Short-Term Rental Laws in Madison, Wisconsin

Madison imposes the WI Act 59 maximum 180-day cap on rentals shorter than 7 consecutive nights for any property NOT subject to a homeowner-paid lodging assessment. Combined with the primary-residence requirement for the Madison Tourist Rooming House license, this effectively limits whole-home STRs to either: (a) the operator's primary residence operating up to 180 nights/year on short stays + unlimited long stays, OR (b) properties paying the lodging-assessment that exempts them from the 180-day cap. Pure investor (non-owner-occupied, no lodging assessment) whole-home STR <7 nights is heavily constrained.

Madison General Ordinances Sec 9.50 governs Tourist Rooming Houses. License available in all residential zones (TR, SR, NMX, TSS, CC, CC-T, RMX, UMX, DR1/DR2 etc.) provided primary-residence test is met. The 180-day-on-short-stays cap is the binding economic constraint for investor entry — to escape it, the property must be subject to a homeowner-paid lodging assessment (operationally rare in Madison single-family stock). Multi-family buildings require landlord consent. The UW-Madison campus-adjacent neighborhoods (Greenbush, Bayview, Eken Park) have higher demand and tighter HOA-overlay restrictions.

Operators must hold a short-term rental permit before listing. See the official permit portal.

STRs are limited to the operator's primary residence. Maximum 180 nights per year.

Madison City Clerk + Building Inspection jointly enforce. State DATCP Tourist Rooming House permit also required (life-safety inspection). Annual license renewal includes primary-residence re-verification + cap-tracking attestation. Operating without the license: administrative citations + back-tax + Room Tax collections. The 180-day cap is operator-attested but the city cross-references platform booking data when complaints prompt review.

Combined short-term lodging tax in Madison is approximately 15.500% of gross nightly revenue (state sales + state TRT + local TRT + applicable resort/city options).

Wisconsin State sales 5% + Dane County 0.5% + Madison city sales 0.5% + Madison Room Tax 9.0% + state-administered local options 0.5% — combined ~15.5% on transient lodging

Verify the current combined rate via the Utah State Tax Commission before remitting — rates drift quarterly.