Bolthole Index county-legal census · checked 2026-10-07
1 of Wisconsin's 72 counties — 1% — allow living in an RV on private land. That is the 29th-largest count of any state. The strongest of them on the Bolthole Index is St. Croix County (61/100). Every entry below cites the county’s own official source.
Rules change, and cities inside these counties set their own — treat this as a verified starting point, not legal advice. All 456 counties nationwide → Wisconsin: no zoning → Wisconsin: owner-builder → Wisconsin: tiny homes → Wisconsin: no minimum home size → Full Wisconsin profile →
From the Wisconsin guide
Wisconsin leaves this to counties and towns. Of the 72 counties, 24 have their own RV answer: 1 allowed, 4 temporary-only, 18 limited and 1 prohibited, and 48 are unanswered.6 St. Croix County is the one that allows it, through a seasonal travel-trailer land-use permit for one camping unit on a vacant parcel; Sawyer County and Sauk County are temporary-only; Menominee County, Lincoln County and Iron County are limited.6 State park rules that cap stays at 14 days in any 21 days apply to campsites, not to your own land.29 The Wisconsin RV-living list has the conditions.
For tiny homes, 12 counties have an answer: 1 allowed and 11 limited, with 60 unanswered.7 Oneida County allows a tiny home as a single-family dwelling in its Single Family Residential district, while Oconto County, Barron County, Sawyer County and Waushara County answer with limits, often minimum sizes.7 We could not confirm any statewide tiny-home definition; the Uniform Dwelling Code is the statewide construction standard for one- and two-family dwellings.2 See the tiny-home list.
From the Wisconsin guide, written from the cited official sources and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: confirm with the office before you buy or build.
1 of 72 Wisconsin counties · sorted by Index score
One camping unit on a vacant lot or parcel under the St. Croix County seasonal travel trailer land-use-permit provision. A seasonal travel trailer land-use permit is required. T…
St. Croix County, Wisconsin Code of Ordinances, Chapter 15 Zoning ↗Every county here has a full profile — water, land prices, hazard safety, seclusion, and the rest of its building rules. See the Wisconsin state page for all 72 counties ranked, or go back to the national list.
Off-grid gear
Building on land in one of these Wisconsin counties? The kit we'd start with:
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General guidance, not legal advice. Off-grid, building, and land-use rules are often set at the county level and change often. Verify with your county and state before acting. Data reviewed 2026-06-26.
