STR Rulebook
Cities / Austin, TX

Austin, TX short-term rental rules

Read from official city pages on 2026-10-23

Austin licenses every short-term rental, in three tiers, for two years at a time. The combined occupancy tax comes to 17%, and from July 2026 the city will ask platforms to remove listings that hold no licence.

Can you run a short-term rental in Austin, TX?
Yes, with a licence.

1. Can you operate here?

Permit required
Yes[1]
Primary residence
Not required[1]The city's licensing page does not require the unit to be the operator's primary residence, and tenant-operators may now run an STR with the landlord's permission.
Unit limit
2 units per site for single-family; 1 unit or 25% for mixed-use; 1 unit or 10% for multi-family[1]
Night limits
None stated[1]No annual night limit appears on the city's STR licensing page. The 30-day threshold is part of the definition of a short-term rental, not a cap on nights.
All 10 figures above are published by the city and linked to the page that states them. These are the figures the city publishes — not a determination that a particular property may operate. Zoning, building occupancy class, lease terms and HOA rules sit outside this page and can bar a rental that otherwise holds a licence.

2. What the licence takes

Licence
Short-Term Rental Operating License[1]
Fee — new
$736.60[1]$642.00 license fee + $94.60 notification fee. Non-refundable.
Fee — renewal
$369.60[1]$275.00 renewal fee + $94.60 notification fee. Non-refundable.
Term
2 years from date of issuance[1]

3. What it costs

Occupancy tax
  • Texas state hotel occupancy tax[3]6%
  • City of Austin occupancy tax[2]9%
  • Austin venue project tax[2]2%
Combined rate17%
Stays of 30+ consecutive days are exempt as permanent-resident occupancy when the operator receives written notice of the intended stay length. Platforms collect and remit on bookings they process; operators still file a quarterly report with the city, including a zero report when there were no rentals.
If you operate without one
Platform delisting from July 1, 2026[1]The licensing page describes the enforcement mechanism rather than a fine schedule. From July 1, 2026 the city asks platforms to remove unlicensed listings.

Other rules that apply

Local contact

Must live in the Austin metro (Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop or Caldwell County) and respond within two hours.[1]

Noise limits

Sound equipment may not exceed 75 dB at the property line between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.; audible-beyond-the-line sound is barred from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m.[1]

Jurisdiction exceptions

Units in the Limited Purpose Jurisdiction need a license but are not subject to the city hotel occupancy tax. Units in the Extra Territorial Jurisdiction need neither a license nor local hotel tax.[1]

Compare this city with the others: can you operate · occupancy tax · licence cost.

Sources, and the wording behind the key figures

Each bracketed number above points to the entry below. Where a sentence is quoted it is the city's own wording — the exact text the figure was read from. Figures whose sentence is not reproduced here still carry a bracketed reference — follow it to the source page for the exact wording.

  1. 1City of Austin — Short-Term Rentalsprimary
    All STR owners/operators in the City of Austin must be licensed through the City.
    An operating license for a new STR is $736.60. This includes the $642.00 license fee and $94.60 notification fee.
    Short-term rentals (STRs), residences rented for less than 30 consecutive days, are regulated by City ordinance and licensed by Austin Development Services Code Compliance.
    Tenants may now operate STRs with their landlord's permission.
    STR licenses are valid for two years from the date of issuance.
    An individual may operate up to two STR units on a site and may operate additional STRs elsewhere, provided they are at least 1,000 feet apart.
  2. 2City of Austin — Hotel and Rental Taxprimary
    The City of Austin's Hotel Occupancy Tax rate is 11 percent, comprised of a 9 percent occupancy tax and an additional 2 percent venue project tax.
  3. 3Texas Comptroller — Hotel Occupancy Taxprimary
    The state hotel occupancy tax rate is 6 percent (.06) of the cost of a room.
If a figure above differs from the page it cites, the official page is correct and this page is out of date. Report it to [email protected].

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