Cabarrus County, NC Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Chapter 7, Section 7-3 lists Daycare with Eight Children or Less as a permitted use under both Item 27, Home Occupation, General, and Item 28, Home Occupation, Rural, each citing NCGS § 110-86 as the source of the eight-child threshold. Because the county folds home daycare into its Home Occupation category rather than giving it a separate zoning use, a qualifying daycare must also satisfy the general Home Occupation standards that apply to every listed occupation on that list. Under the General track (Item 27), that means the daycare must be conducted entirely within the interior of the residence, stay clearly secondary to the home's residential character, occupy no more than 25% of one floor of the principal building, and rely on no more than one nonresident assistant.

No outdoor storage is allowed as part of the operation, and all parking needs, including drop-off and pick-up traffic from parents, must be handled through an off-street parking arrangement. Because a home daycare by definition involves clients visiting the property, it is squarely covered by the ordinance's client-visit clause: home occupations that allow clients or customers to visit may be subject to Accessibility Standards, and the county directs applicants to contact Building Standards for those requirements before applying for the Home Occupation Permit. The Rural Home Occupation track (Item 28) lists the same eight-or-fewer daycare use and additionally allows it to be run from a separate accessory building rather than inside the house, subject to that track's acreage-based square footage and employee table.