Get Minimum Balance

The getMinimumBalance function calculates the minimum balance required for rent exemption for a given data size. On Solana, accounts must maintain a minimum balance to remain active and avoid being garbage collected.

Usage


const minBalance = await connection.getMinimumBalance(dataLength);

Parameters

dataLength: bigint - The size of the account data in bytes

Returns

Returns a Promise<Lamports> - The minimum balance in lamports needed for rent exemption.

Example


import { lamports } from "@solana/kit";
 
// Calculate rent for a basic account (0 bytes of data)
const minBalanceBasic = await connection.getMinimumBalance(0n);
console.log(`Minimum balance for basic account: ${minBalanceBasic} lamports`);
 
// Calculate rent for a token account (165 bytes)
const TOKEN_ACCOUNT_SIZE = 165n;
const minBalanceToken = await connection.getMinimumBalance(TOKEN_ACCOUNT_SIZE);
console.log(`Minimum balance for token account: ${minBalanceToken} lamports`);
 
// Calculate rent for a custom program account
const CUSTOM_DATA_SIZE = 1000n; // 1KB of data
const minBalanceCustom = await connection.getMinimumBalance(CUSTOM_DATA_SIZE);
console.log(`Minimum balance for 1KB account: ${minBalanceCustom} lamports`);
 
// Use when creating accounts
const accountSize = 256n;
const rentExemptBalance = await connection.getMinimumBalance(accountSize);
// Now you know how many lamports to allocate when creating the account

Use Cases

Calculating how much SOL to allocate when creating new accounts
Determining rent costs before deploying programs
Budgeting for application storage costs
Validating account balances meet rent requirements

Notes

Rent exemption means the account will never be garbage collected
The minimum balance increases linearly with data size
All accounts on Solana must be rent-exempt (rent collection was disabled in 2021)
As of 2025, rent is approximately 0.00000348 SOL per byte
Token accounts (165 bytes) require approximately 0.00203928 SOL for rent exemption
This balance is returned when the account is closed

Create Token Mint - Creates token accounts with proper rent exemption
Close Token Account - Closes accounts and reclaims rent