Wisconsin Tourist Rooming House License Data

Wisconsin licenses short-term rentals statewide as tourist rooming houses, through the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). The public license file is one of the most contact-rich in the country: of the 12,919 Wisconsin records in PermitPulse as of 2026-10-08, 11,271 carry a phone and 12,453 an email.

For anyone selling to cabin, cottage and lake-house owners in the Northwoods, Door County or the Dells, that file is the starting point. This guide covers what a tourist rooming house is, what the license file contains, and where the licenses are.

What a tourist rooming house is

DATCP's tourist rooming house page defines one as any lodging place where sleeping accommodations are offered for pay to tourists or transients, including a lodging place with four or fewer individually keyed units, a one- or two-family dwelling or condominium unit, a tourist cabin or cottage, or a specialty lodging facility. In practice, the page says, they are vacation homes, cabins and cottages rented to tourists for short periods. The licensing rules sit in chapter ATCP 72 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code.

What the license file contains

The combination of phone and email on most records is rare. In most states you get one or the other, or neither.

Licenses by number of units

Each license is issued for a band of units, which tells you whether the licensee runs one cabin or a cluster of them:

92% of licenses cover a single unit, so most of the file is individual owners. A multi-unit license means one licensee with several units, whether a cottage group, a small resort or an owner with a few cabins: one contact, several properties.

Where the licenses are

Wisconsin towns with their own city page:

The town on each license is the town of the property. Door County shows up as several small towns (Sturgeon Bay, Sister Bay, Egg Harbor, Fish Creek) rather than one entry, and the Northwoods lake country spreads across Hayward, Eagle River, St. Germain and Minocqua. Green Bay has the most licenses of any Wisconsin town.

What the file leaves out

• Dates. The file carries no filing or issue date, so new licenses show up in our export through the first-seen date: when the license first appeared in our database.
• Bookings and amenities. Nothing about occupancy, bedrooms, docks or hot tubs.
• Who manages it. The licensee may be the owner or a rental company.

Who uses the Wisconsin file

• Cleaning and turnover crews, because phones are on almost every record.
• Maintenance contractors, who start with the multi-unit licenses.
• Property managers covering lake towns where owners live hours away.
• Photographers and furnishing companies watching for new licenses month to month.

Getting the Wisconsin file

The Wisconsin plan is $99 a month with exports filtered by city and contact data, or $149 once for all 12,919 Wisconsin records. Most licenses cover a single unit, so many licensees are individual owners and a listed phone may be a personal mobile. Calls and texts fall under the TCPA and Do Not Call rules and email under CAN-SPAM; read the compliance guide first.