Cottage Food Revenue Cap Tracker
Pick your state, enter your year-to-date gross sales, and see in real time how close you are to the cap that turns a cottage food operation into a regulated food business.
Caps range from $5,000 (Rhode Island, Wisconsin) to $250,000 (Florida), and 23 states have no cap at all (counts shift as states update their statutes). Sail past your state's cap without realizing it and the consequences can include shutdown orders, fines, and a forced upgrade to a commercial kitchen. This tool keeps the line visible.
Educational starting point only — not legal advice. State cottage food laws change every legislative session and are subject to local zoning, HOA, and sales-tax rules; always verify the current cap and requirements with your state agriculture or health department before launching or scaling.
Revenue Cap Tracker
Your operation
Pick your state and enter your year-to-date gross sales (before COGS).
Tier: High cap. Cap is calendar-year gross sales unless your state specifies otherwise.
Use gross sales (before COGS, packaging, or platform fees) — that’s what almost every state’s cap counts.
Used to project your end-of-year total at your current pace.
$150K cap is inflation-indexed. The wholesale path for non-TCS items is unique — few states allow cottage products in retail without a commercial kitchen.
Direct sales, farmers markets, online, in-state mail, and wholesale (non-TCS) all permitted, within Texas only. Online orders must be personally delivered by the operator, an employee, or a household member rather than third-party shipped (SB 541, § 437.0194). The wholesale path requires sales to a registered cottage food vendor.
Where you stand
Updated as you type.
$141,500 of headroom remaining
You’re well under the $150,000 cap for Texas. Keep tracking gross sales monthly so the picture stays current.
How cottage food revenue caps work
A cottage food law lets you bake, can, or candy-make from your home kitchen and sell to the public without commercial-kitchen licensing — but only up to a state-specified annual revenue cap. Cross the cap and the operation legally becomes a regulated food business: commercial kitchen, formal inspections, payroll, and the costs that come with them. Caps are almost always measured as gross sales (the total dollars in, before COGS), not net profit. A $25,000 cap means $25,000 of receipts even if your margin leaves $5,000 of profit.
Caps vary by an order of magnitude. Rhode Island and Wisconsin sit at $5,000. Most states cluster between $25,000 and $50,000. Texas raised its cap to $150,000 (inflation-indexed) and Florida's "Home Sweet Home Act" pushed Florida to $250,000 — the highest in the country. Roughly twenty states (Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa shelf-stable, Maine, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington shelf-stable, Wyoming) operate as "food freedom" or no-cap states, though several pair that with restrictions on venues (direct-only) or product categories (no TCS / no shipping). Delaware removed its $25K cap in December 2023 but still requires registration, an 8-hour training course, and inspection; Indiana removed its prior $2,500 cap under HEA 1149 (2022); Pennsylvania has no cottage food exemption at all — home production runs through the Limited Food Establishment program ($35/year, kitchen inspection) with no cap and wholesale + interstate channels open.
The right time to track your cap is on the first sale, not the last. The most expensive pattern we see in cottage food enforcement is a baker who realizes in November that they crossed the cap in August and has been operating out of compliance for three months. The fix is either to stop selling until January (and refund deposits) or to scramble for emergency commercial-kitchen licensing — neither is fun. Watching a real-time progress bar fixes this.
What counts toward the cap (and what doesn't)
Counts: direct sales at farmers markets, online orders for in-state delivery, custom-cake orders, sales tax (in most states — the cap is "gross receipts" inclusive of tax collected, though a few states net it out), and tips. Some states also count shipping that you charge the customer.
Generally does not count: retail sales through a commercial kitchen you also operate (those fall under separate retail food regulations), wholesale sales to a licensed retailer (where state law permits wholesale), and sales of non-food items (the candle you sell alongside the cookies).
Special cases: Iowa's dual-tier system has separate caps for shelf-stable versus refrigerated items. California distinguishes Class A ($75K) from Class B ($150K) by whether you sell direct-only or include online and retail. Virginia caps acidified foods (pickles, salsas) separately at $3,000 even if your general cap is $25,000. Always read your state's specific definition before relying on the headline number.
What happens if you go over
Enforcement is mostly complaint-driven. A competitor reports you, a customer files a foodborne illness complaint, or you self-disclose on your sales-tax filing. Once flagged, state agriculture or health departments can issue stop-sale orders, levy fines (typically $100–$1,000 per violation, escalating for repeat offenses), require you to surrender your cottage food registration, and refer the matter to the local prosecutor for misdemeanor food-safety charges in extreme cases.
The more common outcome is administrative: a letter explaining that you must either cease operations under the cottage food exemption or upgrade to a commercial-kitchen license, which means renting commissary space ($300–$1,500/month in most metros), getting kitchen inspections, paying for a food manager certification, and registering with the state department of agriculture as a food processor. That's the path that growing cottage bakers eventually take by choice — when you cross your cap on purpose, on the date you planned, with the commercial-kitchen lease already signed.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cottage food revenue cap?
A cottage food revenue cap is the maximum annual gross sales a home-based food producer may earn while operating under a state's cottage food law without commercial-kitchen licensing. Caps currently range from $5,000 (Rhode Island, Wisconsin) to $250,000 (Florida); 23 states have no cap at all (counts shift as states update their statutes). Once you cross the cap, you must either stop selling or upgrade to a commercial-kitchen license.
Does the cap count gross sales or profit?
Almost every state's cap counts gross sales — total dollars in, before COGS, packaging, or labor. A few states use "gross receipts" inclusive of sales tax collected. Profit-based caps do not exist in any US state's cottage food law. If you have $25,000 in gross sales with $5,000 of profit, you are at $25,000 toward the cap, not $5,000.
Which states have no cottage food revenue cap?
As of 2026: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware (with inspection + training), Georgia, Idaho, Indiana (Home Based Vendors), Iowa (shelf-stable tier), Maine, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, New York (Home Processor), North Carolina (Home Processor), North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania (Limited Food Establishment — registration + inspection required), South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington (shelf-stable), and Wyoming. Massachusetts technically has no statewide cap but delegates to local boards of health, so the practical cap depends on your town. Several "no-cap" states still impose other restrictions — New York limits to in-person sales, North Carolina requires kitchen inspection, Delaware requires an 8-hour food-safety course, Pennsylvania requires a $35/year LFE registration and inspection.
What happens if I exceed my state's cottage food cap?
You must either stop selling under the cottage food exemption or upgrade to commercial-kitchen licensing. State enforcement is largely complaint-driven, but consequences when caught include stop-sale orders, fines (typically $100–$1,000 per violation), surrender of cottage food registration, and in extreme cases misdemeanor food-safety charges. The clean path is to plan your transition to commercial well before you hit the cap — typically once you are at 70–80% of cap, you start commissary kitchen and licensing prep.
When does the cottage food cap reset?
In nearly every state, the cap resets on January 1 (calendar year). A few states use a fiscal year or a rolling 12-month window — check your state's specific definition. The tool defaults to a calendar-year projection because that matches almost all state laws; if your state uses a different period, adjust the "months into the year" slider accordingly.
Do online orders count toward the cap?
Yes, in states where online cottage food sales are permitted. The cap counts gross sales regardless of channel — farmers market, in-person pickup, online order with in-state delivery, custom catering. States that prohibit online shipping under cottage food (Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin) limit your channels but the cap math is the same within those channels.
How do I track cottage food revenue accurately?
Keep one running ledger of every sale — date, channel, gross amount, customer name (when known). Reconcile monthly against your bank deposits and any platform payout statements (Etsy, Square, Stripe). This tool is a snapshot; for ongoing tracking, a real ledger or inventory-and-sales tool like Ardent Seller is the right call. Spreadsheets work for the first $5K but start breaking down once you have more than one sales channel.
Track your cap continuously, not on a spreadsheet
A tracker checks one number on one day. Ardent Seller logs every sale across every channel — farmers markets, online orders, custom cake deposits — and gives you a live gross-revenue dashboard that updates the moment a sale closes. Set your state cap once; the system alerts you when you cross 70% so you have time to plan the commercial-kitchen transition.
Real-time gross revenue per location
Sales from every channel roll into one number. No CSV exports, no monthly reconciliation, no surprises in November.
Batch & lot traceability
Production date and lot code stamped on every finished item — the labeling field Texas now requires and best practice everywhere.
Sources & verification
State revenue cap data is compiled from each state's Department of Agriculture or Department of Health cottage food / home processor program pages, cross-referenced against:
- Forrager — Cottage Food Laws by State (opens in new tab)
- Institute for Justice — State Reforms for Cottage Food and Food Freedom Laws (opens in new tab)
- Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic — Fifty-State Table of Cottage Food and Home Kitchen Laws (opens in new tab)
- National Agricultural Law Center — Cottage Food Laws: Recent Trends and Major State Changes (opens in new tab)
State laws change every legislative session. Always confirm the current cap, registration requirements, and allowed venues with your state agriculture or health department before launching or scaling. Data current as of 2026-06-09.
Related resources
Cottage Food Laws by State: The 50-State + DC Quick Reference
Revenue caps, sales venues, registration rules, and the most common restrictions for all 50 states and DC — in one place, in plain English.
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1099-K Threshold Tracker (2026)
A multi-platform tracker that tells you which payment processors will send you a 1099-K this year under the post-OBBBA 2026 rules. Federal $20K + 200 transactions; ten states + DC trigger earlier.
Craft Seller Startup Checklist
36 things to set up before — and after — your first sale. Inventory, pricing, and the legal essentials in one place.
From the blog
Articles that dig deeper into the topics this tool covers.
Colorado Cottage Food Law After the Tamale Act: A Maker's 2026 Guide to HB26-1033
For thirteen years, Colorado capped each cottage food product type at $10,000 of net revenue, excluded refrigerated foods, and shut meat out of the home kitchen entirely. The Tamale Act — HB26-1033, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Gonzalez (R-Greeley) and Majority Leader Monica Duran (D-Wheat Ridge), with Sens. Byron Pelton and Robert Rodriguez carrying the Senate companion — passed both chambers of the Colorado General Assembly in 2026 and rewrites the framework on three axes at once. The $10,000 per-product cap is replaced with a $150,000 producer cap indexed annually for inflation. Refrigerated and TCS foods are admitted to the cottage food list for the first time. Meat and meat products are permitted when sourced from a federally or state-inspected facility. This guide walks through what the Act actually changes, what stays the same, how the new CDPHE registry and food safety course work, the verbatim label disclaimer, what three composite Colorado producers (a Denver tamale maker, a Pueblo green-chile-sauce producer, a Boulder cheesecake baker) can sell on day one, and the four mistakes new producers are most likely to make in year one.
Wisconsin Cottage Food Law: Two Parallel Frameworks, One Court-Created Right, and the November 19, 2024 Reversal That Narrowed the Rules Most Online Summaries Still Get Wrong
Wisconsin is the only US state whose home-baked-goods framework lives in a court ruling rather than a statute, runs on a completely separate Pickle Bill track for home-canned foods, and was narrowed by a November 19, 2024 Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision that most online summaries have not yet caught up to. This guide walks through what the law actually allows after the reversal, what the $5,000 Pickle Bill cap covers, what categories are flatly banned, and what the 2026 legislative push to impose a $40,000 cap would change.
Tennessee Food Freedom Act: A Cottage Food Maker's Guide to America's Most Permissive Home Kitchen Law
Tennessee has no cottage food revenue cap, no permit, no inspection, no registration, and no required food handler training. As of July 1, 2025 — when HB 130 took effect — the Tennessee Food Freedom Act also authorizes pasteurized dairy, federally inspected meat, and small-flock poultry in the home kitchen, putting Tennessee in the very small group of states (Arizona, parts of Wyoming) that have legalized meaningful time-and-temperature-controlled foods at the cottage level. The trade is a narrow but firm in-person-only rule for those perishable items: TCS foods cannot be shipped, cannot be wholesaled, and cannot move through DoorDash or any third-party delivery platform. This guide walks through what the Food Freedom Act actually says, what HB 130 added in 2025, the verbatim label disclaimer, the rare low-acid-canned-food allowance that distinguishes Tennessee from every adjacent state, and the three places online guides about Tennessee cottage food still get the rule wrong.
Arizona Cottage Food Law After HB 2042: No Cap, No Fee, and the Broadest Food List in the Country
Arizona has no cottage food revenue cap. Registration is free. Renewal runs on a three-year cycle. And as of September 2024, when HB 2042 took full effect, Arizona became the first state in the country to authorize a meaningful list of time-and-temperature-control-for-safety (TCS) foods — including dairy, USDA-inspected meat, and small-flock poultry — to be produced in a home kitchen and sold without a commercial license. The trade is a stricter handoff rule for those perishable foods (in-person delivery only, two hours maximum, one destination), a mandatory ANSI-accredited food handler card, and a verbatim label disclaimer that may not be paraphrased. This guide walks through what Arizona's framework actually says, what HB 2042 changed in 2024, the in-person-delivery rule that catches every new producer, the retail-venue signage rule, and the three places online guides about Arizona cottage food still get the rule wrong.