Rental Rules by City / Alabama / Orange Beach

Orange Beach short-term rental rules & tax calculator

Baldwin County, Alabama · Verified against official sources Oct 24, 2026

📋 The Basics

Can I rent my place short-term here?: Yes, with a license or tax registration
Do I need a permit?: Yes. You need a city vacation rental license and a city business license.
What taxes do I pay?: Total about 16%. Check your Airbnb payout report to see which ones Airbnb collects; you pay the rest yourself.

Your 3 steps to be legal

Check your zoning (RS-1, RS-2, RS-3, MHS) and whether you are in the beach overlay.
Get the city business license and vacation rental license.
Make sure 16% lodging tax is collected and filed.

⚠️ Biggest risk: Renting without the city license.

Words confusing? See the glossary. Details and official sources are below.

Tax calculator

Nightly rate ($) Nights Cleaning fee ($)

Rates used: Alabama state lodging tax 4% + Baldwin County lodging tax 2% + City of Orange Beach lodging tax 10% = 16%. Mandatory cleaning fees are included in the taxable total. 16% total per the City (10% city, 4% state, 2% Baldwin County), on rent, cleaning fees and parking passes.

What Airbnb collects: Confirm in your payouts which Alabama, Baldwin County and city lodging taxes Airbnb remits for Orange Beach; file any it does not.

This is the general rule for Orange Beach. Does your address qualify?

The free info covers the city as a whole. Your property can still be different: zoning can change from one street to the next, and an HOA or condo ban can stop rentals even where the city allows them.

Your $49 Compliance Check looks at your exact property:

Whether your exact address and zone allow short-term rentals
A check of HOA / condo rental restrictions to look for
Which permits and tax accounts you personally need
What you're missing right now
A personal report with clear next steps and official sources, by email
A refund if we report a rule in error (refund policy)

🔎 How we check: official city, county and state sources, a last-verified date on every page, and nothing guessed. Learn more

Check my address: $49

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Rules don't change every week, but they do change, and nobody emails you when they do. We'll alert you when city rules, tourist taxes, HOA-related laws, or Airbnb/Vrbo policies change in Orange Beach. Cancel anytime.

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Need guest waivers and booking tools too? Click here for more info

Why use this instead of a web search?

Instead of scattered, sometimes outdated pages, you get the city, county and state rules on one page, with official sources linked, a last-checked date, and unconfirmed items marked "verify" instead of guessed. How we verify →

Advanced details (laws, fees, sources)

Rules

Vacation rental license	One- and two-family homes rented for 14 consecutive days or less are vacation rentals, allowed only in the areas on the city's Vacation Rental Map, and need a city vacation rental license (Ord. 2018-1283, Code Ch. 50 Art. XI). Zones and license fee (reported as $500): verify with Planning & Zoning (251-981-6787).
Business license	The owner (not the management company) must hold a city business license, renewed each January via OpenGov.
Application	Floor plan, site plan with parking and trash location, code-compliance affidavit and a 24/7 contact.

Items marked "Verify with the city" could not be confirmed from an official source; call the office listed before relying on them.

Sources

Free tools

Free "Is my rental legal?" checklist · Free tourist tax calculator

Rules can change

Orange Beach's rules, its tax rates and platform policies can change through a council vote, a new state law or a court ruling, often with little notice to hosts. We re-check this page monthly; subscribers get notified. Stay Compliant for $4.99/mo.

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Rules, tax rates and Airbnb/Vrbo policies can change without warning, and hosts who miss a change can be fined. Get alerts when your city, county or state changes, deadline reminders, a pending-bill watch list and a monthly host brief (even in quiet months: "we checked on [date]; no changes"). Compare plans.

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Not legal or tax advice. Last verified Oct 24, 2026. Rules and rates change: confirm with the official sources linked before you rent or file.