Office profile
3M Headquarters & offices · Maplewood, Minnesota
3M · Maplewood, Minnesota
A 1960s tower campus rewired with a “Communication Loop”, a science center for about 700 researchers — and 15% of work time for your own ideas.
The 3M Center campus, the 15% Culture and 124 years of moves from a mining town on Lake Superior — then the pay. Every number from 3M's own filings, careers site and its architects' project pages.
- 15%of work time for projects employees choose
- 10 yearsaverage time 3Mers stay
- Since 1962headquarters at 3M Center, Maplewood
- 60,500employees (end of 2025)
Sources: Form 10-K 2025 · 3m.com “Life with 3M” and “3M History” · Atelier Hitoshi Abe project page
Companies / United States / Industrial technology / 3M
THE HEADQUARTERS · 3M CENTER · MAPLEWOOD
A 1960s tower campus, rewired for chance meetings
3M's headquarters is a campus of a 15-story tower and three low-rise buildings from the 1960s and 1970s. Atelier Hitoshi Abe's master plan added a “Communication Loop”: entrances, corridors and stairs that were barely used became places to meet and share ideas, next to the regular offices. The work was completed in April 2013. In 2016 3M opened a research and development laboratory on the same campus, the Carlton Science Center, with four stories and 400,000 sq ft for about 700 researchers.
- 15-story tower + 3 low-rise buildings
- “Communication Loop”, 2013
- 260,000 sq ft renovated (≈ 24,155 m²)
- Design: Atelier Hitoshi Abe
- Carlton Science Center: 400,000 sq ft
3M Center, Maplewood
Atelier Hitoshi Abe turned the ground floors of the 1960s 3M Center into a “Communication Loop” of hubs, cafés and event spaces (2013); MSR Design later added a Design Center.
Facts: Atelier Hitoshi Abe project page “Communication Loop: 3M Headquarter Renovation” (aha.design) · MG McGrath project page “3M Carlton Science Center – Building 280” · 3m.com “3M History”.
3M Center, Maplewood
| Building | Address |
|---|---|
| Global headquarters (3M Center) | 3M Center, St. Paul, MN 55144 (in Maplewood) |
| Carlton Science Center (Building 280) | 3M Center, Maplewood, MN |
Source: Form 10-K 2025 cover (principal executive offices) · 3m.com “3M History” (Maplewood) · MG McGrath project page · See them on the map ↓
Source: aha.design “Communication Loop” (landscape: Damon Farber Associates; lighting: Luminesce Design) · MG McGrath project page (architect BWBR, contractor Kraus-Anderson) · MSR Design project page “3M Corporate Headquarters Design Center” · 3m.com “3M History”
Benefits (United States)
Monthly purchases of 3M stock at 15% off, with 3–10% of eligible pay.
In-network preventive care on every 3M medical plan; infertility and mental health are covered too.
Annual maximums of $500, $1,500 or $2,500, with orthodontia through adulthood.
A 401(k) with a company match, plus company contributions to a Retirement Income Account.
Most benefits begin on the first day of employment, if eligible.
Basic life and accidental death insurance at no cost; disability cover is company-paid.
Adoption assistance, parental leave and child and elder care referral.
Matching Gifts, Volunteer Match and 3Mgives community giving.
Source: 3m.com “3M Benefits, Total Rewards” (U.S. careers site) · Form 10-K 2025, Compensation and Benefits
Why 3Mers stay: what 3M itself says
3M says its employees stay with the company for 10 years on average.
For more than 70 years, employees have been encouraged to spend part of their work time on ideas that excite them, coordinated with their manager.
Executive, regional, functional, cause-based and informal mentoring.
A global online learning platform with development resources in over 15 languages.
Flexible work arrangements and programs let employees choose when and where they work best.
Tuition reimbursement, leadership programs and job- or project-based assignments.
Source: 3m.com “Life with 3M” and “3M Benefits, Total Rewards” · Form 10-K 2025, Human Capital
Who works here
employees (full-time equivalents, Dec 31, 2025)
U.S. manufacturing facilities in 26 states
manufacturing and converting facilities in 25 other countries
patents issued to 3M worldwide each year
Source: Form 10-K 2025 (employees, facilities) · 3m.com “3M History” (patents)
Pay at 3M
Chosen from about 60,700 full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal workers worldwide. The CEO's pay was 316 times this amount.
Source: Proxy statement 2026 (March 24, 2026), Pay ratio
Source: 3M job postings R01170343, R01171514, R01171552 and R01170504 (3M careers site, September 2026). 3M states each range “includes base pay plus variable incentive pay, if eligible”.
U.S. companies don't have to report pay by age, and 3M doesn't. The ranges above are the closest official numbers.
Office history: from a Lake Superior mining town to 3M Center
- 1902 Founded in Two Harbors
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company was founded in Two Harbors, Minnesota, by Dr. J. Danley Budd, Henry S. Bryan, William A. McGonagle, John Dwan and Hermon W. Cable. The mine failed to produce corundum for sandpaper, and sales were weak.
Source: 3m.com, “3M History”
The John Dwan office in Two Harbors, now the 3M Museum, 2026 · Myotus / CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons - 1905 Duluth: the first factory
Backed by St. Paul businessman Lucius P. Ordway, the company moved to Duluth to make sandpaper from bought-in minerals. Its first building was a two-story sandpaper plant — whose floor collapsed under the weight of the new raw materials.
Source: 3m.com, “3M History”
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 1910 To St. Paul
Ordway set up the first plant in St. Paul, whose more central location let the company grow faster.
Source: 3m.com, “3M History”
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 1916 A headquarters office in St. Paul
After its first big profits and first dividend, 3M set up a new headquarters office in St. Paul and its first laboratory to test product quality.
Source: 3m.com, “3M History”
Entrance of the former 3M Administration Building, St. Paul · McGhiever / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons - 1962 3M Center, Maplewood
The first office building was completed at 3M Center in Maplewood, which became the global headquarters and still is. 3M's filings give the address as 3M Center, St. Paul.
Source: 3m.com, “3M History” · Form 10-K 2025 cover
3M Center, Maplewood · Gabriel Vanslette / CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons - 2013 The “Communication Loop”
A renovation of 260,000 sq ft by Atelier Hitoshi Abe turned the tower and low-rise buildings' entrances, corridors and stairs into collaboration spaces. Completed in April 2013.
Source: Atelier Hitoshi Abe project page
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 2016 A new research lab at headquarters
3M opened a research and development laboratory at its Maplewood headquarters: the Carlton Science Center (Building 280), with four stories and 400,000 sq ft for about 700 researchers.
Source: 3m.com, “3M History” · MG McGrath project page
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
Map: how the headquarters moved
From Two Harbors on Lake Superior's North Shore, down to Duluth, then south to St. Paul — and in 1962 to 3M Center in Maplewood, on the eastern edge of St. Paul.
- 1 · 1902Two Harbors, Minnesota — Founded as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
- 2 · 1905Duluth, Minnesota — First factory, a two-story sandpaper plant
- 3 · 1910St. Paul, Minnesota — First St. Paul plant; headquarters office from 1916
- 4 · 19623M Center, Maplewood — Global headquarters today
Places: 3m.com “3M History” · Form 10-K 2025. 3M does not publish street addresses for its Two Harbors, Duluth and St. Paul sites, so those points mark the cities.
What 3M does
3M began by mining a mineral for sandpaper. Today it is a diversified technology company: abrasives, adhesives and tapes, safety gear, films and materials for cars and electronics, and household brands such as Post-it and Scotch. Its health care business was spun off as Solventum on April 1, 2024.
Three business segments: Safety and Industrial; Transportation and Electronics; Consumer.
Where the money came from · net sales by business segment, 2025
Source: Form 10-K 2025, Item 1 and Business Segment Information
Source: Form 10-K 2025 · SEC XBRL · per-employee figure calculated by eciffo
Growth: revenue vs. people
$30.1B → $24.9B
91,584 → 60,500
Calendar years, as first reported in each year's Form 10-K (SEC XBRL). 2024 and 2025 exclude the Health Care business, spun off as Solventum on April 1, 2024. Employees: Form 10-K (2020 onward rounded). Multiples calculated by eciffo.
Chief executives
Joined 3M as CEO on May 1, 2024; Chairman and CEO since 2025. Previously chairman and CEO of L3Harris Technologies.
CEO from 2018 until April 30, 2024; earlier chief operating officer.
Founders: Dr. J. Danley Budd, Henry S. Bryan, William A. McGonagle, John Dwan and Hermon W. Cable.
Source: Form 10-K 2025 and 2018 (executive officers) · Proxy statement 2026 · 3m.com “3M History”
3M: questions people ask
Where is 3M's headquarters?
At 3M Center in Maplewood, Minnesota, just east of St. Paul. 3M's filings give the address as 3M Center, St. Paul, MN 55144. It has been the global headquarters since the first office building there was completed in 1962.
Source: Form 10-K 2025 · 3m.com “3M History”
What is 3M's headquarters like inside?
A campus of a 15-story tower and three low-rise buildings from the 1960s and 1970s. A 2013 renovation added a “Communication Loop” that turned entrances, corridors and stairs into places to meet and work together.
Source: Atelier Hitoshi Abe project page
Who designed 3M's headquarters renovation?
Atelier Hitoshi Abe made the master plan, working with Peter Ebner and Friends, MS&R, Damon Farber Associates (landscape) and Luminesce Design (lighting). BWBR Architects designed the Carlton Science Center, and MSR Design the Design Center.
Source: aha.design · MG McGrath · MSR Design
How big is the Carlton Science Center?
Four stories and 400,000 sq ft (≈ 37,161 m²) for about 700 researchers. It opened at the Maplewood headquarters in 2016.
Source: MG McGrath project page · 3m.com “3M History”
Where was 3M founded?
In Two Harbors, Minnesota, in 1902, as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. It moved to Duluth in 1905 and to St. Paul in 1910.
Source: 3m.com, “3M History”
How many people work at 3M?
About 60,500 (full-time equivalents) at the end of 2025: about 22,500 in the United States and 38,000 elsewhere.
Source: Form 10-K 2025
What is 3M's 15% Culture?
For more than 70 years, 3M has encouraged employees to spend part of their work time — 15% — on projects they choose, coordinated with their manager. 3M credits it for products such as the Post-it Note.
Source: 3m.com “Life with 3M” and “What do 3Mers value?” · 3M 2026 Global Impact Report
What benefits does 3M offer?
In the U.S.: a stock purchase plan at 15% off, 100% in-network preventive care, a 401(k) with a company match plus a Retirement Income Account, free basic life insurance, adoption assistance, tuition reimbursement and matching gifts. Most start on day one.
Source: 3m.com “3M Benefits, Total Rewards”
Does 3M allow flexible or remote work?
3M's U.S. careers site lists flexible work arrangements and programs that let employees choose when and where they work best. It has not published a single company-wide office-days rule.
Source: 3m.com “3M Benefits, Total Rewards”
How much do 3M employees make?
The median employee's total compensation was $66,524 in 2025, measured across about 60,700 workers worldwide. 2026 postings in Maplewood range from $98,964–$120,957 (Test Development Engineer) to $188,251–$230,084 (Senior AI/Machine Learning Specialist), including variable pay.
Source: Proxy statement 2026 · 3M job postings
You have seen the office, the benefits and the pay
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