Short-Term Rentals in Wisconsin (2026)

Wisconsin requires a tourist rooming house license for a dwelling rented to transients for fewer than 30 days when…

Wauwatosa requires a local permit under Municipal Code §8.62 before operating any short-term rental. Application and…

Every short-term rental host in Fitchburg, Wisconsin must obtain an annual license from the city clerk before renting…

Green Bay requires a City short-term rental permit before advertising or renting a dwelling for under 28 days, plus…

Anyone operating a hotel, motel, or tourist rooming house, including a short-term rental that meets that state…

Operating a short-term rental in Madison, a tourist rooming house (TRH), is unlawful without a permit from the Zoning…

Every Short-Term Residential Rental in Middleton must hold a current Annual City of Middleton Short-Term Residential…

Milton bars operating a short-term rental more than ten nights per license year without a city short-term rental…

Anyone who manages or operates a short-term rental in New Berlin, a dwelling rented under 30 consecutive days, must…

Renting out a residential dwelling in unincorporated Walworth County for less than 29 consecutive days requires a…

Washington County requires a license from the Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department before anyone can operate a…

Wausau requires every tourist rooming house to have a designated operator, either the property owner or a property…

Appleton regulates STRs with licensing requirements. Lawrence University events and Fox Valley tourism drive demand…

A Dane County tourist rooming house permit issued under ch. 46.33 runs on the annual cycle set out in ch. 46.34 and ch…

De Pere requires anyone who rents out a short-term rental more than ten nights a year to hold a tourist roominghouse…

Operating a tourist rooming house or bed and breakfast in unincorporated Fond du Lac County requires a non-prorated…

Milwaukee County does not issue short-term rental permits. Under Wisconsin law, a host operating more than 10 nights a…

Neenah regulates but cannot ban STRs under WI Act 59 (2017). DATCP tourist rooming house license may be required. WI…

Wisconsin Statute 66.1014 preempts local bans on residential rentals of 7 consecutive days or longer. Anyone offering a…

Registration is handled by the state, not Rock County. Operators get a DATCP tourist rooming house license, and if a…

Waukesha County sets no countywide STR permit. Statewide, anyone renting fewer than 30 days for more than 10 nights a…

West Allis requires a Tourist Rooming House permit administered through the West Allis Health Department. Annual…

Wis. Stat. §66.1014 preempts local STR bans for stays of 7 consecutive days or more. Hosts renting more than 10 nights…

Wis. Stat. §66.1014 preempts local STR bans for stays of 7 consecutive days or more. Hosts renting more than 10 nights…

Wis. Stat. §66.1014 preempts local STR bans for stays of 7 consecutive days or longer. Hosts renting more than 10…

Wis. Stat. §66.1014 preempts local STR bans for stays of 7 consecutive days or longer. Hosts renting more than 10…

Sec. 6-13-22(C)(5) of the Village of Ashwaubenon Municipal Code requires that 'There shall not be excessive noise…

Neenah's Tourist Housing Ordinance at Section 26-661(2) of the Neenah Municipal Code expressly requires that all…

Walworth County requires every licensed short-term rental in the unincorporated county to post quiet hours of 10:00…

Wisconsin sets no statewide decibel limit. Noise at a Waukesha County STR is enforced through municipal noise/nuisance…

Wausau bars any vacation rental home from emitting "sounds, odors, dust or vibrations that carry beyond the premises,"…

Wisconsin requires short-term rental hosts to collect state sales tax and any local room tax. Wis. Stat. § 66.0615…

New Berlin requires anyone who manages or operates a short-term rental, a residential dwelling rented for a fee for…

Ashwaubenon requires every short-term rental to collect and remit a 10% room tax under Village Municipal Code Chapter…

Brown County imposes a 10% room tax on short-term rentals under authority of Wis. Stat. §66.0615. Operators must obtain…

Burlington's room tax reaches more than traditional hotels. City Code § 286-2 defines a taxable 'hotel or motel' to…

Operators of tourist rooming houses, Wisconsin's regulatory term covering short-term rentals, in unincorporated Dane…

De Pere taxes short-term rentals the same 10 percent room tax it charges hotels, due to the city clerk monthly, and…

Fitchburg, Wisconsin taxes short-term rental stays under 28 days the same as hotel rooms under its room tax ordinance…

Green Bay requires a short-term rental permit with an application fee, plus registration with the City Treasurer for…

Tourist rooming house and hotel/motel operators in unincorporated Kenosha County pay a county license fee posted on the…

Little Chute's room tax law names 'owners of short-term rentals' as taxable operators, requiring a village permit and a…

Madison charges tourist rooming house operators a nonrefundable $300 application fee up front and a $100 annual permit…

Middleton requires every Short-Term Residential Rental to hold an annual zoning license before operating, and that…

Milton requires a City of Milton Room Tax Permit and a nonrefundable administrative fee before it issues an annual…

Milwaukee County does not impose a room tax. Short-term stays in the county carry a 3% basic room tax through the…

Wisconsin state room tax is 5% (WI Stat. §77.98). Neenah levies additional local room tax. Platforms auto-collect in…

Outagamie County adopts the state-set fee schedule for tourist rooming house, hotel, and motel permits by reference…

Racine County does not impose a countywide STR registration fee, but operators must collect 5% Wisconsin sales tax plus…

Wisconsin room tax is municipal, not county. Rock County levies no countywide room tax; a city, village, or town room…

Walworth County does not run a room tax for short-term rentals in the unincorporated county; instead, Code § 26-344…

Waukesha County cannot levy a room tax. Under Wis. Stat. 66.0615 only municipalities (cities, villages, towns) may…

Sec. 6-13-27(A)(3) of the Ashwaubenon Municipal Code sets the off-street parking standard for short-term rentals: 'Not…

The Village of Little Chute has no dedicated short-term rental parking ordinance, so STR guests are subject to the same…

Middleton has not adopted a short-term rental-specific off-street parking minimum. STR guests must comply with the…

Neenah's Tourist Housing Ordinance at Section 26-661(1) of the Neenah Municipal Code requires every tourist housing…

Every short-term rental in unincorporated Walworth County must provide at least two parking spaces under County Code §…

Wausau requires one on-site parking space per bedroom for every vacation rental home, and City Code Section…

Brown County does not publish a county-wide STR occupancy cap. Maximum guest counts are governed by the property's…

Fitchburg, Wisconsin short-term rental licenses issued under City Code § 10-285 must state a maximum occupancy for the…

Green Bay caps how many people can stay in a short-term rental by tying occupancy to the number of bedrooms under the…

Madison caps how many guests a licensed Tourist Rooming House can sleep: Sec. 28.151(k), MGO limits maximum tourist…

Middleton caps overnight guests at a Short-Term Residential Rental to twice the number of legal bedrooms or twelve…

Milton caps short-term rental occupancy at whichever is less: the number licensed by the State of Wisconsin, or two…

Milwaukee STR occupancy follows the state rooming house cap of two guests per bedroom plus two, and overall building…

Milwaukee County imposes no occupancy cap on short-term rentals. Guest limits, where they exist, come from the host…

New Berlin caps short-term rental occupancy at whatever Wisconsin's tourist rooming house rule, ATCP 72.14(2)(b)…

Walworth County caps how many guests a short-term rental in the unincorporated county can sleep. Under County Code §…

Wausau caps short-term 'tourist rooming house' occupancy at whatever is lower: the number licensed by the State of…

Winnebago County does not publish a numeric STR occupancy cap. Maximum guests are set per-property through the Tourist…

Ashwaubenon requires every short-term rental owner to carry insurance on the rented home and prove it with the license…

Madison caps non-owner-occupied short-term rentals at 30 nights per calendar year under WI Stat. 66.1014 and MGO…

Ashwaubenon caps every licensed short-term rental at 180 rental days within any rolling 365-day license period under…

Milwaukee County imposes no annual limit on rental nights. State law lets a municipality cap only rentals of 6 to 30…

Rock County sets no night cap. Wisconsin lets a city, village, or town cap rentals of more than 6 but fewer than 30…

Waukesha County sets no countywide night cap. Under Wis. Stat. 66.1014, a municipality may limit rentals of 6 to 30…

Wausau caps short-term "vacation rental home" bookings at 30 total nights in any 12-month period under City Code…

Fitchburg, Wisconsin exempts occasional short-term rentals from its licensing scheme: City Code § 10-284(j) says no…

Madison Sec. 28.131 requires that tourist rooming houses be located within an owner-occupied dwelling unless the…

Milwaukee does not require an owner or host to be physically present during a short-term rental stay, since Wisconsin…

Milwaukee County does not require a host to be present during a stay. State law protects whole-home rentals of 7 or…

Fitchburg, Wisconsin only lets a property's actual live-in owner or lessee run it as a licensed short-term rental. City…

Madison treats short-term rentals as accessory uses to a primary residence. Operators must demonstrate that the…

Rock County imposes no primary-residence requirement for short-term rentals. Wisconsin's Right to Rent law limits how…

Waukesha County has no countywide primary-residence-only STR rule. Under Wis. Stat. 66.1014, a municipality may not…

Wausau allows a bed and breakfast only when it is the operator's own home. City Code Section 23.03.10(13)(b) requires…

Milwaukee cannot restrict short-term rentals to a host's primary residence. Wisconsin Act 59 (2017) and Wis. Stat…

Milwaukee County does not require short-term rentals to be a host's primary residence. State law bars local governments…

Ashwaubenon can revoke a short-term rental license after three or more police, building-inspection, or…

Walworth County has no numbered "strikes" system for short-term rental violations; instead, Code §§ 26-345 and 26-346…

Wisconsin Act 55 (2019) requires lodging marketplaces like Airbnb and Vrbo to collect state and local room taxes for…

Milwaukee places primary STR responsibility on the host and property owner, not the booking platform. Wisconsin's…