Restaurants, commercial kitchens, and food trucks.
Montgomery County food-facility health permits run about $100–$525 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Plan review runs about $55–$600. Confirm the exact amount with Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) - Licensure & Regulatory Services, Environmental Health Unit before you budget.
Confirm the authority for your exact address. Some cities run their own health division, and building, planning, fire, sewer/grease and business-license approvals are separate even when Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) - Licensure & Regulatory Services, Environmental Health Unit issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 2.4% change in establishments since 2022 (1,879 → 1,925).
The average foodservice wage here is $3,033 above the Maryland average ($25,328); Maryland has about 11,930 food & drink establishments statewide.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 722, food services & drinking places) — establishments with paid employees. Some small-county payroll figures are withheld by Census for confidentiality.
Risk/priority-based tiers per the DHHS Licensure & Regulatory Services fee schedule; A Certified Food Service Manager (CFSM) is required; Fees confirmed unchanged against the live DHHS fee schedule on 2026-08-10
Turnaround: Written approval/denial/request for more info typically within ~14-30 days of a complete submission
County health departments license and inspect to the Maryland food code; no statewide letter grade; inspection reports are public and posted online by this jurisdiction.
Plan review required for new/altered mobile units; the plan-review fee is paid at the Montgomery County Dept of Permitting Services and a receipt must accompany the mobile plan submission; Mobile units inspected before licensing at 2425 Reedie Drive, 9th floor, Wheaton
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
The government permit & plan-review fees below total roughly $210–$1,180 for Montgomery County:
That’s the paperwork only. Add buildout, equipment, deposits and licenses with the cost-to-open calculator. Fees change — confirm current amounts with the department.
Comparison uses the lowest published annual restaurant-permit figure in each county; confirm your exact tier with the department.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
Plus building, fire, and business-license fees that vary locally — use the cost calculators and the checklist below to budget the full stack.
A code-compliant kitchen in Montgomery County needs more than the health permit — these approvals are handled by separate offices. Confirm current requirements with each.
Under IPC (adopted via Maryland Building Performance Standards), food establishments here must control fats, oils & grease (FOG) with a grease interceptor or trap, and typically register with the local sewer/wastewater authority. Grease interceptors are required under Maryland's adopted plumbing code, with FOG permits issued by the local sewer/wastewater authority.
Size the interceptor with our grease-trap sizing calculator, compare units in the grease-trap catalog, and confirm the local FOG permit with Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) - Licensure & Regulatory Services, Environmental Health Unit (contact above).
Hood fire suppression (Maryland State Fire Prevention Code (NFPA 1 / NFPA 101)): commercial cooking under a Type I hood needs a wet-chemical suppression system to NFPA 96, permitted and inspected by the local fire marshal. Kitchen hood suppression follows NFPA 96 under the Maryland State Fire Prevention Code, enforced by the State Fire Marshal and local AHJ. See do I need a hood? and the hood CFM calculator.
Backflow prevention: Annual RPZ backflow assembly testing is required by the local water utility's cross-connection control program. A certified backflow assembly (often an RPZ) on the water service, tested annually, is standard — confirm with your water utility.
| Category | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| caterer / commissary | not a separate category; caterers and commissaries are licensed as Food Service Facilities on the risk-priority tiers (Type A $200 / Type B $375 / Type C $525); Confirm assigned priority with DHHS | Montgomery County MD prices by risk priority, not by establishment category |
| bakery / grocery / market with deli | licensed as a Food Service Facility on the risk-priority tiers (Type A $200 / B $375 / C $525); not broken out by category | Priority-based model; no distinct bakery or grocery fee line |
| farmers market | $50 (farmer selling farm-produced food, or farm market with 25%+ agricultural products) | Distinct Farmer's Market license category |
| temporary / seasonal event | Type F seasonal (<=90 days/yr) $175; special food event for-profit hazardous $70/event, prepackaged non-hazardous $40 (+$35 add'l same event); non-profit $30 (hazardous) / $15 (non-hazardous) | Multiple temporary/seasonal tiers published; late application (<2 business days notice) +$30 |
| itinerant / pushcart / mobile vending | Mobile Food Service Facility license $55 (+ $55 mobile/itinerant plan review); itinerant selling (Apr-Nov) $175 | Mobile plan-review fee paid at the Dept of Permitting Services |
Health-department plan review looks for specific, code-compliant fixtures. Compare spec-filtered options, then confirm counts and sizes with your local requirements. See the full list in what equipment a commercial kitchen requires.
Permit costs and rules change at the county line — compare Montgomery County with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.
Official plan-check requirements: plan-check guide →