Cottage Food Laws by State: All 51 Jurisdictions Compared

All 50 states plus the District of Columbia, in one table. 17 of the 51 jurisdictions require no state registration or permit at all, 18 require one and in 16 it depends on the food or the channel. 27 set no annual sales cap. 21 require no food-safety training. Every cell below is read from that state's own verified record. Every row links to the full page behind it.

The rules that decide whether you can sell what you make are set state by state, so the useful question is never "what is the cottage food law" but "what is mine" and "how far does it let me go". The table below puts the six answers people ask for side by side: whether the state wants a registration, whether anybody inspects your kitchen, whether a course is required, how much you may earn in a year, whether the allowed foods are a list or a boundary and whether you may sell online or ship. It reads top to bottom with no clicking. Where you need the detail behind a cell, the state name is the link.

Cottage food laws by state, compared

All 51 US jurisdictions. Read from that state's own verified record, checked through August 15, 2026. A dagger in the cap column means that state's limit carries a condition, a second path or a scheduled change that one column cannot hold; the state page states it in full.

How to read each column

• Registration or permit. Whether the state itself wants a filing before you sell. "Depends" means the state's answer turns on the food you make or the way you sell it, which is the shape in 16 jurisdictions. It says nothing about your city or county, which is a separate matter covered below.
• Inspection. Whether a home kitchen visit is part of getting started. "Depends" usually means one tier of the state's programme is inspected while another is not, or that an inspector comes only after a complaint.
• Training. Whether a food-safety course or a certificate is required. Where one is, it is normally a short online course from a third-party provider rather than a state fee.
• Annual sales cap. The ceiling on what a cottage operation may earn in a year before it outgrows the exemption. "No cap" means the state sets none. It is not the same thing as a fee. A state can charge nothing and still cap you.
• Allowed foods. Whether the state's own published list ends in a general catch-all or names categories only. Either way the practical test is the state's list, not how safe a food feels, so check yours in the allowed-foods checker before you bake a batch for a market.
• Online and delivery. Whether the state allows online selling and, separately, shipping. The two split more often than people expect: taking an order on a website is usually fine, while putting the parcel on a carrier headed out of state usually is not.

Where your city or county overrides the table

Every cell above is a state answer. A second layer sits underneath it. That is the layer that catches most people out. A city or county can require a general business license, a home occupation permit or a sales tax registration whether or not your state asks for anything at all. None of those are cottage food rules. Zoning is the same story: a residential zone that forbids a business use, or a landlord clause, or a homeowners association deed restriction, can stop a kitchen that the state is perfectly happy with.

States handle that overlap in three different ways. Your own state page names which one applies to you. Some preempt local regulation outright, so a city may not require a permit to produce or to sell direct. Some say the state rule applies only where no local ordinance says otherwise, which leaves a county free to write its own. Most say nothing either way, which in practice means the local rule stands. The safe order is the same in all three: settle the state answer in the table above, then call your city or county planning department before you spend anything.

Markets add a third layer that is neither state nor local law. A farmers market, a craft fair or an event venue may set its own vendor rules, ask for insurance or require a temporary food permit from the local health department for anything served open rather than packaged. Ask the market manager early, because those rules are usually shorter to satisfy than they are to discover on set-up morning.

Start with your own state

The rest of the answer for your state

The table is the summary. The page behind each state name carries the parts a column cannot hold: the exact label wording that state requires word for word, the office that handles it with its contact details, the statute each fact came from and the date we last read it. Three companion guides go deeper on the questions the columns raise:

• Do you need a license to sell food from home? sorts all 51 jurisdictions into the ones that require nothing, the ones that want a registration and the ones where it depends.
• What a cottage food license costs by state puts the fee beside the registration answer in the table above.
• How to start a cottage food business is the ordered path from picking a product to a first legal sale.

Open the 51-state directory →

This page is educational information, not legal advice. Cottage food laws change and several states in this table already have a change scheduled. Confirm the current rules with your state agency and your city or county before you sell. Every figure here traces to that state's own statute or agency page, cited and dated on the state page the row links to.

Cottage food law FAQ

What is a cottage food law?

A cottage food law is the rule that lets you make certain foods in your own home kitchen and sell them to the public without a commercial kitchen or a full food establishment license. Every US state has one. Each state decides for itself which foods qualify, whether you register first, how much you may earn in a year, what the label must say and where you are allowed to sell, which is why the answer that is right in one state can be wrong one border over.

Which states have the easiest cottage food laws?

6 jurisdictions in this table ask for nothing on the basic path: no registration, no inspection, no training requirement and no annual sales cap. They are Arkansas, Idaho, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee. That is a comparison of the four columns in this table, not a ranking of every rule, because a state that asks for nothing can still run a narrow allowed-foods list. Open the state page before you decide.

Which states have no cottage food sales cap?

27 of the 51 jurisdictions set no annual dollar cap at all: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia. Several more set no cap on their main path while a second, separate path carries one, which is what the dagger in the cap column marks.

Do you need a license to sell food from home?

In 17 of the 51 jurisdictions the state requires no registration or permit at all. 18 require one. In the remaining 16 it depends on the food you make or the way you sell it. The guide on whether you need a license to sell food from home walks through which group yours falls into.

Can you sell cottage food online?

39 of the 51 jurisdictions allow online selling outright or allow it with conditions attached, most often that the buyer takes delivery inside the state. Shipping is the separate question and a state that welcomes online orders often still bars a carrier from taking the parcel across the state line. The channel column splits the two wherever the state's own record does.

Can you sell your homemade food into another state?

No state cottage food law reaches past its own border. A cottage food exemption is written by a state legislature for sales inside that state. Several states say so in the statute itself. Crossing a state line normally moves you into federal food rules and into the other state's own licensing regime, so treat interstate selling as a separate question rather than an extension of your cottage food permission.

Does a cottage food registration replace a business license?

No. They are different things from different offices. A cottage food registration or permit, where a state requires one, covers the food. A general business license, a home occupation permit, a sales tax number and your zoning are local matters. A city or county can require them whether or not the state asks for anything. Check both before your first market day.

How often do cottage food laws change?

Often enough that a figure two years old is worth re-checking. Several states in this table have a scheduled change already written into law. The law updates changelog logs each change with its date and its bill number as legislatures pass them. Each state page carries the date its own facts were last read against the source.