Rental Rules by City / California / San Diego

San Diego short-term rental rules & tax calculator

San Diego County, California · Verified against official sources Oct 24, 2026

📋 The Basics

Can I rent my place short-term here?: Only in some areas
Do I need a permit?: Yes. Any rental under one month needs a city STRO license, and some types are capped.
What taxes do I pay?: Total about 11.75%. Check your Airbnb payout report to see which ones Airbnb collects; you pay the rest yourself.

Your 3 steps to be legal

Pick your license tier (whole-home licenses are capped).
Get a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate.
Put the certificate number on all ads and file tax monthly.

⚠️ Biggest risk: Whole-home licenses are capped, and Mission Beach is sold out.

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

Tax calculator

Nightly rate ($) Nights Cleaning fee ($)

Rates used: San Diego Transient Occupancy Tax (Zone 1; 12.75% Zone 2, 13.75% Zone 3) 11.75% = 11.75%. Mandatory cleaning fees are included in the taxable total. TOT is 11.75%, 12.75% or 13.75% by tax zone since May 1, 2025 (Measure C); check the city's tax zone map and set the rate for your zone. California has no state sales tax on lodging. The 2% TMD assessment applies only to lodging businesses with 70+ rooms.

What Airbnb collects: Whether Airbnb collects San Diego TOT for your listing: verify in Airbnb's local tax help pages and your payout reports. You must still hold a TOT certificate.

This is the general rule for San Diego. 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. The penalties San Diego lists are on the San Diego page.

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

🔔 Stay notified: $4.99/month

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 San Diego. Cancel anytime.

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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

License	A Short-Term Residential Occupancy (STRO) license is required for any rental under one month (Municipal Code Ch. 5, Art. 10).
Tiers	Tier 1: up to 20 days/year. Tier 2: home-sharing with host on site. Tier 3: whole-home outside Mission Beach (capped). Tier 4: whole-home in Mission Beach (capped; sold out).
TOT certificate	A Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate is required; its number must appear on all ads. TOT is remitted monthly; late penalty up to 25%.
Fees	Verify license fees with the City Treasurer.

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

San Diego'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.