Home Business in Illinois (2026)

Arlington Heights, Illinois zoning treats a home business as an accessory use that must stay incidental to residential…

Winnebago County allows home occupations in a dwelling or a small accessory building, but bans retail sales, outside…

Aurora, Illinois caps a home occupation at 25% of a dwelling's floor area and one non-resident employee, permitted…

Bolingbrook permits home occupations in any dwelling unit as a use customarily incidental and subordinate to…

Champaign permits home occupations as an accessory use in any district that allows a dwelling, but caps the business at…

Champaign County limits home-based businesses in unincorporated areas to one non-family employee present between 8 a.m…

Chicago requires a regulated business license for any home occupation, capped at 300 sq ft or 25% of the dwelling…

Cook County Zoning Ordinance (Ord. 01-O-30) defines home occupations as businesses practiced by a resident that are…

Des Plaines City Code Section 12-8-8 permits a home occupation as an accessory use of a dwelling unit so long as it is…

DuPage County treats a home occupation as an accessory use under Section 37-418.1(A) of the zoning ordinance: it must…

Elgin allows a residential occupation only if it's run by people who live in the home, stays entirely inside the…

Evanston allows home occupations in any residential district, but the operator must live in the unit and minor home…

Kane County allows a home-based business as an accessory "home occupation" use, but only inside the dwelling, run…

Unincorporated Kankakee County allows one home occupation per dwelling as an accessory use under County Code § 121-293…

Kendall County allows a home business in unincorporated residential and agricultural zoning under Sections 36-972 and…

Unincorporated Lake County requires a zoning certificate for home occupations, capped at under 50% of dwelling floor…

Macon County's zoning code permits a HOME OCCUPATION by right in every residential and the A1 agricultural district…

Home businesses in unincorporated Madison County must stay incidental to the dwelling, fit within a quarter of the…

Running a home-based business in unincorporated McHenry County is allowed as an accessory use under UDO §16.56.050(I)…

McLean County allows a home occupation in any district that permits dwellings, but caps it at 25% of the house's floor…

Naperville allows accessory home occupations in any dwelling that meets strict standards: a live-in employee, no…

Home businesses in Oak Lawn need a home occupation business certificate and must stay incidental to residential use…

Peoria allows home occupations in residential districts under Unified Development Code Section 5.4.7, but only if the…

Peoria County allows home occupations as an accessory use in every zoning district, but requires a permit from the…

A home business in unincorporated Rock Island County must fit inside 200 square feet, stay incidental to the dwelling's…

A home occupation in unincorporated Sangamon County can't use more than 25% of the dwelling's floor area, employs at…

Schaumburg's Village Code allows home-based businesses as an accessory use in every residence district, but only under…

Skokie allows a home occupation in any residence as a permitted accessory use under Village Code Section 118-91…

Springfield Zoning Code Section 155.045 allows a home occupation only as an accessory use that is clearly incidental…

In unincorporated St. Clair County a home occupation is a Special Accessory Use allowed in the A, RR, SR, and SR-MH…

Tazewell County lets residents run a home occupation by right in any residential or agriculture zoning district, but…

Waukegan's UDO permits a home-based business in any dwelling unit citywide as an accessory use, but subjects it to a…

Will County's zoning ordinance allows home occupations as an accessory use in unincorporated areas, capping business…

Aurora bars any exterior sign, display or visible activity that would reveal a home occupation is being run from a…

Chicago bars any licensed home occupation from displaying signage or other exterior evidence of the business. The rule…

Des Plaines City Code Section 12-8-8 prohibits any exterior sign, advertising, or display that indicates a home…

Evanston prohibits any signage, advertising, or display identifying a home occupation, plus separate business…

Home occupations in unincorporated Lake County get zero exterior signage. Section 151.113(E)(8) states plainly that no…

Oak Lawn home occupations must not display any sign, advertising, or exterior indication that the dwelling is used for…

Peoria bars home occupations from displaying any sign at all: Unified Development Code Section 5.4.7(B)(12) prohibits…

Schaumburg doesn't cap home-business signage, it eliminates it: § 154.65(A)(3) requires "no signs, activities or…

Springfield permits only one non-illuminated home-occupation sign, not exceeding two square feet and attached to the…

A home occupation in Arlington Heights, Illinois can post only one sign: a nameplate of one square foot or less…

Bolingbrook bans any sign advertising a home occupation. Sec. 54-307(2) of the zoning code flatly prohibits signage on…

A Neighborhood Home Occupation in unincorporated Champaign County may post no sign other than a name plate capped at…

Elgin bars any sign for a home-based business beyond what residence districts already allow under chapter 19.50. A…

Kendall County bans exterior signage entirely for standard residential home occupations, while agricultural home…

A Naperville home occupation may display only one sign under Municipal Code section 6-16-4, subsection 2.2: a wall sign…

A major home occupation in unincorporated Rock Island County may post exactly one sign, no larger than two square feet…

Champaign limits a home occupation's advertising to one non-illuminated sign no larger than one square foot, and bars…

Home business signage in unincorporated Cook County is restricted under the Zoning Ordinance. Home occupations must…

Unincorporated DuPage County caps home occupation signage at one small nameplate. Zoning Ordinance Sec. 37-418.1(A)(5)…

Kane County's zoning ordinance caps home business signage at one sign no larger than two square feet, unless the…

A home occupation in unincorporated Kankakee County may post only a small name plate sign, capped at two square feet on…

In unincorporated Madison County, a home occupation may post only one sign, capped at six square feet, under County…

Home-business signs are tightly limited so the property still looks residential. In Crystal Lake a home occupation may…

A home occupation sign in unincorporated McLean County cannot exceed two feet in any direction, cannot be illuminated…

A Peoria County home occupation may display just one sign, and it cannot be illuminated, cannot project from the…

Sangamon County limits home occupation signs to one non-illuminated sign of up to three square feet mounted flat…

A home occupation in unincorporated St. Clair County cannot display any outside evidence of the business except a…

A home-based business in unincorporated Tazewell County may display exactly one identification sign, and it cannot…

Waukegan's home-based business standard limits signage to a single nameplate sign no larger than one square foot, far…

Unincorporated Will County caps home occupation signage by zoning district: one wall or freestanding sign…

A home occupation in unincorporated Winnebago County may display exactly one nameplate sign, mounted on the wall or a…

A home occupation in unincorporated Macon County may not display anything from the exterior showing the house is used…

Cicero only licenses a 'home office' where the business isn't frequented by business invitees, so any home-based…

A home occupation in Arlington Heights, Illinois can see clients, but only one at a time. Section 6.16-2 of the Zoning…

Aurora curbs customer parking and traffic from home-based businesses, requiring it not disrupt normal neighborhood flow…

Bolingbrook bars home occupations from generating wholesale or retail transactions on-site and from congesting village…

Champaign caps a home occupation at six clients per hour and 16 per day, limits business vehicles on-site to two at a…

Unincorporated Champaign County caps a home occupation's on-premises patrons and clients at three people at a time…

Chicago caps home-based businesses at two patrons or clients present at once and ten in any 24-hour period, under the…

Cook County Zoning Ordinance requires home occupations to be incidental to residential use, which limits customer…

DuPage County limits how much foot and car traffic a home-based business can draw. Section 37-418.1(A)(7) caps…

Elgin caps home-business client visits at five people per day, and only lets them come Monday through Friday between 8…

Evanston restricts home occupation client and pupil visits to the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., a citywide zoning…

Kane County's zoning definition of a home occupation caps customer and client traffic directly: no more than three cars…

Unincorporated Kendall County caps home-based business traffic at ten vehicle trips a day. Kendall County Code Section…

Home occupations in unincorporated Lake County can see customers only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and no more than six…

A home occupation in unincorporated Macon County cannot generate more traffic than would normally occur in a…

A Type "B" home occupation in unincorporated Madison County, meaning one that has employees or takes on-site customers…

Section 350-43.R(1)(i) bans any traffic from a home occupation that is abnormal to a residential neighborhood and…

Naperville caps home occupations at 125% of a typical residence's daily trips: no more than 20 arrivals or departures…

Oak Lawn's zoning code caps customer visits to home occupations: no appointments or foot traffic that creates…

Peoria caps home-business foot traffic at eight visitors in any 24-hour period, with no more than four on-site at once…

Peoria County caps how much traffic a home occupation can bring to a residential street, scaling the limit to the…

Whether customers can visit a home business in unincorporated Rock Island County depends on which of the two…

Sangamon County caps traffic from a home occupation at what's normal for a residential neighborhood and requires any…

Section 154.65(A)(7) and (9) of the Village Code limit how much traffic and how many visitors a Schaumburg home-based…

Skokie limits customer visits to a home occupation to one patron vehicle on the premises at a time under Village Code…

Springfield Zoning Code Section 155.045(c) limits a home occupation to one customer at a time and no more than eight…

A home occupation in unincorporated St. Clair County cannot be open to the public before 8 a.m. or after 10 p.m., and…

A home occupation in unincorporated Tazewell County cannot be open to the public between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. under…

Waukegan's Unified Development Ordinance caps home-based businesses at one client, customer, or pupil on-site at any…

Home occupations in unincorporated Will County may only receive customers on-site between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

A home occupation in unincorporated Winnebago County cannot increase vehicular traffic or on-street parking beyond what…

Home-based businesses in unincorporated McHenry County may see clients on-site, but UDO §16.56.050(I)(5) requires every…

Illinois runs its cottage food program out of 410 ILCS 625/4, and the current text sets no ceiling at all on what a…

Kane County lets home bakers sell directly to the public under its home kitchen ordinance, but layers local control on…

Unincorporated Lake County treats cottage food operations as home occupations under Section 151.112(F) of the county…

Illinois home kitchen and cottage food operations are legal. Crystal Lake expressly permits them under the state Food…

Illinois' Cottage Food law (410 ILCS 625/4) lets you produce many non-hazardous foods in your home kitchen for direct…

Unincorporated Will County requires anyone running a cottage food operation to register annually with the Will County…

Illinois's Home-to-Market Act lets you make and sell a wide range of homemade food from a Champaign County home after…

Illinois expanded home food sales with the 2022 Home-to-Market Act. A cottage food operator registers with the Peoria…

Springfield expressly lists a cottage food operation as a permitted home occupation in Zoning Code Section 155.045(b)…

Bolingbrook's zoning code categorically prohibits nursery schools and day care centers as home occupations. Sec…

Arlington Heights, Illinois licenses in-home family child care under Chapter 14, Article VIII of its Municipal Code. A…

The Town of Cicero requires anyone caring for up to eight children in a family home to hold an annual home day care…

Running a day care out of a house in unincorporated Cook County isn't a routine home occupation: the zoning ordinance…

Running a child day care out of a home in unincorporated Kendall County's R-1 district requires a special use permit…

A day care or day nursery facility in a Macon County residential district is a special use, not a use allowed by right…

In unincorporated Madison County's R-1 through R-4 districts, 'day care or nursery schools' are a special use under §…

Skokie zoning caps home day care at two facilities per block, or closer than 100 feet apart along the same street…

In unincorporated Tazewell County, a family day care home caring for five to eight children in a detached dwelling is…

Aurora, Illinois allows licensed babysitting and day care homes as a permitted home occupation in every residential…

In unincorporated Champaign County a home day care runs as a neighborhood home occupation under Zoning Ordinance §…

Unincorporated DuPage County allows a home daycare for up to 8 kids by right; 9 to 12 kids or a group daycare home…

Evanston allows a child daycare home as a permitted accessory use in every residential district under City Code Section…

Kane County's zoning ordinance treats small in-home childcare differently from a licensed childcare center: a facility…

In the A1 Agriculture district, a home-based child care center serving up to five children is allowed as of right, but…

Unincorporated McHenry County allows a home day care by right in every agricultural, estate and residential zoning…

A family day-care home in unincorporated McLean County must operate out of a single-family or two-family dwelling that…

Running a home daycare in Oak Lawn requires an annual $75 village permit valid May 1 to April 30, plus a current DCFS…

A day care home in Oak Park, defined as a family home caring for up to eight children including the operator's own…

Peoria's Unified Development Code requires a home-based child care business to obtain administrative approval from the…

A licensed home daycare for five to eight children is a permitted use in Peoria County's R-1 residential district, no…

In unincorporated Rock Island County, a family daycare home caring for up to eight children is a permitted use in the…

In unincorporated Sangamon County, family day care centers are a listed permitted use in the R-1 residential district…

Schaumburg treats a licensed home daycare as a home-based business under § 154.65(A)(13), but with its own rules: care…

Family day-care homes in Springfield must keep daily attendance records, file proof of state licensing with the zoning…

A day care or nursery school run out of an occupied residence in unincorporated St. Clair County is capped at five…

Waukegan lets any residential zoning district run a child day care home for three to eight children under a business…

In unincorporated Will County, home day care for up to 12 children is permitted by right in every agricultural, estate…

A child day care home in Winnebago County is its own zoned use, not a home occupation, and must keep the dwelling's…

Elgin's zoning code treats a home child day care as an accessory use to a residence, not a standalone business…

Unincorporated Lake County treats care for seven or fewer children as "babysitting," allowed by right as a customary…

Naperville treats babysitting and home-based daycare as a permitted home occupation, exempt from the outdoor-activity…

Chicago's zoning code treats a home daycare serving three or more unrelated children as a 'Day Care' use, and permits…