Is renting by the room legal?
It depends on the city. Of the 33 US cities RoomSpread has researched, renting a house by the room is generally allowed in 8, depends on the detail in 16, and is restricted in 9. Three things decide it: how many unrelated adults may share one home (the occupancy cap), whether the arrangement counts as a boarding house, and whether the state has pre-empted the local rule.
Generally allowed (8)
- Denver, CO — Denver deliberately RAISED its cap to five in 2021 - one of the only cities moving in the landlord's direction.
- Jacksonville, FL — The most permissive of the markets reviewed so far. Five unrelated occupants allowed, and rooming houses are a defined use rather than a prohibited one.
- Los Angeles, CA — California's Supreme Court struck down unrelated-occupant caps statewide - LA cannot enforce one.
- Metairie, LA — No cap and no relatedness test at all - the whole question is whether the occupants are a single housekeeping unit.
- Saint Petersburg, FL — The land development regulations do not define family at all - there is no unrelated-occupant cap to breach.
- San Antonio, TX — No cap on unrelated occupants anywhere in the code - one of the cleanest markets reviewed.
- Shreveport, LA — SIX unrelated people - tied with Washington DC for the highest cap in the whole dataset, and the #5 arbitrage market in the country.
- Washington, DC — The highest occupant cap of any major market - six unrelated people, written straight into the zoning regulations.
Depends on the detail (16)
- Arlington, VA — Four unrelated people, confirmed in the ordinance effective 16 Nov 2024 - the 2022 push to scrap the cap did not land. Above four you need a use permit, and only in the denser districts.
- Atlanta, GA — Possible but legally gray: Atlanta's zoning lets up to SIX unrelated people live together as a 'family', but a house that rents rooms separately to the public counts as a 'roominghouse', which is banned in single-family and duplex districts, and 5 or more paying roomers triggers a roominghouse license and police permit. Four or fewer renters is the safest setup. Six or more is where the risk is highest.
- Bronx, NY — Legal by the room ONLY inside a household - a resident household plus up to four paying roomers. Let the rooms independently and it becomes a multiple dwelling. (Bronx is New York City - same statute.)
- Brooklyn, NY — Legal by the room ONLY inside a household - a resident household plus up to four paying roomers. Let the rooms independently and it becomes a multiple dwelling. (Brooklyn is New York City - same statute.)
- Chicago, IL — Four unrelated people. The cap is buried in the word "additional" - read it twice.
- Columbus, GA — The family definition has no cap at all - but three paying lodgers makes it a rooming house. The same house is either, depending on how you paper it.
- Flushing, NY — Legal by the room ONLY inside a household - a resident household plus up to four paying roomers. Let the rooms independently and it becomes a multiple dwelling. (Flushing is New York City - same statute.)
- Houston, TX — Allowed, but a permit is required: Houston has no zoning, yet renting rooms to 3 or more people unrelated to the owner makes the house a "lodging facility" that needs an annual city permit and inspection, unless the owner lives there at least three months a year. Deed restrictions, which the City itself can enforce, are the other real constraint.
- Jamaica, NY — Legal by the room ONLY inside a household - a resident household plus up to four paying roomers. Let the rooms independently and it becomes a multiple dwelling. (Jamaica is New York City - same statute.)
- Miami, FL — Depends which side of the city line you are on. UNINCORPORATED Miami-Dade allows FIVE unrelated people and expressly contemplates roomers; the City of Miami's own code does not say so clearly.
- Milwaukee, WI — More than three unrelated roomers sharing a bathroom is a rooming house - licensable, but the city enforces it.
- New York, NY — Legal by the room ONLY inside a household - a resident household plus up to four paying roomers. Let the rooms independently and it becomes a multiple dwelling.
- Orlando, FL — Up to four rooms on separate 30-day-plus leases, with no more than five unrelated people in the house, counts as an ordinary single-family household and is allowed anywhere houses are allowed. A fifth room lease makes the house Group Housing. Group Housing is not allowed in Orlando's single-family zones (R-1AA, R-1A, R-1, R-1N) or R-2A, and anywhere it is allowed it needs a Zoning Official Determination renewed every year.
- Pensacola, FL — Four unrelated people, and the test is shared utility service - which is an unusually easy trigger to meet.
- Phoenix, AZ — Five or fewer is unrestricted. Six or more paying rent by the room is a "boarding house" and needs a special permit.
- Staten Island, NY — Legal by the room ONLY inside a household - a resident household plus up to four paying roomers. Let the rooms independently and it becomes a multiple dwelling. (Staten Island is New York City - same statute.)
Restricted (9)
- Baltimore, MD — More than two separately-let rooms is a rooming house. The lease structure is the only lever.
- Boston, MA — Five roomers makes it a licensed Lodging House - but the LEASE STRUCTURE decides whether you trip it.
- Dallas, TX — Not allowed by right in single-family zoning: Dallas treats a house whose rooms are separately rented as a "lodging or boarding house", which is permitted only in MF-2(A) and denser multifamily, RR, CS, industrial and central-area districts, and the four-unrelated family cap still stands because Texas SB 1567 (2025) does not apply to Dallas. Room-by-room co-living needs multifamily or commercial zoning; in an R(A) district it is only defensible as one household of the head plus up to four unrelated people.
- Fort Lauderdale, FL — Three unrelated people. As tight as Philadelphia, and the tightest in Florida.
- Lafayette, LA — Four unrelated - but only 'on a non-profit, cost-sharing basis'. That phrase excludes renting rooms at a margin, which is the whole business model.
- Peoria, IL — Three unrelated people, and the strictest version of three found anywhere - you may not add a guest, and you may not even add a relative of one of the three.
- Philadelphia, PA — Three unrelated people, and the courts have already upheld it - this one has teeth.
- San Juan, PR — Governed by an EMERGENCY regulation after the Supreme Court voided the 2019 and 2020 versions - and the current text defines family by blood and marriage.
- Tampa, FL — Not by right in single-family zoning: renting 3 to 6 rooms separately makes the house a "roominghouse", which Tampa prohibits in every RS single-family district and allows only by City Council special use in RM-24 and denser districts (or by right in CG). Up to 4 unrelated people living as one household sharing one kitchen is still a "family" and is fine.
Each city page cites the ordinance. This is research, not legal advice; a local land-use attorney decides whether a specific property complies. State-level positions are on the zoning page.