Window tint laws in Illinois (2026)

The rules, window by window

Windshield

Nonreflective tinted film may be used along the uppermost portion of the windshield if it does not extend more than 6 inches down from the top.

Reflectivity

Only nonreflective tinted film is permitted on the windshield strip and side windows.

Medical exemption

Medical exemptions cover named conditions including systemic or discoid lupus erythematosus, disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis, light sensitivity resulting from a traumatic brain injury, and albinism, with physician certification renewed every 4 years.

Enforcement

The statute allows a 5 percent variance when a law enforcement official meters the light transmittance.

Notes

RE-VERIFIED against the official ilga.gov text of 625 ILCS 5/12-503(a-5) directly. The 35/50 branch structure is confirmed as: (1) side windows immediately adjacent to the driver may be treated with nonreflective tinted film allowing at least 35 percent light transmittance if the windows behind the driver are ALSO treated at 35 percent or more (the uniform, fully-tinted 'sedan' configuration recorded here as the passenger-car default); (2) alternatively, the driver-adjacent side windows may be treated at 35 percent or more so long as the rear windows are not darker than 30 percent light transmittance; or (3) the driver-adjacent side windows must have at least 50 percent light transmittance if the vehicle's windows behind the driver carry manufacturer-installed (factory) tinted glass -- this is the branch that applies in practice to most SUVs/vans/trucks with factory-tinted rear glass, since that factory tint is typically well under 35 percent. All branches carry the same 5 percent law-enforcement metering variance. This closes the earlier '35-vs-50 branch structure was tangled' flag: subsection (a-5)'s logic keys off how dark the rear glass already is (rear >= 35% -> front can be 35%; rear tinted below 35% down to a 30% floor -> front still 35%; rear is manufacturer/factory tinted glass, which is commonly well under 30% -> front must be 50%), not off vehicle body style directly, though body style correlates strongly with which glass configuration a given vehicle ships with. Subsection (g)'s medical-exemption condition list and the 4-year certification renewal were also re-confirmed unchanged. This summary is informational and is not legal advice.