Bolthole Index county-legal census · checked 2026-10-05
2 of Maryland's 24 counties — 8% — allow tiny homes as a dwelling. That is the 29th-largest count of any state. The strongest of them on the Bolthole Index is Montgomery County (38/100). 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 547 counties nationwide → Maryland: no zoning → Maryland: owner-builder → Maryland: no minimum home size → Full Maryland profile →
From the Maryland guide
Maryland has county-specific RV answers for 15 jurisdictions: 0 classified as allowed, 2 temporary-only, 9 limited and 4 prohibited; the remaining 9 are unanswered.5 These categories do not establish permission to live in an RV while building a house.5 We could not confirm statewide authorization for residential RV occupancy on private land; ask the parcel's zoning office about the intended stay and use.
Tiny-home answers cover 8 jurisdictions: 2 allowed with conditions and 6 limited, leaving 16 unanswered.6 Montgomery County identifies a tiny home as a possible accessory dwelling unit on qualifying property; Baltimore city allows qualifying tiny houses through its residential-code provisions.6 See the Maryland tiny-home guide for those distinctions.6
Maryland's accessory-dwelling framework concerns land with an existing single-family detached primary dwelling and retains building-code and public-facility standards; it does not establish that a tiny home can be the first dwelling on vacant land.20
From the Maryland 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.
2 of 24 Maryland counties · sorted by Index score
A tiny home used as an accessory dwelling unit on a qualifying Montgomery County property. The county describes a tiny home as an example of an accessory dwelling unit, subject …
Montgomery County Provides Information about New Rules for Accessory Dwelling Units ↗Tiny houses used as detached one- or two-family dwellings, townhouses, or related accessory structures within Baltimore City. Baltimore City has adopted Appendix Q, “Tiny Houses…
Part X International Residential Code ↗Every county here has a full profile — water, land prices, hazard safety, seclusion, and the rest of its building rules. See the Maryland state page for all 24 counties ranked, or go back to the national list.
Off-grid gear
Building on land in one of these Maryland 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.
