Business Licensing & Operations in Wisconsin (2026)

Ashwaubenon does not run a sexually-oriented-business permit or spacing scheme; instead it bans full nude and semi-nude…

Wauwatosa bans sex bookstores, adult theaters, sexual device stores and cabarets featuring nude or semi-nude dancers…

Appleton allows sexually-oriented establishments only as a special use in the C-2, M-1 and M-2 districts, and only if…

Burlington City Code Chapter 90 requires a City business license before any adult-oriented establishment opens, and the…

Dane County confines adult entertainment businesses to the AED overlay on M-I (Manufacturing and Industrial) zoned land…

De Pere requires a license from the city before any sexually oriented adult entertainment establishment can operate…

Fitchburg, Wisconsin requires a city license before anyone may operate an adult-oriented or adult entertainment…

Green Bay requires a City-issued license to operate any sexually-oriented adult entertainment business under Sec…

Village of Little Chute confines adult oriented entertainment businesses to the ID industrial district and requires…

Madison requires a City license before anyone can operate an adult book or video store, adult motion picture theater…

Marathon County confines adult entertainment businesses to its Commercial (C) zoning district as a conditional use, and…

Middleton requires a City license for any adult-oriented establishment or venue offering live adult entertainment, and…

The City of Milton confines adult-oriented entertainment to a dedicated (AO) zoning district that the common council…

The City of Mosinee only allows adult-oriented establishments and adult cabarets in the M-1 limited industrial district…

Neenah requires a City-issued license for escort services and bars them from locating within 500 to 1,000 feet of…

New Berlin requires any adult bookstore, adult cabaret, or adult motion-picture theater to hold a city license before…

Outagamie County limits adult entertainment businesses to one per parcel, 1,500 feet apart, and 2,000 feet from homes…

Racine County requires a permit for adult establishments and bars any two from operating within 1,000 feet of each…

Rothschild confines adult-oriented businesses to the I-1 Light Industrial and I-2 Heavy Industrial districts as a…

Sun Prairie caps sexually oriented adult entertainment businesses at three citywide licenses at any one time and bars…

Walworth County confines adult entertainment uses to its B-2 General Business District and requires a 750-foot…

Waukesha requires anyone operating an adult bookstore, adult cabaret, adult motion-picture theater or similar business…

Waukesha County confines Adult-Oriented Establishments to the A-B, B-4 and Q-1 zoning districts and bans them…

Wausau requires every adult bookstore, adult novelty store or adult video store to hold a City-issued adult-oriented…

West Allis requires a license for any adult-oriented entertainment business under RMC § 9.59, and bars new locations…

Winnebago County zoning bars adult-oriented establishments from locating within 600 feet of another such business, a…

Kenosha's general code does not set a separate adult-business permit or spacing rule of its own; instead Section 11.085…

Ashwaubenon requires a separate Village license for every massage establishment, renewed each calendar year, on top of…

Green Bay requires an annual City Clerk license to operate a massage establishment: Sec. 10-95 mandates background…

Kenosha requires a Common Council license before anyone may operate a massage establishment or practice massage or…

Operating a massage establishment in the Village of Little Chute without a village clerk license is unlawful, and…

Anyone providing massage or bodywork therapy in Middleton, and any establishment that employs such a practitioner, must…

The City of Mosinee requires a common council license before anyone opens a sauna or massage establishment or works as…

New Berlin requires a city license for every massage business and for every therapist working in it. Code Section…

Appleton requires every massage therapist or bodyworker practicing in the city to hold a Wisconsin state license under…

Madison licenses massage establishments and therapists under MGO Ch. 9.06, requiring background checks, state-licensed…

Milwaukee licenses massage establishments under Code Ch. 83, while individual therapists are credentialed by the…

Sun Prairie makes it unlawful for anyone other than a massage therapist or bodyworker licensed by the State of…

Waukesha does not run a separate city massage-establishment license desk. Municipal Code § 8.19 instead makes it…

Wausau requires anyone practicing massage or bodywork therapy in the city to hold a current Wisconsin state license…

Wauwatosa does not issue its own massage therapist license. Instead, City Code Chapter 6.45 requires anyone practicing…

Ashwaubenon zones tattoo studios under its Retail Sales and Services category with three hard conditions: no studio may…

Beloit does not issue its own tattoo or body-piercing license: the City repealed its local tattooist chapter and…

Dane County requires a license to operate a tattooing or body-piercing establishment and for every practitioner working…

Kenosha County requires a Division of Health license to operate a tattoo, body piercing, or combined establishment, and…

Madison requires anyone who tattoos or body-pierces, or any establishment offering it, to hold a license from Public…

A tattoo or body-piercing shop in the City of Sun Prairie needs a conditional use permit and can only open in the SC…

Walworth County does not license tattoo or body-piercing parlors itself; Section 50-5(h) leaves that inspection role to…

Washington County requires a Department license before anyone can operate a tattoo or body piercing establishment…

Appleton requires every tattoo artist, body piercer and combination studio to hold a Health Department license before…

Brown County adopts the state tattoo and body-piercing code (Wis. Admin. Code ch. HFS 173) by reference, regulating…

Burlington requires anyone operating a tattoo or body-piercing establishment, permanent or temporary, to hold a license…

De Pere does not run its own tattoo code: City Code § 106-4(b) adopts Wisconsin's tattoo and body piercing rules, Wis…

Tattoo and body piercing establishments in Fond du Lac County must hold a non-prorated license from the county health…

Milwaukee requires tattoo artists, body piercers and their establishments to hold a health department license, meet…

Tattoo and body-piercing shops in Oneida County answer to the same Health Department licensing scheme as restaurants…

Tattooists, body piercers, and their establishments must hold a county-issued permit and pay fees set under Wis. Stat…

Every tattooist and body piercer working in Racine County must complete an annual, health-division-approved bloodborne…

Rock County requires anyone operating a tattoo or body piercing establishment to hold an establishment license issued…

Wauwatosa licenses tattoo parlors and body piercing studios by adopting Wisconsin's own body art law wholesale…

Winnebago County licenses tattoo and body-piercing shops through its Health Department rather than a separate…

New Berlin allows cosmetic tattoo and permanent cosmetics establishments as a principal use in every commercial and…

Wisconsin regulates electronic vaping devices under its tobacco statutes, requiring retailer licenses…

New Berlin requires a City license to sell cigarettes, tobacco or electronic vaping devices, issued under Section 152-3…

Selling cigarettes, vaping devices or tobacco products in Wauwatosa requires a license from the city clerk under…

Ashwaubenon requires a Village license before anyone may sell cigarettes, electronic vaping devices, or other tobacco…

Selling cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or other tobacco products in the City of Beloit requires a City license on top of…

Burlington requires a Clerk-issued license before anyone sells cigarettes or tobacco products in the city, and the same…

De Pere requires a city license to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products in the city, with the fee set by…

Green Bay requires a City-adopted license under Wis. Stat. § 134.65 to sell cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or tobacco…

Selling cigarettes or tobacco products in Kenosha requires a Cigarette and Tobacco Products Retailer License under…

Selling cigarettes, cigarette paper, or wrappers in Little Chute requires a village license from the clerk, running…

Madison requires every vape and e-cigarette retailer to hold a Cigarette and Tobacco Products Retailer license under…

Marathon County bars selling or giving cigarettes, nicotine products (including vapes) or tobacco to anyone under 18…

Selling cigarettes, electronic vaping devices or tobacco products in Middleton requires an annual license from the City…

The City of Milton requires a license from the city clerk before manufacturing, selling, exchanging or giving away…

Milwaukee requires a city cigarette and tobacco license before selling cigarettes or tobacco products, with a $100…

Retailers in the City of Mosinee cannot sell, exchange, or keep cigarettes, cigarette papers, or wrappers for sale…

Neenah bars selling, giving or furnishing vapor products to anyone under 18 and requires retailers to verify age by ID…

Selling cigarettes, tobacco products or vapor products in Rothschild takes a Village-issued retailer license under the…

Selling any tobacco product, tobacco paper, or wrapper in Sun Prairie requires a $100 annual license from the city…

Selling cigarettes or tobacco products in Waukesha requires a City license under state authority, costing $100.00 a…

In unincorporated Waukesha County towns, a tobacco store is a permitted principal use only in the B-4 Community…

Wausau requires a City Clerk retailer license under Wausau Municipal Code § 5.30.020 before selling cigarettes or…

West Allis requires a local retailer license to sell cigarettes, tobacco products, or e-cigarettes/vaping devices under…

Dane County's smoking ordinance defines a 'retail electronic delivery device store' as a shop deriving 75% or more of…

Appleton requires anyone operating as a secondhand article dealer, secondhand jewelry dealer, or flea-market/mall…

Burlington requires a separate City license for every junk collector, junk dealer and junkyard, backed by…

Dane County has no general secondhand-goods dealer license, but its zoning code regulates junk dealers directly…

Fitchburg, Wisconsin requires anyone operating as a secondhand article or secondhand jewelry dealer to hold a city…

Kenosha licenses secondhand article dealers separately from secondhand jewelry dealers, at $100 and $500 a year…

Anyone keeping a yard or building in Little Chute to store or deal in secondhand metals, rags, bottles, or junked…

Milton licenses secondhand article dealers and secondhand jewelry dealers as separate categories from pawnbrokers, each…

Anyone buying or taking secondhand goods on consignment for resale in New Berlin needs a $50 annual license under Code…

Wausau requires anyone buying and reselling used goods or secondhand jewelry, or operating a dealer mall or flea…

Secondhand article and jewelry dealers in the City of Beloit must operate inside a fully enclosed building, cannot buy…

Secondhand article and secondhand jewelry dealers in De Pere are licensed under the same Sec. 110-6 that covers…

Green Bay requires anyone dealing in secondhand articles, jewelry, or pawnbroking to hold a City license before…

Madison secondhand dealers and pawnbrokers must license under MGO Ch. 9.49 and report transactions to police via…

City of Middleton Municipal Code § 16.05(1)(ee) requires secondhand article, secondhand jewelry and precious metals…

Milwaukee licenses secondhand article dealers and secondhand jewelry dealers under Code Ch. 90, requiring transaction…

Waukesha requires a separate City license for anyone buying, selling or trading secondhand articles or secondhand…

Wauwatosa requires anyone operating a fixed-location secondhand goods business to hold a city secondhand dealer…

West Allis requires secondhand article dealers to hold a city license under WAMC § 9.80, which adopts Wis. Stat. §…

Ashwaubenon licenses pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers under Chapter 6, Article 10, adopting Wis. Stat. § 134.71 and…

Fitchburg, Wisconsin licenses pawnbrokers separately from ordinary secondhand dealers, requiring a $1,000.00 surety…

Kenosha requires anyone lending money on pledged goods to hold a $1,000-a-year pawnbroker's license and post a $500…

Buying, selling, or exchanging coins, bullion, or precious-metal and gem items from the public in Little Chute requires…

The City of Milton requires a common council-issued license before anyone operates as a pawnbroker within city limits…

Milwaukee pawnbrokers must hold a secondhand dealer's license, hold every pawned item 30 days for police inspection…

Sun Prairie requires anyone operating as a pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer to hold a…

Wausau licenses pawnbrokers through the City Clerk under Wausau Municipal Code ch. 5.52, requiring a $2,500 surety bond…

Appleton pawnbrokers need a City license before opening, but Section 9-24 lets the City Clerk issue it automatically…

Pawnbrokers in the City of Beloit must run their business from a fully enclosed building and file a Property…

Pawnbrokers doing business in unincorporated Brown County, Wisconsin operate under Wis. Stat. § 134.71 as adopted by…

Pawnbrokers in De Pere need a city license issued under Wis. Stat. § 134.71(7)(a), granted only after a ten-year…

Green Bay requires a City license before anyone runs a pawnbroker or secondhand-dealer business, issued by the City…

City of Middleton Municipal Code § 16.05(1)(ee) requires pawnbrokers to electronically report every secondhand-article…

Running a pawnshop in the City of Neenah requires an annual City license that expires every December 31, and the City…

Anyone operating a pawnbroker business in Waukesha needs a City pawnbroker's license under Municipal Code § 8.03…

Wauwatosa treats pawnbrokers as a category of secondhand dealer: a pawnbroker must hold the city's secondhand dealer…

West Allis requires anyone operating as a pawnbroker to hold a license under Wis. Stat. § 134.71, adopted into the city…

Winnebago County doesn't write its own pawnbroker rules; Ch. 9 § 9.15 adopts Wisconsin's pawnbroker statute, § 134.71…

Appleton flatly prohibits running an automobile, trailer, RV, boat, or snowmobile repair or painting business as a home…

De Pere's zoning ordinance flatly bans vehicle repair as a home occupation. Section 14-78(8)(c)5.a lists assembly…

The Village of Little Chute flatly bars vehicle repair and body work businesses from qualifying as a home occupation…

Middleton's Home Occupation ordinance flatly bars running a vehicle or motor repair business, or selling large…

Milton's zoning ordinance flatly bars vehicle and motor repair as a home occupation. City of Milton Code Sec…

Neenah's home occupation standards effectively bar auto repair businesses from residential properties by banning…

New Berlin prohibits running an auto repair or paint shop as a home occupation. City Code § 275-42 J(2)(c) lists…

Racine County's zoning code flatly bans on-site repair work for other people's vehicles as a home occupation…

Waukesha's zoning code lists auto body and engine repair as a use specifically barred from the home occupations allowed…

Wausau flatly bars vehicle and motor repair as a home occupation. Municipal Code § 23.03.28(4)(m) excludes 'the sales…

Wauwatosa Municipal Code § 24.10.020 bans vehicle and engine repair as a home occupation outright. Repairing or…

West Allis does not allow vehicle repair shops in residential districts: motor vehicle service is a conditional use…

Winnebago County's zoning code expressly excludes vehicle repair and motor vehicle body work from the activities that…

Beloit limits major vehicle overhauls at a residence to work the vehicle's owner-occupant performs inside a garage…

Green Bay bars a home-based occupation from operating as an auto service or repair business unless every vehicle worked…

Outagamie County allows a home-based auto, farm equipment, or small engine repair shop only as a special exception in…

Milwaukee lets you fix your own vehicle at home, but caps it at one car at a time and pushes teardown work into an…

Kenosha requires wreckers who tow vehicles at the Police Department's request, including disabled, abandoned, illegally…

Milwaukee County will only dispatch pre-qualified towing vendors to freeway breakdowns, and bans towing operators from…

Waukesha's Chief of Police contracts out non-consent vehicle towing, storage and immobilization, and any towing company…

Appleton's Police Department runs a rotating call list of eligible towing companies for accidents, disabled or…

De Pere lets a traffic officer order a vehicle towed from a street, parking facility or private property for specific…

Green Bay lets police order a vehicle towed without the owner's consent for blocking traffic, sitting in a reserved…

Milwaukee licensed tow operators must use signed service order forms, photograph towed vehicles, and get…

West Allis charges a City-set administrative fee on every non-consent tow from a highway or private property, and…