Home Business in North Carolina (2026)

In the Town of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, a home occupation is only legal if it stays entirely inside the…

Apex caps home-based businesses at 25% of a dwelling's floor area or 500 square feet, whichever is less, and limits…

Asheville allows home occupations in every zoning district as a use by right, subject to special requirements in Sec…

Brunswick County's Unified Development Ordinance allows home occupations as an accessory use in unincorporated areas…

A home occupation is allowed in Buncombe County residential zoning as a use conducted entirely within the dwelling or…

A home occupation in unincorporated Cabarrus County can use no more than 25% of one floor of the house, may employ just…

The Town of Cary's Land Development Ordinance permits home occupations as an accessory use in residential zoning…

Catawba County allows home occupations by right in every residential district, but caps the business at 25 percent of…

Charlotte requires a zoning use permit before running a home occupation, and the business must stay incidental to the…

In unincorporated Cleveland County, a customary home occupation is allowed by right inside any dwelling under Sec…

Concord allows specific home occupations, bookkeeping, tutoring, tailoring, catering and more, as an accessory use in…

Inside Craven County's Coastal Carolina Regional Airport zoning district, a home occupation can't take up more than 400…

Cumberland County allows a home occupation as an accessory use in any dwelling. The business may use no more than 25…

In unincorporated Davidson County, a home occupation must stay incidental to the residence: it cannot use more than 25%…

Durham requires a home occupation permit before running a business from a residence, approved by the Planning Director…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance allows home occupations in residences citywide and in the unincorporated county…

A zoning permit from the Director of Inspections is required for a home occupation in the unincorporated county. The…

Gaston County limits a private home occupation to 10 percent of a home's heated floor area or 300 square feet, requires…

Greensboro caps a home occupation at 30% of the dwelling's gross floor area and requires it be conducted entirely…

To operate a home occupation in unincorporated Guilford County you must get approval from Planning & Development…

Harnett County allows a customary home occupation inside any dwelling under UDC Section 153.108(A), but caps it at one…

High Point limits home-based businesses to 25% of a dwelling's floor area, requires the operator to live on site, and…

Iredell County limits a customary home occupation to 25 percent of one floor, bars accessory buildings and outside…

Johnston County's Land Development Code allows home occupations in unincorporated areas only as a use clearly…

Unincorporated Nash County allows home occupations by right in the A-1, residential, office-institutional and…

Onslow County requires a Home Occupation permit whenever a resident runs a business from a single-family home in the…

Pitt County allows home occupations by right, with a zoning permit, in most residential and mixed-use districts, but…

Raleigh treats a home occupation as an accessory use under UDO Sec. 6.7.1, meaning it's allowed only alongside an…

Rose Hill lets residents run a business from home only as a 'home occupation' under Zoning Code § 154.002, and only…

Rowan County allows Rural Home Occupations (RHOs) only in the RA and RR residential districts. Section 21-55 caps the…

A home-based business in unincorporated Union County must qualify as either a suburban or rural home occupation under…

Wake County limits home businesses to incidental accessory uses under 750 square feet, with no outdoor storage, retail…

In unincorporated Wayne County, a home occupation is permitted in residential districts only if it stays subordinate to…

Wilmington allows home occupations as an accessory use to a dwelling under City Code Section 18-279, but only one…

In the Town of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, a home occupation may not display any sign at all: the zoning…

Unincorporated Nash County bans home occupation signs outright in residential and agricultural zoning districts: no…

Raleigh's UDO doesn't grant home occupations any signage allowance at all: Sec. 6.7.3 requires that there be no change…

Apex, NC caps home business signs at 12 by 12 inches on the house, with a bigger yard sign only on large lots, and…

A home occupation sign in Asheville is capped hard: one square foot per display face, no more than two faces, and no…

A home occupation in unincorporated Brunswick County, North Carolina, may display only one sign, no larger than 3…

A home occupation in unincorporated Buncombe County may have one unlighted sign on the premises no more than two square…

A home occupation in Catawba County gets exactly one sign, and it cannot be illuminated. The sign face is capped at 4…

A home occupation in Charlotte can display exactly one sign, and it has to be mounted flat against the building as a…

Rural home occupations in unincorporated Cleveland County may post one non-illuminated ground sign, capped at 15 square…

A home occupation in unincorporated Cumberland County may display only one attached sign no larger than two square…

A home occupation in unincorporated Davidson County's residential districts may put up only one sign, and it must be a…

Durham lets a home-based business post exactly one sign advertising the home occupation, and it must be a wall sign no…

Durham's UDO allows a home occupation only one wall sign, limited to 3 square feet, and no separate sign permit is…

A home occupation in Fayetteville may display exactly one wall sign, up to four square feet, mounted directly on the…

A Forsyth County home occupation may display only one occupancy sign no larger than 144 square inches (one square…

A Greensboro home occupation may display just one sign, and it has to be mounted flat against the front wall, no bigger…

A home occupation in unincorporated Guilford County may have one freestanding identification sign, no more than four…

A home-based business in unincorporated Iredell County may display exactly one on-premises sign under Section 6.6's…

A home occupation in Onslow County's unincorporated area may display exactly one sign advertising the business, and…

A Pitt County home-based business can post a professional or occupational name plate up to 32 square feet, no taller…

A home occupation sign in Rose Hill is exempt from the town's general sign regulations only if it bears the occupant's…

A home occupation in unincorporated Wake County may post just one wall or ground sign, capped at four square feet per…

A home occupation in unincorporated Wayne County may not change the outside appearance of the dwelling except for one…

A Wilmington home occupation may display exactly one sign, and City Code Section 18-279(c) caps it at two and…

A High Point home occupation may display exactly one sign: a wall sign no larger than 4 square feet, and it cannot be…

A home-based business in unincorporated Johnston County gets one small, unlit sign. Sec. 14-508(2) caps a home…

Home business signage in unincorporated Rowan County follows the general Article VIII sign standards through Section…

Cary's LDO bars Type I home occupations, those providing services off-site, from letting any customers or clients visit…

Greensboro's home occupation rule bars anyone who doesn't live in the house from working there, reporting there for…

Asheville caps client visits to a home business at six people per day. Sec. 7-16-1(c)(38)i requires that a home…

In unincorporated Brunswick County, North Carolina, a home occupation cannot generate traffic or parking that is…

A home occupation in unincorporated Buncombe County can employ no more than two people who don't live on the property…

Home occupations that let clients or customers visit in unincorporated Cabarrus County must provide off-street parking…

A home-based business in unincorporated Catawba County cannot generate more than two customer vehicles on site at any…

Charlotte limits client visits to a home occupation to appointment-only calls between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., and caps…

Concord caps home occupation client visits at 6 per day, one visit per client, restricts visiting hours to 8 a.m. to 8…

Durham's UDO requires that traffic and parking generated by a home occupation never become a neighborhood nuisance…

Gaston County bars a private home occupation from operating like a retail store that depends on substantial walk-in…

High Point allows a home-based business as an accessory use to a residential dwelling only if it stays invisible to the…

Johnston County limits how much traffic, parking, and utility use a home-based business can add to a residential lot…

Home-based businesses in unincorporated Nash County cannot generate more traffic, noise, glare, fumes or electrical…

A Pitt County home occupation cannot "generate traffic... beyond what normally occurs in the zoning district" under the…

In unincorporated Union County, a home occupation cannot generate parking demand or traffic that is atypical of a…

Home occupations in unincorporated Wake County can't create objectionable traffic and can't let customers come to the…

Unincorporated Wayne County limits a home occupation's client visits to the hours between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., one…

Wilmington restricts home occupations to five patron visits per day, and no more than two patron vehicles may sit on or…

North Carolina has no cottage food law in the usual sense: there is no statutory sales cap, no annual gross-receipts…

Durham's home-occupation ordinance lets residents sell only handmade items, foodstuffs, and crafts made on the premises…

North Carolina has no flat cottage food exemption. Home bakers pass a one-time NCDA&CS home kitchen inspection before…

Home cooking, baking, and preserving are expressly allowed as a home occupation under the Forsyth County UDO. To sell…

North Carolina has no permit-free cottage food law. Before selling homemade food from an Orange County kitchen, you…

North Carolina operates a Home Processor exemption under NC Gen Stat Sec 106-267 allowing sale of low-risk…

North Carolina General Statute 110-86 and Chapter 110 Article 7 require state licensure for any home caring for three…

Home daycare in Fayetteville needs a North Carolina family child care home license from DHHS and must meet UDO Section…

Johnston County's zoning code will not let a child day care facility operate as a home occupation anywhere in…

Apex allows licensed family child care homes as a home occupation, but caps floor area at 25% of the dwelling (or 500…

Asheville treats a family child day care home as a use by right in every zoning district, but only if it fits size and…

Brunswick County's UDO allows an in-home day care as a limited use in every residential zoning district, but caps…

A home-based day nursery or private kindergarten in unincorporated Buncombe County is capped at eight children under…

A home daycare serving eight children or fewer is a permitted home occupation in unincorporated Cabarrus County, listed…

Cary allows a small day care home for up to 6 children as an accessory use by right, with state licensing, parking, and…

Charlotte allows a family childcare home in a single-family house for up to ten unrelated children, but the Unified…

Concord caps a Family Day Care Home at 12 children, counting both clients and the operator's own family members, and…

Cumberland County allows a small home day care as an accessory home occupation. No more than eight unrelated children…

In unincorporated Davidson County, a small home daycare caring for fewer than six children under 13 for a non-family…

Durham licenses in-home daycares as a "Child Care Center in Residence," and the Unified Development Ordinance folds…

Durham's UDO permits child-care and instructional home occupations, but tutoring or instructional services may have no…

Gaston County allows a small in-home daycare, called a Day Care Center Class A, as a permitted use in the county's…

Greensboro allows family child care homes in residential zones. Homes serving 3-8 children need a state DCDEE license…

A home-based child day care in unincorporated Guilford County may serve up to 12 attendees, including after-school…

Harnett County caps in-home childcare at five preschool-age children plus eight school-age children, and the provider…

High Point permits home day care for 3 to 8 children, or up to 8 adults, as an accessory use requiring state licensing…

Family childcare homes in Huntersville operate under NC DHHS licensing through the Division of Child Development and…

In unincorporated Nash County a home-based child or adult day care is regulated as a home occupation under the Unified…

Pitt County zoning treats a home daycare as a "Day Care Facility, Residential" use, allowed only in the RA, RR, R40, SR…

Raleigh allows a home day care for up to 8 people in the provider's own residence, permitted with limits in every…

Winston-Salem home-based child care is regulated primarily by the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education…

Iredell County allows a family day care home serving eight or fewer children as an accessory use to a residential…

Cleveland County's Table of Permitted Uses allows Child Day Care (NAICS 62441) by right in eight of the county's ten…

A family child care home serving more than two but fewer than eleven children in a residence is a permitted-by-right…

In unincorporated Union County, day care conducted in a residence is carved out of the home occupation ordinance…

Wake County's UDO permits child or adult day care homes by right in every residential district and most nonresidential…

Wilmington's Land Development Code permits a family child care home, licensed under G.S. Ch. 110, Art. 7 for two to…