Art-of-photo/Getty Images A wide variety of reasons might necessitate a person catching some sleep in their own automobile. I know I've had a few quick roadside naps to avoid dozing off on a long road trip. Or maybe you don't have the spare cash for a hotel room. Plenty of people are choosing the "van life" no-fixed-address lifestyle and living out of mobile palaces these days. Or maybe you're one of the estimated 770,000 unhoused Americans who simply can't afford to live anywhere else. Whatever reason you have to be sleeping in your car, more municipalities and even some state governments are making it illegal. Many of these laws, including one newly passed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, are allegedly aimed at "curbing homelessness" but only serve to exacerbate homelessness and push it into a jailable offense. In a 7-2 City Council vote, Colorado Springs expanded its "camping ban" to include car camping, and ruled the convicted would face a fine, up to 10 days in jail, and having their vehicle impounded. Let's say you're evicted from your apartment and forced to live in your car until you get back on your feet. Do you think spending 10 days in jail, getting a fine you can't afford, and having your last vestige of safe haven taken away would help in any way? If you still had a job, you've now lost it, and don't really have a way to get a new one. Forgive my pessimism, but it seems unlikely that this legal ordinance would be levied against a glorious six-figure adventure rig, but rather the 20-year-old economy hatchback turned mobile bedroom of someone desperately clinging to the fringes of society. Car camping is only a crime when it looks like societal collapse. Where is car camping illegal? Gado/Getty Images A global economic crisis, an international pandemic, stagnant wages, the exploding cost of living, rampant inflation, and decreasing workforce participation rates mean the average American is living in worse economic conditions today by some metrics than during the Great Depression. It should come as no surprise that many working-class Americans have been forced out of their homes, or have chosen van life as a way to keep their heads above water. Many American cities have seen recent growth in residents parking old RVs and vans on the street as semipermanent housing solutions amid a real estate cost crisis. Here's a rundown of the states with the most draconian bans on car camping, so you know which to avoid on your next frugal road trip. Alabama: There isn't a statewide ban on car camping, but highway rest areas prohibit overnight parking altogether, and areas like Gulf Shores and Fairhope prohibit sleeping in your car between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. California: While the state government remains sympathetic to homeless Americans and those camping in cars, the U.S. Supreme Court's Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling allowed cities to enforce blanket bans on camping. Crackdowns have recently heated up in San Jose, San Francisco, Carlsbad, and San Mateo. Colorado: Dispersed car camping remains legal on designated public lands, but like Colorado Springs, most cities in the Rocky Mountain state, including Denver, Boulder, and Aurora, ban "public camping" with threat of arrest and big fines. Florida: Florida's 2024 public sleeping ban is more wide-reaching than most states'. The law explicitly bans anyone from sleeping in a car anywhere in the state unless it is registered, insured, and parked either in a designated camping spot or on private property with the explicit consent of the property owner. More state bans Lifemoment/Getty Images Georgia: The law allows sleeping in your car at rest areas, though limited to "normal, customary, and temporary use." Some cities, like Acworth, ban "sleeping in a single place for any substantial prolonged period of time." Idaho: A statewide ban on unauthorized "lodging or residing in a temporary or outdoor habitation" is in place, including merely sitting in your car for "a prolonged amount of time." Oklahoma: A 2024 law declared unauthorized camping on state property a misdemeanor carrying up to a $50 fine and up to 15 days in jail. Urban communities have largely declined to enforce the law, though it does let citizens sue cities for non-enforcement. Oregon: Many cities in Oregon ban camping on public property and in "residential zones." Sleeping in your vehicle at rest stops is allowed for up to 12 hours of any 24. Pennsylvania: State law prohibits motorized camping without a permit, and sleeping in your car at highway rest areas is strictly limited to two hours. Tennessee: This is the only state to make camping on public and state property a felony with penalties up to $3,000 and six years in prison. It also outlawed sleeping in a vehicle for more than three hours. Texas: In 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law stating that anyone camping outside of designated areas owes a fine of up to $500. This is the minimum threshold for any Texas city, though the law lets cities adopt stricter measures. Virginia: Car camping in Virginia is not explicitly banned, though rest areas only permit short-term parking. Many cities and counties in the state have more explicit bans in place, like Roanoke's draconian camping ban that declares the practice a Class 4 misdemeanor with a $250 fine. What else do you need to know? Ablokhin/Getty Images In July of 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling on states and municipalities to "enforce prohibitions on urban camping and loitering" as a way to curb the visibility of our growing homelessness crisis. It's possible that this is at least partially responsible for the further limitation of our freedom to move about and sleep. Among these state-sponsored losses of freedom, some good news is still available. Just this week North Carolina governor Josh Stein vetoed a bill that would have banned unauthorized public camping and sleeping statewide and pushed unhoused citizens into designated zones. Another recent bill in Washington State would override and prohibit local bans on public camping. Most states don't have an explicit ban on car sleeping, but several have recently reduced the number of hours a car camper can stay in one place. For example, Illinois limits rest area parking to just three hours, Michigan recently reduced the length of stay in public lots (welcome centers, carpool lots, rest areas, and public parks) to 48 hours, and Nevada only allows resting in the same place for a total of 18 hours every two weeks. Arizona and Montana allow single overnight stays only. It's becoming increasingly clear in many states that it's preferable to those in power to force people without housing to leave their city or state than to find a way to get them back on their feet.
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