Quick answer: Utah’s tint law says front side windows must let in at least 35% of light, with a 5% variance when an officer meters them. Rear side windows and the back window can be any shade if the car has mirrors on both sides. The windshield needs 70%, apart from a strip along the top. Mirrored tint is banned on every window.
I’ve tinted windows on 300 jobs since 2022, and I tint cars at people’s homes and workplaces from Nephi to Provo. I’m an installer, not a lawyer. The closest I’ve come to law school is reading a parking ticket twice to see if it gets cheaper. So every rule below links to the law itself, Utah Code 41-6a-1635, checked on 4 November 2026.
That matters, because some pages that rank for this search still say 43%. Utah retired that number in 2022, and it’s been haunting the internet ever since. There’s also a reading that lots of drivers treat as safe, and one Utah driver found out it isn’t. That’s in the second section.
On this page
- Utah tint law at a glance
- The legal tint limit in Utah
- The darkest legal tint
- Is 20 percent tint legal?
- Windshield tint law
- Can you get pulled over for tint?
- What a tint ticket costs
- How the law changed
- Mirrors, colors, stickers and medical exemptions
- Cars from other states
- What we see on real jobs
- Questions people ask
Utah tint law at a glance
Utah’s tint law sets a light limit for two windows, the windshield and the front side windows. Every other window can be any shade. Here’s the whole law in one table.
| Window | The rule | Where it is in the law |
|---|---|---|
| Windshield | Must let in at least 70% of light | (1)(a) |
| Windshield strip | Allowed along the top, down to 4 inches or the AS-1 line, whichever is lowest | (3)(a) |
| Front side windows | Must let in at least 35%, with a 5% variance when metered | (1)(b) |
| Rear side windows | Any shade | (3)(c) |
| Back window | Any shade | (3)(c) |
| Every window | No metallic or mirrored look | (1)(c) |
| Outside mirrors | Needed on both sides if any window is tinted | (5) |
That’s it. It’s the rare law you can read in less time than it takes a drive-thru to get your order wrong.
“Light transmittance” in the law means the same thing as the percentage on a box of tint: the share of visible light the window lets through. The lower the number, the darker the window. Our guide to window tint percentages shows what 5% to 70% look like side by side.
What is the legal tint limit in Utah?
The legal tint limit in Utah is 35% on the front side windows, meaning the driver’s window and the front passenger window. The law allows “no more than a 5% variance observed by a peace officer metering the light transmittance.”
When the limit changed, KSL reported that a car reading 30% “wouldn’t get a ticket, either.” That’s the common reading. No Utah court has ruled on it, and the variance belongs to the officer’s meter, not to you.
Here’s what happened to the driver from the intro, in 2025:
He proceeds to check it and the limit is 35% and mine is at 30%. So he writes me a fix it ticket and off i go.
A driver on r/legaladvice, August 2025
Treating 30% as the real limit is the tint version of driving 5 over. Everybody’s sure it’s fine, and nobody can tell you where they read that.
The meter also reads the whole window, film and factory glass together. Car glass already blocks some light, so a film sold as 35% usually reads darker once it’s on the car. Our percentages guide shows the math.
What is the darkest legal tint in Utah?
The darkest legal tint in Utah is 35% on the front side windows and any shade on everything behind the driver. Rear side windows and the back window can go all the way to 5% “limo” tint, as long as the car has outside mirrors on both sides.
So the darkest legal Utah car has 35% on the front doors, limo-dark glass behind the driver, a clear windshield, and a dark strip across the top of it. From the side, the car is basically wearing a mullet: business up front, party in the back.
Is 20 percent tint legal in Utah?
20 percent tint is legal in Utah on the rear side windows and the back window. It isn’t legal on the front side windows, because 20% is well below the 35% limit, even with the 5% variance.
Many SUVs and trucks already leave the factory with dark rear glass. A GM service bulletin calls its rear privacy glass nominally 20%. That glass is legal in Utah, and so is more film over it.
Front doors are where people take their chances. One Utah driver said in 2016 that they’d run 20% fronts for six years without a tint ticket:
I have been pulled over for speeding and received a ticket for speeding, but not the tint.
A driver on r/Utah, 2016
That’s not a loophole. It’s a streak, and every streak ends eventually.
Utah windshield tint law
Utah’s windshield tint law says the windshield must let in at least 70% of light. A tint strip is allowed along the top edge, down to 4 inches or the AS-1 line, whichever is lowest. There’s no 5% variance on the windshield.
| Part of the windshield | What’s allowed | Where it is in the law |
|---|---|---|
| Top strip | Tint down to 4 inches or the AS-1 line, whichever is lowest | (3)(a) |
| Lower left corner | Stickers or other material up to 3 inches across and 4 inches up | (3)(b) |
| Everything else | At least 70% of light, with no variance | (1)(a) |
The AS-1 line is a small mark printed near the top corner of most windshields. Most people have never noticed it, including people who’ve driven the same car for ten years and can find the cupholder with their eyes closed. The lower left corner is where parking permits and toll stickers live.
Clear heat-blocking film over the whole windshield isn’t banned by name. The finished windshield, glass and film together, just has to meter at 70% or more.
Can you get pulled over for tint in Utah?
Yes. Window tint can be the only reason for a traffic stop in Utah. Utah Code 53-8-209 lets an officer stop a car “upon reasonable cause to believe” it’s “not equipped as required by law,” and dark front windows count.
Lawmakers have tried to change that. In 2025, HB 112 as first written would have let officers enforce the front window limit only after stopping a driver for something else. That line was cut before the bill passed. A few news stories from before the vote describe the version that didn’t make it.
Officers do check. The Park Record logged three tint stops in Park City between 10 and 12 April 2025, including a window that was “slightly below the maximum allowed.”
I got pulled over on the freeway for too much tint…cop measures as soon as he walked to my window…I didnt even know, car was used and just came that way.
A driver on r/SaltLakeCity, September 2024
That’s the used car problem. The last owner’s tint comes free with the car, and so does any ticket. If you’ve bought a used car with tinted front windows, a quick meter reading is cheap peace of mind.
What a Utah tint ticket costs
A Utah tint ticket is an infraction with a suggested fine of $60. It’s a non-moving violation, it isn’t reported to the Driver License Division, and it must be dismissed if you fix the tint within 14 days.
| Violation | Suggested fine | What else to know |
|---|---|---|
| Tint too dark | $60 | Non-moving, not reported to the Driver License Division, dismissed if fixed within 14 days |
| No mirrors on both sides | $50 | Reported to the Driver License Division |
| Selling or installing illegal tint | $50 | The shop’s ticket, also dismissed if fixed within 14 days |
The 14-day rule comes from Utah Code 53-8-209. Bring “proof of repair” within 14 days and you aren’t guilty of the infraction, and you don’t pay the fine. Miss it, and the fine schedule lets the amount rise by $50 after 14 days and another $75 after 40.
A surprising number of drivers skip the fix and pay. A driver who’d moved from Las Vegas wrote on r/SaltLakeCity: “I’ve gotten three tickets for tint since I’ve been here. I’ve just paid all of them. I’m finally giving in.”
At that point it’s less a fine and more a subscription, with surprise renewals whenever a trooper’s behind you.
Since 7 May 2025, officers also can’t ask the state to suspend your license or registration over tint darkness. That’s the part of HB 112 that passed.
How Utah’s tint law changed
Utah’s tint law changed twice in the last five years. The front window limit dropped from 43% to 35% in 2022, and a 2025 law stopped officers asking for license suspensions over tint.
| Year | What changed | Law |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Front side windows went from 43% to 35%, and the 5% meter variance was added. In force 4 May 2022 | SB 149 |
| 2025 | Officers can’t ask for a license or registration suspension over tint. In force 7 May 2025 | HB 112 |
| 2026 | No change, checked 4 November 2026 | 41-6a-1635 |
SB 149 started out at 25%. A Senate committee settled on 35% and added the variance. KSL reported that Highway Patrol testing found the move from 43% to 35% “didn’t make much of a difference for officers.”
The best story from the debate belongs to Rep. Jordan Teuscher, who once got a tint ticket and priced out a legal replacement:
it was like four times the cost of the ticket … So, I just paid the ticket.
Rep. Jordan Teuscher, quoted by KSL, March 2022
The old 43% still hasn’t fully left. Utah’s vehicle inspection rule, R714-160-15, adopted in 2016, still rejects front windows under 43%. The 2022 law wins, so the rule is basically a retired coach still yelling plays at a game that ended four years ago.
Mirrors, colors, stickers and medical exemptions
Utah requires outside mirrors on both sides of any car with tinted windows, and it bans a metallic or mirrored look on every window. The law says nothing about tint color, needs no sticker on the glass, and has no medical exemption.
| Rule | What Utah says |
|---|---|
| Outside mirrors | Needed on the left and right if any window is tinted, apart from the windshield strip and corner |
| Mirrored film | Banned on every window. The law gives no reflectivity number, just “a metallic or mirrored appearance” |
| Tint color | Not mentioned |
| Sticker or label | Not required |
| Medical exemption | None. No exception for medical, police, limo or bus windows either |
| Installers | Nobody may “sell, offer for sale, install, cover, or treat” a window in a way that breaks the law |
| Inspections | Ended for most cars on 1 January 2018, under HB 265. Tint gets checked at traffic stops now |
The mirror rule rarely bites, since most cars have both. It mostly catches the truck that lost one to a mailbox. Some websites also say Utah has a medical exemption. The law doesn’t, and the law wins that argument.
Utah tint law for cars from other states
Utah’s tint law applies to every car driven in Utah, wherever it’s registered. The law covers “a person” operating a vehicle here, with no exception for out-of-state plates. That’s the plain reading, and I couldn’t find any official guidance that says otherwise.
That matters if your car came from a state with darker limits. Colorado allows 27% on the front side windows, and Wyoming allows 28%. Arizona, Idaho and Nevada sit close to Utah’s 35%. Our percentages guide has each state’s figure from its own law.
Utah doesn’t check your tint at the state line. It checks it on University Avenue. The fine schedule also notes that an unpaid Utah ticket can lead to a suspension in most drivers’ home states.
What we see on real jobs
Most people pick a shade from a photo online, then find out what it looks like on their own car. So I bring a case of tinted sunglasses to every estimate, and you hold each shade up to your own window. It’s an eye exam for your car: one or two, one or two, until something looks right.
We install ceramic and carbon films on cars, not dyed. We also come to your home or work, so you don’t lose a morning in a waiting room reading a magazine from 2019. Christina Strong said in her Google review that her car windows were done in a “timely, convenient” way.
They took the time to explain my options and helped me choose the perfect tint for both style and functionality.
Breann Ouckama, Google review, May 2026
I’ve replaced other installers’ film many times. Taking off someone else’s bad tint is slow work, like peeling a price sticker off a gift without leaving the gummy bit, times every window. Whoever tints your car, ask them to meter the finished front windows before they leave. Ten seconds with a meter beats 14 days of fix-it paperwork.
Questions people ask
Is 35 percent tint legal in Utah?
Yes. 35% tint is legal on every window in Utah except the windshield, which needs 70% below the top strip. On the front side windows, the finished window has to meter at least 35%, with a 5% variance.
Is 5 percent tint legal in Utah?
Only on the rear side windows and the back window. 5% isn’t legal on the front side windows or the windshield. A car with tinted windows needs mirrors on both sides.
Is Utah’s tint limit still 43%?
No. Utah changed the front side window limit from 43% to 35% on 4 May 2022, through SB 149. Pages that still say 43% are out of date.
Does Utah have a medical exemption for window tint?
No. Utah Code 41-6a-1635 has no medical exemption. The front side windows must meet the 35% limit whatever the reason for the tint.
How much is a tint ticket in Utah?
The suggested fine is $60, from the Utah Courts fine schedule. It’s a non-moving infraction, and it must be dismissed if you fix the tint within 14 days.
Get tint that’s legal the first time
We tint cars, trucks and SUVs at your home or work, and homes and businesses from Nephi to Provo. You get a free estimate, a custom quote within 24 hours, and the sunglasses case so you can see each shade first. Call Nephi on (208) 418-9869 or Provo on (385) 323-3165. The phones are answered 24 hours a day.
About the author: Keaton Haskell is the owner and lead installer of Nomad Window Tinting. He started tinting windows in Idaho Falls in 2022, moved the business to Utah, and is on every job.