10 Things That Change the Second You Cross From Michigan Into Indiana

Michigan’s minimum wage is $13.73 an hour.

Cross into Indiana, and it’s $7.25.

Michiganders and Hoosiers share a border, but a lot changes at the line.

Here’s what changes the second you cross from Michigan into Indiana.

Note: This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Laws, tax rates and wage rules are subject to change.

1. Cannabis Possession

If you’re 21 or older, Michigan law lets you possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis.

No more than 15 grams of that can be concentrate.

Indiana’s code makes possession of marijuana a crime.

The same section covers hash oil, hashish and salvia.

2. Window Tint

Michigan’s vehicle code bars a sign, poster, nontransparent material, window application or film on the side windows next to the driver and front passenger.

There are some exceptions, such as a physician’s or optometrist’s letter for a light-sensitive person.

That said, Indiana allows some tint for everyone.

Its code sets a 30 percent light transmittance mark for the front side windows.

Indiana’s code also exempts factory tint that meets federal standards, plus tint backed by a physician’s or optometrist’s certificate.

Both states limit windshield tint to a strip at the top.

Michigan’s strip can’t extend more than 4 inches from the top of the glass.

Tint that Michigan doesn’t allow on your front side windows can be legal on Indiana’s side of the line, down to that mark.

3. Sales Tax

Indiana’s sales tax rate is a full percentage point higher than Michigan’s.

Michigan’s rate is 6 percent, and Indiana’s is 7 percent.

On a $300 Samsung television, you’d pay $18 in tax in Michigan and $21 in Indiana.

On a $1,200 Whirlpool refrigerator, you’d pay $72 in Michigan and $84 in Indiana.

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4. Time Zone

Eastern and Central time meet along the westernmost stretch of the Michigan-Indiana line.

Federal rules run the boundary between Eastern and Central time easterly along Indiana’s northern boundary to the east line of LaPorte County.

Those rules put every municipality on the zone boundary line in the Central time zone.

Cross from Michigan into LaPorte County, and your clock goes back an hour, from Eastern to Central time.

When it’s 3 p.m. on the Michigan side of the line, it’s 2 p.m. in LaPorte County.

Farther east, nothing changes.

5. Minimum Wage

Michigan's minimum wage is $13.73 an hour, and Indiana's is $7.25.

Michigan's rate is nearly double Indiana's.

If you earn minimum wage, that's a difference of $6.48 an hour, or $259.20 across a 40-hour week.

If you work 30 hours a week, the gap is $194.40 a week.

Over a full-time year of 2,080 hours, your gap comes to $13,478.40.

Michigan's rate is set to rise again on Jan. 1, 2027.

6. Income Tax

Michigan takes a flat 4.25% of your taxable income.

Indiana's flat rate is 2.95% for 2026, and it's set to drop to 2.9% in 2027.

On $50,000 of taxable income, that's $2,125 in Michigan and $1,475 in Indiana.

The state rate isn't the whole bill on either side of the border.

Indiana counties add their own income tax, and the rate depends on where you live.

Twenty-four Michigan cities charge a city income tax too.

7. Cigarette Tax

A pack of 20 cigarettes carries $2.00 in Michigan's state tax, according to the Tax Foundation's July 2026 table.

Indiana's tax on that pack is $2.995, listed as $3.00.

That's close to a dollar more on every pack you buy.

If you buy a carton of 10 packs, the state tax gap is $9.95.

If you smoke a pack a day, the gap comes to about $363 over a year of 365 packs.

These are state excise taxes only.

8. Cold Beer

In Michigan, grocery stores and gas stations with a beer license can sell you a six-pack straight from the cooler.

South of the state line, the beer at those same kinds of stores sits on a shelf at room temperature.

Indiana lets grocery stores, convenience stores and drugstores sell beer to take home, but not cold beer.

If you want a cold one to go, you'll need to find a package liquor store.

Those same Indiana grocery stores can sell chilled wine.

Indiana is the only state that regulates beer sales by temperature.

9. Bottle Deposits

Eligible drink containers carry a 10-cent deposit in Michigan, and stores must refund it.

Stores must take back the brands, sizes and types of containers they sell.

A 24-can case you buy in Michigan carries $2.40 in deposits.

A 12-pack you buy there carries $1.20.

Indiana isn't on the National Conference of State Legislatures' list of states with deposit laws, which that group last updated on March 13, 2020.

10. Gas Taxes

On a 15-gallon fill-up, you'd pay $7.86 in Michigan's state fuel tax, which is 52.4 cents a gallon for 2026 and adjusts with inflation.

Michigan's sales tax on motor fuel ended on Jan. 1, 2026.

Indiana also has a gasoline use tax, which the Indiana Department of Revenue figures as a share of the statewide average retail price and resets monthly.

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Gov. Mike Braun extended the pause on Nov. 4, and the department said it won't collect the gasoline use tax or the gasoline excise tax from Aug. 7 through Dec. 4, 2026.

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