mirrored film |
Every VLT figure carries a three percent tolerance either way. Sport utility vehicles aren’t named in the statute’s exemption list, so an SUV depends on how the vehicle is classified.
VLT stands for visible light transmission. It’s the percentage of visible light that makes it through the window. A 50 percent film lets half the light through. A 5 percent film lets five percent through, which is why it’s called limo tint.
The number runs backwards from how most people think about it. Lower means darker. A 70 percent film is nearly invisible. A 20 percent film is noticeably dark. People routinely ask for “20 percent” thinking they’re asking for something light.
The measurement is taken through the glass, not the film. This is the single most misunderstood part of the rule. A meter reads the window as a whole, which means the factory glass and the film together. Plenty of vehicles come off the line with glass that already blocks some light, so a film rated at 50 percent can measure below 50 once it is on that particular window.
That is why two identical films on two different vehicles can produce two different readings, and why a shade that measures fine on one car can measure short on another.
Subdivision 4 of the statute prohibits operating a vehicle where a side window or rear window is treated with any material that obstructs or substantially reduces the driver’s clear view, or that has a light transmittance of less than 50 percent plus or minus three percent.
That 50 percent floor is stricter than most of the country. A lot of states allow 35 percent on the front windows and let the rear go as dark as you want on any vehicle. Minnesota doesn’t. If you moved here from somewhere warmer, or you’re looking at a shade chart written for a national audience, the number you have in your head is probably below the Minnesota limit.
The three percent tolerance is written into the statute, so a window measuring 47 percent is still within the allowance. It’s a tolerance for measurement variance, not a buffer to aim for.
Darkness is only half of what the statute regulates. The other half is how reflective the window is, and it’s a completely separate limit that most drivers have never heard of.
Minnesota caps luminous reflectance at 20 percent, again with a three percent tolerance. On top of that, the statute separately prohibits any window on the vehicle from being treated with material that has a highly reflective or mirrored appearance. That second part isn’t tied to a percentage at all. A mirrored or chrome look is prohibited regardless of how much light the film lets through.
This is worth knowing because reflective films are still sold and still marketed on heat rejection numbers. A film can be perfectly compliant on darkness and still fall outside the law on reflectance.
The statute handles the windshield separately from every other piece of glass on the vehicle, and the language is broader than the side window rule.
It prohibits a windshield that’s composed of, covered by, or treated with any material which has the effect of making the windshield more reflective, or in any other way reducing light transmittance.
There’s no percentage attached. Where the side and rear windows get a numeric floor with a tolerance, the windshield gets a flat restriction on anything that cuts light coming through it. That’s a meaningful difference in how the two rules are written, and it catches people who assume the windshield just follows the same 50 percent number as everything else.
Subdivision 4a lists the vehicles and windows the 50 percent floor doesn’t apply to. The list is specific, and what isn’t on it matters as much as what is.
The rear windows of a pickup truck are exempt. The front two aren’t.
The rear windows of a van are exempt, and so are the side windows on either side behind the driver’s seat. Again, the front two aren’t.
The side and rear windows of a limousine are exempt, as are the side and rear windows of a vehicle used by a funeral establishment to transport human remains, and the rear and side windows of a police vehicle.
An exemption is available with a prescription or a physician’s statement of medical need specifying the minimum percentage that light transmittance may be reduced.
Sport utility vehicles aren’t named anywhere in that list. The exemptions say pickup truck and van. They don’t say SUV, and they don’t say multipurpose passenger vehicle. Whether a given SUV falls inside one of those categories comes down to how the vehicle is classified rather than what it looks like in a driveway, which is why this is the single most common point of confusion in Minnesota tint law.
The front side windows are held to 50 percent on every vehicle in every category. No exemption in the statute changes that for the driver and front passenger glass.
If you want to talk through what any of this means for your specific vehicle, we’re a two person shop at 5505 W 123rd St in Savage and we’re happy to answer the question whether or not you book anything. Pricing and the shade preview live on our window tint page.