Home Business in West Virginia (2026)
10 rules on the books across West Virginia, 2 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.
Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions
Zoning & Home Occupation Permits
Which businesses you can run from home, the home-occupation permit or registration most cities require, and the conditions attached, floor area caps, signage bans, and prohibited uses.
Charleston
Some RestrictionsCharleston requires home-based businesses to get a Municipal Business License endorsed by the Planning Department…
Read full rule →Kanawha County
Few RestrictionsKanawha County has not adopted countywide zoning, so no county home-occupation permit exists for unincorporated areas…
Read full rule →Signage Rules
Whether you can put up a sign for your home business, including size limits, placement rules, and which types of signs are allowed.
Customer Traffic Restrictions
Limits on customers and clients visiting a home business, daily visit caps, one-at-a-time rules, employee restrictions, and parking conditions that keep a home occupation from becoming a storefront.
Cottage Food Operations
Rules for selling homemade food products from your kitchen, including what foods are allowed, labeling requirements, and annual sales limits.
West Virginia: statewide
StatewideFew RestrictionsWest Virginia Code §19-35 establishes statewide cottage food rules allowing home producers to sell non-potentially…
Read full rule →Kanawha County
Few RestrictionsWest Virginia lets you sell non-potentially-hazardous homemade foods, breads, cakes, candies, jams, honey, dried…
Read full rule →Home Kitchen Operations
Permits for selling meals cooked to order in a home kitchen, which is a separate legal category from shelf-stable cottage food. Covers daily meal and gross revenue caps, health department inspection, and whether the county has to opt in before residents may apply at all.
Home Daycare
Licensing and zoning rules for running a daycare out of your home, including the number of children allowed, outdoor play area requirements, and safety standards.
West Virginia: statewide
StatewideHeavy RestrictionsWest Virginia licenses in-home child care by size: an informal home cares for three or fewer children, a registered…
Read full rule →Charleston
Significant RestrictionsRunning a family day care home in Charleston requires a conditional use permit in every residential district, plus…
Read full rule →Kanawha County
Some RestrictionsA family child care home in Kanawha County, four to six children, must hold a certificate of registration from the…
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