Rental Rules by City / Texas / South Padre Island

South Padre Island short-term rental rules & tax calculator

Cameron County, Texas · 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. Each rental needs a City STR license.
What taxes do I pay?: Total about 17%. Check your Airbnb payout report to see which ones Airbnb collects; you pay the rest yourself.

Your 3 steps to be legal

Apply for the City STR license.
Put the license number in every ad.
File City HOT monthly by the 15th.

⚠️ Biggest risk: Missing the monthly city HOT filing.

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

Tax calculator

Nightly rate ($) Nights Cleaning fee ($)

Rates used: Texas state HOT 6% + City HOT + venue tax 10.5% + Cameron County venue tax 0.5% = 17%. Mandatory cleaning fees are included in the taxable total. 17% total per the City. City HOT filed monthly by the 15th via Deckard; county via Localgov; state with the Comptroller.

What Airbnb collects: Confirm in payouts which of the state, city and county HOT Airbnb remits; the City requires monthly filing regardless.

This is the general rule for South Padre Island. 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

🔔 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 South Padre Island. Cancel anytime.

Stay notified

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Instead of scattered, sometimes outdated pages, you get the city, county and state rules on one page, with official sources linked, a last-checked date, and unconfirmed items marked "verify" instead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

STR license	Each short-term rental (under 30 days) needs a City STR license (Ordinance 25-04).
Listings	Show the license number in every ad.
Monthly filing	File City HOT monthly before the 15th.

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

Sources

South Padre Island: Hotel Occupancy Tax & STR license

Free tools

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

Rules can change

South Padre Island'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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Get a personalized STR Compliance Check ($49) for your exact address in any US city: the permits, registrations and tax accounts you need, with official sources, delivered by email in 48 business hours. Not legal advice.

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Stay Compliant: $4.99/month

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.