7 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 3 cities in Lake County, Illinois.
Verified from official government sources
Short-term rentals of single-family homes in residential zoning districts are PROHIBITED in unincorporated Lake County per the Unified Development Ordinance. Bed-and-breakfasts with owner on-site are allowed.
Short-term rentals are prohibited in unincorporated Lake County residential zones. No noise rules apply because the activity itself is banned.
Short-term rentals are prohibited in unincorporated Lake County residential zones. No tax collection pathway exists for prohibited STR activity.
Short-term rentals are prohibited in unincorporated Lake County residential zones. No STR-specific parking rules apply because the activity is banned.
STR occupancy in Lake County varies by municipality. Lake Geneva-adjacent Chain O'Lakes STRs (Fox Lake, Antioch, Round Lake) typically cap at 2 per bedroom + 2. Highland Park, Lake Forest, and Lake Bluff effectively ban whole-home STRs through zoning.
Lake County STR hosts in Fox Lake, Antioch, and Libertyville must carry commercial liability insurance of $500K to $1M. Standard homeowner HO-3 policies exclude commercial STR activity — hosts need a rider or commercial policy. Airbnb AirCover alone typically does NOT satisfy local requirements.
Unincorporated Lake County effectively imposes the strictest possible night cap: short-term rentals under 30 days are prohibited entirely in residential zoning districts under the Lake County Unified Development Ordinance (Chapter 151). The county classifies any rental of less than 30 days as a 'retail sales and service use' that is not allowed in residential zones. Illinois has no statewide STR preemption (proposed SB 1735 did not advance). The 30-day floor applies only in unincorporated areas; municipalities such as Waukegan, Highland Park, North Chicago, Lake Bluff, and the other 50 incorporated places set their own STR rules under home-rule authority (Ill. Const. Art. VII §6).
3 cities in Lake County have their own short-term rentals rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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