Home Business in Cambridge, MA (2026)
2 verified home business rules for Cambridge, Massachusetts, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Zoning & Home Occupation Permits
Cambridge lets residents run home occupations as an accessory use under Zoning Ordinance Section 4.21.d, but only specific professions and craftspeople qualify: resident physicians, attorneys, architects and engineers (up to three on-site), massage therapists, artists, and cottage-food producers under 105 CMR 590.001(C). No exterior signage, stock in trade, or offensive noise, smoke, or glare is allowed.
Cambridge Home Occupation Zoning Standards
Some RestrictionsCambridge Zoning Ordinance Sec. 4.21.d, Supp. No. 8
d. The following Home Occupations and other Home Occupations, provided that they are accessory and incidental to the principal residential use, shall be considered accessory uses, provided also that only residential occupants of the dwelling unit are practicing or employed on the premises at any one time unless otherwise specified below, that all activities take place entirely within a building...
Cottage Food Operations
MA has no broad cottage food exemption. Under MGL c.94 s.305B and 105 CMR 500, Cambridge home food producers must get a Residential Kitchen license from the ISD Health Division.
Cambridge Cottage Food Rules
Heavy RestrictionsMGL Chapter 94, Section 305B
Section 305B: Medical examination of persons handling food; rules and regulations; employment of persons afflicted with disease; food defined Section 305B. The commissioner of public health, on his own initiative or at the request of a local board of health, may require any person working in an establishment engaged wholly or in part in the business of producing, manufacturing, processing, sto...