Montana home and mobile salon rules

Can you run a salon from your home in Montana?

Yes, with conditions. A salon in your home can be licensed in Montana if it has outside doors separate from the home's entrances and a restroom that residents do not use personally, and clients never walk through living areas to reach it. Below: what a home salon needs, mobile salons (allowed) and house calls (allowed), each answered from Montana's own statutes, rules or board pages, read on October 31, 2026, with the state's own words.

Salon in your home
Allowed
Mobile salon
Allowed
House calls
Allowed
Mobile salon license
$235

Licensed by the Montana Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists.The board's site Salon license feesThe state's own words

Home salons

Can you have a salon in your home in Montana?

Yes, with conditions. A salon in your home can be licensed in Montana if it has outside doors separate from the home's entrances and a restroom that residents do not use personally, and clients never walk through living areas to reach it.

Salon in your home
Allowed
License it needs
Salon/Shop license
State fee
$235

What a home salon needs

  • Outside entrances with doors separate from the entrances to the residence

    “a salon or shop located in a residence must have outside entrances with doors separate from the entrances to the residence” boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov

  • A separate restroom within the salon that residents do not use personally

    “Residential salons shall have outside entrances with doors, and a separate restroom within the confines of the salon that is not available for the personal use of the residents.” boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov

  • Clients may not walk through any living area of the home to reach the restroom

    “In a residential salon or shop, clients shall not walk through any living area of the residence to access the restroom.” boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov

  • No services may be performed in any room used as living or sleeping quarters

    “No services connected with a salon, shop, mobile salon or shop, or school can be conducted in any room used as living or sleeping quarters.” boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov

Montana is one of 47 states whose official pages allow a salon in your home.

Mobile salons

Do you need a mobile salon license in Montana?

Yes: mobile salons are allowed, with a license. A mobile salon in Montana is licensed under the same salon or shop authority, must post its license on the outside, keep a physical and mailing address on file, and meet local and state mobile-business laws, including operating permits.

Mobile salon
Allowed
License it needs
Mobile salon or shop license
State fee
$235

What a mobile salon needs

  • Conspicuously post the mobile salon or shop license on the outside of the vehicle or unit

    “Mobile salons or shops shall also conspicuously post the mobile salon or shop license on the exterior of the mobile salon or shop.” boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov

  • Meet all applicable local and state laws for mobile businesses, including operating permits

    “meet all applicable local and state laws for mobile businesses, including but not limited to operating permits” boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov

  • Keep a physical address and a mailing address for the owner on file with the board

    “provide and maintain a physical address and mailing address for the owner(s) of the mobile salon or shop” boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov

  • The sink must connect to a wastewater holding tank or meet state or local wastewater laws

    “The sink in a mobile salon or shop must be connected to a wastewater holding tank and/or meet any state or local laws pertaining to wastewater.” boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov

Montana is one of 39 states whose official pages allow a mobile salon.

House calls

Can you do services at a client's home in Montana?

Yes, on conditions. Licensed beauty services may be done outside a salon only if a customer asks for a place other than a salon and the licensee is sent from a licensed salon or shop, or for a disabled or homebound customer at their place of residence.

The rule and Montana's own words, on the makeup artist page for Montana.

Good to know

What else Montana asks

  • A routine application may request a temporary permit to operate before the initial inspection, which is still required.
  • A board inspector visits each licensed home or mobile salon every year.
  • A mobile salon uses the same salon or shop application as a fixed salon, and local operating permits still apply where it works.

Sources

What Montana's official pages say

Each answer above, in the words of Montana's own statutes, rules or board pages, read on October 31, 2026. Your city or county may add its own rules for a home business: confirm with the Montana Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists and your local zoning office before you open.

Home salons
“a salon or shop located in a residence must have outside entrances with doors separate from the entrances to the residence”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
“A person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity desiring to operate a salon, shop, or booth shall apply to the department for a license.”
mca.legmt.gov
“$235 ($85 application fee plus $150 inspection fee)”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
“Residential salons shall have outside entrances with doors, and a separate restroom within the confines of the salon that is not available for the personal use of the residents.”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
“In a residential salon or shop, clients shall not walk through any living area of the residence to access the restroom.”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
“No services connected with a salon, shop, mobile salon or shop, or school can be conducted in any room used as living or sleeping quarters.”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
Mobile salons
“means a salon or shop as defined in 37-31-101, MCA, that is readily movable and where barbering, barbering nonchemical, cosmetology, electrology, esthetics, or manicuring are practiced other than at a fixed location”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
“No, there will not be a separate application as mobile salons and shops fall under the existing license authority for salons and shops.”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
“Mobile salons or shops shall also conspicuously post the mobile salon or shop license on the exterior of the mobile salon or shop.”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
“$235 ($85 application fee plus $150 inspection fee)”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
“meet all applicable local and state laws for mobile businesses, including but not limited to operating permits”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
“provide and maintain a physical address and mailing address for the owner(s) of the mobile salon or shop”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
“The sink in a mobile salon or shop must be connected to a wastewater holding tank and/or meet any state or local laws pertaining to wastewater.”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
Also good to know
“If your application is routine and does not require board review you may request a temporary permit to operate the salon/shop prior to your initial inspection.”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
Also good to know
“A board-designated inspector will conduct annual on-site inspections of all licensed salons, shops, booths, and mobile salons or shops.”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov
Also good to know
“No, there will not be a separate application as mobile salons and shops fall under the existing license authority for salons and shops.”
boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov

Questions

Montana home and mobile salons, answered

Can you have a salon in your home in Montana?
Yes, with conditions. A salon in your home can be licensed in Montana if it has outside doors separate from the home's entrances and a restroom that residents do not use personally, and clients never walk through living areas to reach it.
What are the home salon requirements in Montana?
Montana's official pages set these: outside entrances with doors separate from the entrances to the residence; a separate restroom within the salon that residents do not use personally; clients may not walk through any living area of the home to reach the restroom; no services may be performed in any room used as living or sleeping quarters.
Do you need a mobile salon license in Montana?
Yes: mobile salons are allowed, with a license. A mobile salon in Montana is licensed under the same salon or shop authority, must post its license on the outside, keep a physical and mailing address on file, and meet local and state mobile-business laws, including operating permits.
Can you do house calls in Montana?
Yes, on conditions. Licensed beauty services may be done outside a salon only if a customer asks for a place other than a salon and the licensee is sent from a licensed salon or shop, or for a disabled or homebound customer at their place of residence.
What else do you need to open a salon in Montana?
A license for your own work and, in most states, a license for the salon as a business. See what Montana requires to open a salon, with its fees and inspection rules.

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