Rental Rules by City / New Jersey / Wildwood

Wildwood short-term rental rules & tax calculator

Cape May County, New Jersey · Verified against official sources Oct 24, 2026

📋 The Basics

Can I rent my place short-term here?: Yes, with a permit
Do I need a permit?: Yes. You need a City rental mercantile license.
What taxes do I pay?: Total about 13.625%. 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 mercantile license.
Register with NJ Taxation.
Collect NJ, county and city tourism taxes.

⚠️ Biggest risk: Renting before you get the license.

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

Tax calculator

Nightly rate ($) Nights Cleaning fee ($)

Rates used: NJ sales tax 6.625% + NJ state occupancy fee 3.15% + Cape May County tourism tax 2% + Wildwood tourism assessment 1.85% = 13.625%. Mandatory cleaning fees are included in the taxable total. 13.625% for marketplace-booked or professionally managed rentals per NJ Taxation. Owner-direct rentals may be exempt from some taxes: verify.

What Airbnb collects: Under NJ law, marketplaces like Airbnb collect NJ taxes on bookings they process. Verify in payouts.

This is the general rule for Wildwood. 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

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Instead of scattered, sometimes outdated pages, you get the city, county and state rules on one page, with official sources linked, a last-checked date, and unconfirmed items marked "verify" instead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

Mercantile license	Every rental unit needs a City rental housing mercantile license before renting.
Fees	Annual mercantile license fee and Tourism Development Commission surcharges (fee reported as $50): verify with the City Clerk.
State registration	Register with NJ Taxation before the first rental if you must collect taxes.

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

Wildwood'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.