Business Licensing & Operations in Albuquerque, NM (2026)
7 verified business licensing & operations rules for Albuquerque, New Mexico, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Adult Entertainment
Any sexually oriented business in Albuquerque, adult cabarets, bookstores, and similar live-entertainment venues, must hold a city license and keep at least one designated operator on the premises during every hour of operation. Operating without either is a criminal offense under Albuquerque Code of Ordinances § 13-15-4, part of the Sexually Oriented Business Ordinance.
Albuquerque Sexually Oriented Business License
Significant RestrictionsAlbuquerque Code of Ordinances § 13-15-4
(A) A person commits an offense if he operates a sexually oriented business without a valid license issued by the city for the particular type of business. ... (F) The application must also include the name, address, and telephone number of one or more designated operators who will be present on the premises of the sexually oriented business during all hours of operation. ... (G) A licens...
Massage Establishments
Albuquerque's Integrated Development Ordinance allows massage businesses wherever the zoning use table permits them, on one condition: the owner must keep the business in continual compliance with the state's Massage Therapy Practice Act. The IDO sets no separate distance buffer or hours restriction of its own for this use.
Albuquerque Massage Business Zoning Standard
Light RestrictionsAlbuquerque Integrated Development Ordinance § 14-16-4-3(D)(28)(c)
The following standards apply only to massage businesses. 1. Massage businesses are allowed provided that the business complies with all applicable federal, State, and City requirements. 2. It is the burden of the owner of the massage business to ensure that the massage business is and remains continually in compliance with all requirements in § 61-12C-1 through 6112C-25 NMSA 1978 (Massage Ther...
Tattoo & Body Modification
Albuquerque requires separate annual permits for body art establishments and individual operators, bars body art on minors without in-person parental consent, and makes unpermitted tattooing or piercing a criminal misdemeanor.
Albuquerque Tattoo & Body Art Permits
Significant RestrictionsRevised Ordinances of Albuquerque § 11-5-14
(1) No person, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, business trust, corporation or any organized group of persons may operate a body art establishment without a body art establishment permit issued by the Department. ... (B) Operator Permit. (1) No person shall practice body art procedures without first obtaining a permit from the Department.
Tobacco Retail License
Albuquerque's zoning code treats vape shops and other nicotine retailers as an ordinary commercial use, but keeps them 1,000 feet apart from each other and bars late-night customer visits within 500 feet of housing. The Integrated Development Ordinance sets no citywide cap on how many nicotine retailers the city allows overall.
Albuquerque Nicotine Retail Zoning Buffers
Some RestrictionsAlbuquerque Integrated Development Ordinance § 14-16-4-3(D)(41)(a)-(b)
Nicotine sales are allowed provided that the establishment complies with all New Mexico State law requirements, including but not limited to any required spacing from other uses or facilities. ... ... 1. This use is prohibited on a lot within 1,000 feet in any direction of a lot containing any other primary nicotine retail use. 2. If this use is within 500 feet in any direction of any Residenti...
Secondhand Dealers
Albuquerque requires pawnbrokers, precious material dealers, secondhand retailers, and automated kiosks to get an annual city permit before buying or trading covered secondhand goods, with a $250 fee due at issuance and each renewal by July 1.
Albuquerque Secondhand Dealer & Pawnbroker Permit
Significant RestrictionsRevised Ordinances of Albuquerque § 13-6-4
No person shall act as a pawnbroker, precious material dealer, secondhand retailer, or automated kiosk, or advertise, transact, or solicit business as a pawnbroker, precious material dealer, secondhand retailer, or automated kiosk without first having obtained a permit from the city. ... Every pawnbroker, precious material dealer, secondhand retailer, and automated kiosk shall pay an annual per...
Pawnbrokers
Anyone operating as a pawnbroker, precious material dealer, secondhand retailer, or automated kiosk in Albuquerque must hold a city permit under Revised Ordinances of Albuquerque § 13-6-4 before advertising, transacting, or soliciting business. The permit costs $250 a year, expires every July 1, and pawnbrokers must also post a $5,000 bond. Operating without a permit is a misdemeanor enforced by the Albuquerque Police Department's Pawn Unit.
Albuquerque Pawnbroker & Secondhand Dealer Permit
Significant RestrictionsRevised Ordinances of Albuquerque § 13-6-4
(A) No person shall act as a pawnbroker, precious material dealer, secondhand retailer, or automated kiosk, or advertise, transact, or solicit business as a pawnbroker, precious material dealer, secondhand retailer, or automated kiosk without first having obtained a permit from the city. A person shall obtain a separate permit for each place of business at which the person acts or transacts bus...
Towing Companies
Albuquerque routes police-ordered, non-consensual tows through a wrecker rotation list divided by city sector. To qualify, a towing company needs a PRC Warrant, insurance filings, and a $3,000 application fee under the City of Albuquerque Wrecker Ordinance.
Albuquerque Non-Consensual Wrecker Rules
Significant RestrictionsRevised Ordinances of Albuquerque § 7-7-3(F)
In the event an Albuquerque Police Officer or a Public Safety Aide or other city employee has cause to remove any vehicle or motor vehicle from any location within the city, and the owner or person responsible for the vehicle cannot be found, is incapacitated, or has no preference for a particular wrecker, the police radio dispatcher shall so notify the wrecker on call for the sector in which s...
Looking for Bernalillo County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Albuquerque city rules.
Business Licensing & Operations in Bernalillo County →