Window signs at a glance
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| How much of my window can I cover? | Among these cities, from 10% in Los Angeles to one third in Boston and San Francisco. Most limits are 20% to 30%; Dallas allows 15% of each window or glass door. |
| Is it per window or for the whole storefront? | It depends. Charlotte, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Phoenix count each window; Fort Worth counts the window area on each facade and Las Vegas all windows on a building elevation; Boston counts each story. |
| Do I need a permit? | Indianapolis and San Diego need none for window signs. Chicago and Phoenix exempt temporary window signs; in Chicago only for no more than 60 days. Las Vegas needs no sign certificate for window signs in its commercial and industrial districts, Atlanta none for signs inside a building within its limits, and Jacksonville generally none. Austin, Denver and Nashville exempt temporary window signs (Austin for 30 days, Denver 45). Miami requires a permit. |
| How is the window measured? | See how window area is measured in Charlotte and Fort Worth. |
What each city says
Each line is taken from the city page, which links the code text.
| City | Window sign limit |
|---|---|
| Atlanta | Signs inside a building need no permit; illuminated and changing signs inside may cover no more than 30 percent of any window or door, less than 12 sq ft in total and no single sign over 6 sq ft, or they need a permit (§16-28A.007(q), §16-28A.008). |
| Austin | Temporary signs for events, sales, products and services need no permit and may cover up to 30 percent of the window area, for no more than 30 days (§25-10-102). |
| Boston | Up to one third of the total combined window area on each story. |
| Charlotte | No more than 25% of each window area; 65% for a vacant ground-floor nonresidential space. |
| Chicago | A temporary window sign of paper, fabric or vinyl needs no permit for no more than 60 days, if it covers 25% or less of the window. |
| Columbus | At most 25 percent of the window area. |
| Dallas | In business districts, all signs on a window or glass door together may cover no more than 15 percent of it, and signs in the upper two-thirds are prohibited (§51A-7.305(d)). |
| Denver | A temporary window sign without illumination promoting an event, sale or service needs no permit for up to 45 days; a lit one needs an electrical permit (city sign page). |
| Fort Worth | Window signs may occupy a maximum of 25% of the window area on each building facade (§6.403(f)(1)). |
| Houston | No permit for signs painted on windows, but an electrical sign or a sign with a structure larger than six square feet in a window needs a wall sign permit, and no more than twenty percent of a glass storefront may be covered with advertising content (Sign Code §4605(b)(1)). |
| Indianapolis | No permit is needed: up to 30% of the window area per window, counted separately from every other sign, and not illuminated. |
| Jacksonville | Permits are not generally required for window advertising and graphics, but anything on the windows that can be construed as advertising counts against the wall sign allowance for that elevation (city Sign Laws page). |
| Las Vegas | In the City’s commercial and industrial districts, window signs may cover no more than 25% of the total area of all windows on a building elevation, need no sign certificate, and count toward the wall-sign allowance for that elevation (LVMC 19.08.120(F), Table 14). |
| Los Angeles | Temporary signs in a window plus other window signs are limited to 10% of the window area (P/BC 2023-078). |
| Miami | Window signs are not on the list of signs exempt from permit, and window, projecting, hanging and awning signs all count toward the same aggregate sign area. |
| Nashville | Temporary, non-illuminated signs behind storefront windows, not permanently affixed to the glass, are exempt if they cover no more than twenty-five percent of the storefront window (§17.32.040 L). |
| New York City | In commercial districts, lit non-flashing window signs other than advertising signs, up to eight square feet in total on the zoning lot and no more than three in any window, are exempt from the sign surface-area limit (ZR §32-64). |
| Philadelphia | 20% of the glazed area of each window (§14-904(1)(i)). |
| Phoenix | Window signs together may cover up to thirty percent of each ground-floor window area; temporary window signs need no permit (§705.B.2(g)). |
| San Diego | Window signs are on the city’s list of installations that need no separate sign permit (Information Bulletin 111). |
| San Francisco | All window signs together: one-third of the area of the window they are placed on or in. |
Cities not listed
For the other cities we cover, the city page does not state a window sign limit, so this page says nothing about them. In Jacksonville window signs count against the wall sign allowance; ask the zoning office how your city counts them.
Each limit is taken from the city page, which links the code text it was read from.
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