North Dakota Window Tint Laws Explained: Legal VLT Limits for 2026

If you tinted a vehicle in North Dakota before the summer of 2025 and assumed the rules hadn’t budged, this one’s worth two minutes. The state changed its side-window limit, and the new floor is 35% VLT on windows other than the windshield — down from the old 50%. Your windshield still has to let through at least 70% of light, except for a strip across the top.

How dark can you legally tint in North Dakota?

Side windows down to 35% VLT and the windshield no darker than 70% VLT. The current rule lives in NDCC § 39-21-39(4), as amended by 2025 House Bill 1340, which lowered the side-window minimum from 50% to 35% effective August 1, 2025. The North Dakota Highway Patrol applies the 70% windshield limit below the AS-1 line or the top 5 inches, and notes that factory tint counts toward your total.

The 50% myth that just expired

Outdated belief: side windows have to be 50% in North Dakota. That was true until August 1, 2025. House Bill 1340 struck “fifty” and wrote in “thirty-five,” so the legal floor on side windows is now 35% VLT. If a shop quotes you the old number, they’re working from a stale chart.

Belief: factory privacy glass means I can add any film I want. The reality, straight from the Highway Patrol, is that factory tint is part of the total. Add 50% film to glass already tinted to 30% and the combined number blows past the 35% limit. Always measure the finished result, not the film off the roll.

Reflectivity, color, and the behind-the-driver exception

The tint subsection itself doesn’t spell out reflectivity or color rules, so the live constraints are the VLT numbers and the windshield line. The most useful exception is in the statute’s own words: the 35% rule does not apply to windows behind the operator if the vehicle has outside mirrors on both sides that meet the state’s mirror requirement. That’s how SUVs, vans, and trucks legally run very dark glass in back. The windshield’s AS-1 reference traces to the federal glazing standard, FMVSS 205 (49 CFR 571.205).

Penalties and what you must keep

Tint that breaks the equipment rules in North Dakota is handled as a traffic equipment violation, which in practice means a citation and the cost of stripping and reinstalling compliant film. There’s no certificate or sticker requirement written into the tint subsection, and there is no medical exemption in it either — so don’t plan around a doctor’s note. If you want dark rear glass, the legal route is the dual-mirror exception, not an exemption.

What to do: Have your installer measure the glass before quoting film, then build to 35% on the sides and keep the windshield at 70% below the strip. If you want privacy in back, confirm your vehicle has compliant mirrors on both sides and go as dark as you like behind the driver.

The good news is the 2025 change actually opens up the look most drivers want — 35% on the sides reads sharp and still cuts real heat. The trick is measuring the glass you already have so the film lands on the legal side of the line, and using the dual-mirror exception if you want privacy in back. We size exactly this for Dallas–Fort Worth drivers on our window tint service and break down the legal numbers on our window tint laws hub. Compare shade tiers on pricing, then get started; if heat and finish protection are the bigger goal, look at ceramic coating and paint protection film, and see how the rules differ on our South Dakota and Texas guides.