Home Business in Tennessee (2026)

Memphis and Shelby County zoning lets residents run a home occupation without a special permit as long as it stays…

Murfreesboro requires a Board of Zoning Appeals special use permit for any home occupation, capping it at 25% of…

Sullivan County splits home businesses into two zoning tiers on Table 3-102A. A Minor Home Occupation is a Section…

Chattanooga permits home occupations by right in any dwelling as long as the business stays incidental to residential…

Franklin, Tennessee requires home occupations to stay inside the house or an accessory building, cap floor area at 25…

Hamilton County allows home occupations as an accessory use without a separate license if they meet the zoning…

Running a business from a Hendersonville home requires a Major or Minor Home Occupation Permit before the business…

Knox County allows home occupations in residential zones only if no non-resident works there, no more than 25% of the…

Metro Nashville requires a zoning permit for home businesses that see customers or employ a non-resident worker…

Section 1101 N of the Zoning Ordinance lets a home-based business operate inside a residential dwelling or its…

In unincorporated Shelby County, a home occupation is allowed as an accessory use under the Memphis and Shelby County…

Sumner County allows two tiers of home-based business in unincorporated residential zones: 'minor' operations approved…

Williamson County allows up to two home occupations per single-family dwelling, each requiring a Business License once…

Knoxville treats a home occupation as an accessory use tied to the dwelling unit itself, so it's allowed anywhere a…

Home occupations in Franklin are barred from having any sign or other advertising on the property: the zoning code's…

A Hendersonville home business cannot hang a sign advertising itself outside the house. Zoning Ordinance Section…

UDC Section 2.7.4.B(11) flatly bars any signage tied to a home occupation anywhere in Memphis or unincorporated Shelby…

Metro Nashville bans exterior signage entirely for home occupations: any sign, product display, or exterior clue that a…

A home occupation in unincorporated Shelby County may not have any sign advertising the business. UDC Section 2.7.4…

Home-based businesses approved under Sumner County's by-right 'minor' category cannot post any sign at all. Zoning…

A Chattanooga home occupation gets exactly one sign. Sec. 38-43(e)(10) limits it to one non-illuminated, affixed wall…

A home occupation in unincorporated Hamilton County may display no advertising sign except one nameplate no larger than…

A home business sign in unincorporated Knox County is capped at two square feet and has to sit at least 20 feet back…

Knoxville caps how a home-based business can advertise itself: Section 13.9.D.1.a of the zoning code allows a properly…

In residential zoning districts, Murfreesboro limits home occupation signs to one attached sign per lot, no larger than…

In unincorporated Rutherford County, a major home-based business approved by special exception may post only one sign…

A home occupation in unincorporated Williamson County gets one permanent sign under Table 18.07-1: a ground sign, or a…

Hendersonville caps a Major Home Occupation at two customers on-site at a time and eight per day, all outside 10 PM-7…

Franklin caps most home occupations at two on-site clients or one family at a time; all other customer contact must go…

UDC Section 2.7.4.B caps home-based businesses in Memphis and unincorporated Shelby County to one customer at the…

Murfreesboro requires home occupations to provide adequate off-street parking for any traffic they generate, cap group…

Metro Nashville caps home-business customer visits to three per hour and six per day, allowed only by scheduled…

Rutherford County caps client traffic at a minor home-based business under Section 1101 N.2.e: no more than 5 customer…

Minor home-based businesses in unincorporated Sumner County are capped at two customer or client visits per day, with…

Chattanooga's Home Occupation standards cap the customer and delivery traffic a home business can generate. Sec…

Knoxville limits traffic generated by a home occupation to no more than what a residential neighborhood would normally…

Tennessee runs one of the loosest cottage food regimes in the country. The Tennessee Food Freedom Act, T.C.A. §…

Knox County sets no separate cottage-food rule. Tennessee's Food Freedom Act (T.C.A. 53-1-118) lets you make and sell…

The Tennessee Food Freedom Act exempts home-kitchen food from state licensing, permitting and inspection, with no sales…

Homemade food producers in Shelby County are governed by the Tennessee Food Freedom Act (T.C.A. 53-1-118). Foods…

The Tennessee Food Freedom Act lets Sumner County residents sell most homemade foods direct to consumers with no…

Tennessee's Food Freedom Act lets you make and sell most homemade foods from a Williamson County kitchen with no…

Tennessee does not issue a microenterprise home kitchen permit because it does not require one. Under the Tennessee…

Tennessee licenses family child care homes (up to seven children) and group homes (eight to twelve) through the…

Running a family or group day care home in a Murfreesboro residential zone requires a Board of Zoning Appeals special…

Chattanooga's zoning code lets a Day Care Home for up to eight children or adults operate by right in every residential…

Clarksville treats family day care as permitted on review in every residential district, so it goes to the Board of…

Franklin permits small-scale child care as a home occupation for up to four unrelated children, provided the operator…

A day care center in unincorporated Hamilton County needs a special permit approved by the county, with a site plan…

Hendersonville allows a day care home for up to four children or adults as an accessory residential use, but caring for…

A small family home daycare fits within a home occupation, but a group day care home in unincorporated Knox County is a…

Knoxville zoning limits a home-based day care to seven unrelated children or adults from outside the household, on top…

Memphis and Shelby County zoning treats in-home day care as a Civic Use with strict siting rules. A Group Day Care Home…

Metro Nashville splits home daycare by headcount: 5-7 kids is a small day care home needing conditions review, 8-12 is…

In unincorporated Rutherford County, a private home may care for up to four children without a state license as a…

In-home child care in Shelby County is licensed by the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS). A family child…

Sullivan County's use table draws the line for home daycare at four children. Table 3-102A classifies 'In-Home Day…

In unincorporated Sumner County, a private home may care for up to four children without a state child-care license or…

Running a family child care home in unincorporated Williamson County requires a state license, a minimum one-acre lot…