Illinois Window Tint Law 2026: Every Window, One Chart.
The Rear Decides the Front.
Read from the text of 625 ILCS 5/12-503: the front side rule, the windshield strip, mirrors, the medical exemption and the fines, worked through real shade combinations.
Illinois window tint law in 2026 comes down to one rule: the windows behind the driver decide how dark the two front side windows may go. With nothing back there darker than 35 percent, the front side windows may carry 35 percent or lighter. Rear film darker than 30 percent leaves the front with no film at all. The windshield takes a nonreflective strip along the top 6 inches, and the rear windows have no limit.
Every percentage here is the share of light the glass lets through, so lower is darker. The law is 625 ILCS 5/12-503; the letters in parentheses are its subsections. Everything below is for Illinois registered cars without the medical exemption; both exceptions come later.
Did the law change for 2026?
No. As read on October 8, 2026, the newest act in the section’s source line is Public Act 103-32, in effect since January 1, 2024; the one before it is Public Act 102-111, in effect since January 1, 2022. The 2024 text is the 2026 law, and it is the text this guide follows.
The rear windows decide the front
Start with the default: under (a-5), the two windows beside the driver get no film or treatment at all. Three paragraphs then carve out exceptions, and every one of them looks at the glass behind the driver’s seat.
- Nothing behind the driver darker than 35 percent, film or no film: the front may take nonreflective film of 35 percent or lighter, under (a-5)(2).
- Rear film of at least 30 but under 35 percent: the front may take nonreflective film of 50 percent or lighter, under (a-5)(1).
- Rear glass tinted at the factory: the front may take nonreflective film of 50 percent or lighter, under (a-5)(4).
Aftermarket film darker than 30 percent on any rear window fits none of the three, so the front stays clear.
Five combinations, worked through
35 percent all around
Legal under (a-5)(2). That paragraph asks only that every window behind the driver let through at least 35 percent, and a 35 rear does. It is also the only way to get 35 on the front doors: every rear window has to be 35 or lighter, or left clear.
20 percent on the rear, 35 on the front
Not legal. At 20, the rear is darker than both film thresholds in (a-5), 30 and 35, so the front doors may carry no film. Take the front film off and the same car is legal.
30 percent on the rear, 50 on the front
Legal, under (a-5)(1): nothing behind the driver is darker than 30, so the front may carry 50 or lighter. Put 35 on the front with that same rear and the front is too dark.
An SUV with factory privacy glass
The rear glass came tinted from the manufacturer, so (a-5)(4) lets the front side windows carry nonreflective film of 50 percent or lighter. The statute never names SUVs, trucks or vans. The 50 percent SUV figure on some charts is this rule, and it covers any vehicle with factory tinted rear glass.
5 percent on the rear, nothing on the front
Legal. The statute sets no minimum for the rear side windows or the back glass, so limo dark is allowed, with a side mirror on each side.
The chart
| Window | What Illinois allows | Subsection |
|---|---|---|
| Front side windows, rear clear or 35 percent or lighter | Nonreflective film, 35 percent or lighter | (a-5)(2) |
| Front side windows, rear film at least 30 but under 35 percent | Nonreflective film, 50 percent or lighter | (a-5)(1) |
| Front side windows, factory tinted rear glass | Nonreflective film, 50 percent or lighter | (a-5)(4) |
| Front side windows, aftermarket rear film darker than 30 percent | No film | (a-5) |
| Rear side windows and back glass | Any shade, with a side mirror on each side | (b-5) |
| Windshield | Nonreflective film on the top 6 inches only | (a) |
The windshield: 6 inches from the top
Subsection (a) bans signs, posters, window applications and film on the windshield, with one exception: nonreflective tinted film along the top, reaching no more than 6 inches down. The AS-1 line usually falls about there, but the statute never mentions it; the 6 inches count down from the top edge of the glass.
Clear film counts too: the ban covers nonreflective material of any kind. The shop is bound as well: (a-10) bars installing or repairing anything (a) prohibits, and (j) penalizes that like any other violation. We sell full windshield film for cars registered in another state and drivers with the medical exemption; on an Illinois registered car, the law allows only the top 6 inches.
Rear film needs two side mirrors
Go as dark as you like behind the driver’s seat, but once any window back there is treated, (b-5) requires a side mirror on both sides of the car, each conforming with Section 12-502.
The 5 percent variance is not a lower limit
Paragraphs (1), (2) and (4) of (a-5) each allow a 5 percent variance observed by an officer metering the glass. That is tolerance on the meter, not a second legal number: the law still says 35 and 50, and we tint to those, never to the variance.
The medical exemption
The chart does not bind every car. Under (g), the windshield and front side rules are lifted for a car with distinctive plates or a plate sticker issued under Section 3-412(k), if its owner drives it and has a disease that requires shielding from direct sun, or if it carries someone with such a disease who lives at the owner’s address. If sunglasses would do, (g) grants no front side exemption.
The owner needs a certified statement or letter from a physician licensed in Illinois. It stays in the vehicle at all times, the physician renews it every 4 years, and a copy goes to the Secretary of State.
For installers, (g-7) allows exempt film only on a vehicle that already carries the plates or sticker, and (a-10)(2) requires a copy of the physician’s statement, taken before the install and kept on file.
What a tint ticket costs
A tint ticket under (j) is a petty offense the first time, with a fine of no less than 50 and no more than 500 dollars. A second or later violation is a Class C misdemeanor: the minimum fine rises to 100 dollars and the most is still 500. A conviction under (a), (a-5), (b) or (b-5) also comes with an order to alter the nonconforming windows into compliance.
Cars registered in another state
None of the chart binds a car properly registered in another state: (f)(2) switches off (a), (a-5), (b) and (b-5) for it, so the windshield, front side, rear window and mirror rules all fall away while that registration stands.
Once the car is registered in Illinois, the chart applies. Under (l), the Secretary of State must give new residents applying for registration notice of these rules, and may do it by posting them on its website.
The same numbers in every town
Subsection (m) bars home rule units from regulating motor vehicles in a manner inconsistent with this section, so no city or village can set tint numbers that conflict with it. The chart holds in Chicago and Schaumburg alike.
The Illinois window tint law page has the full rules, and the Illinois tint law checker answers for your own shades in two picks. The shop is on Oakton Street in Elk Grove Village, about 13 minutes from Schaumburg Village Hall outside rush hour: see window tint in Schaumburg.
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