Short-term rental rules · San Diego, California
Short-term rentals in San Diego, explained properly.
San Diego uses a four-tier Short-Term Residential Occupancy (STRO) licensing system. Whole-home rentals without an on-site host (Tier 3) are capped citywide at 1% of housing units, and a separate, harder-capped Tier 4 exists just for Mission Beach — Tier 3 still had about 807 licenses remaining as of September 25, 2026, while Tier 4 is fully allocated and new Mission Beach licenses are issued only from a lottery-ordered waitlist as licenses free up. Licenses cannot be transferred with a sale.
At a glance
What you need to know before you buy or list
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| License tiers | Tier 1: part-time (≤20 days/year, no residency requirement). Tier 2: home-sharing (host lives on-site, up to 90 days/year absence allowed). Tier 3: whole-home outside Mission Beach (no host on-site, 90+ days/year minimum use). Tier 4: whole-home within Mission Beach only. [1] |
| Tier 3 citywide cap | Capped at 1% of San Diego's total housing units (outside Mission Beach) [1] |
| Tier 4 (Mission Beach) cap | Capped at 30% of Mission Beach housing units — capacity exhausted (1,099 licenses issued) [1] |
| Registration required? | Yes — an STRO license plus an active Transient Occupancy Tax Certificate and current Rental Unit Business Tax compliance [1] |
| Application and license fees (effective March 1, 2025) | Tier 1: $33 application, $193 license. Tier 2: $33 application, $284 license. Tiers 3-4: $41 application, $1,129 license. All fees non-refundable; renewal fees match initial fees. [1] |
| License validity | Licenses expire 2 years from issuance, are renewable, and are non-transferable between hosts or properties [1] |
| Combined guest tax | 11.75%-13.75% Transient Occupancy Tax depending on the property's tax zone. The 2% Tourism Marketing District assessment is levied only on lodging businesses with 70 or more rooms, so it does not apply to a typical single-unit STR [2] |
| Unlicensed operation | Operating an STRO without a license (in effect since May 1, 2023) triggers a Notice of Violation with penalties, and can lead to civil penalties, license revocation, and disqualification from future licensing [1] |
| Non-owner hosts (renters/lessees) | Must obtain a Business Tax Certificate and provide right-to-occupy documentation before hosting [1] |
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Detailed rules
The full picture, section by section
Eligibility & zoning
| Tier 1: Part-time | Rented for an aggregate of 20 days or fewer per calendar year; no host residency requirement [1] |
|---|---|
| Tier 2: Home-sharing | More than 20 days annually; requires the host's permanent residence on-site, with up to 90 days of host absence allowed per year [1] |
| Mission Beach boundary | Tier 4 applies only within the Mission Beach Community Planning Area; whole-home STRs anywhere else in the city fall under Tier 3's 1% cap [1] |
Licensing & application
| Application process | Applications for Tiers 1, 2, and 3 are open (subject to the Tier 3 cap). The Tier 4 (Mission Beach) application period is closed: the July 1-August 15, 2025 window fed a lottery-ordered waitlist, and Tier 4 licenses are issued from that waitlist as they become available [1] |
|---|---|
| Tier 3 and Tier 4 minimum use requirement | Tier 3 and Tier 4 license holders must use the license (rent the unit) at least 90 days each year of the license term to keep it [1] |
Operations & requirements
| Host signage | Hosts must post an 8.5 x 11 inch notice, visible from the sidewalk or public right-of-way (whichever is closer), in all-caps black bold 20-point font, showing the STRO license number, TOT certificate number, and designated local contact name and phone number. The city also requires human-trafficking guidance to be posted conspicuously inside the unit [3] |
|---|
Taxes & fees
| TOT rate by zone (effective May 1, 2025) | Tax Zone 1: 11.75%. Tax Zone 2: 12.75%. Tax Zone 3: 13.75% [2] |
|---|---|
| Tourism Marketing District (TMD) assessment | 2.00% assessment levied only on lodging businesses with 70 or more rooms (since September 1, 2016); a typical single-unit STR is below that threshold. Where it applies, the operator may elect to pass it on to the guest as a separate line item [2] |
Changes
Recent and pending changes
We re-checked the City Treasurer's STRO page (license counts as of September 25, 2026; fees; Tier 4 status), the TOT/TMD page (last updated June 3, 2025), the STRO host signage PDF, the STRO Lottery page, the June 2025 Tier 4 reopening release and the September 15, 2026 Tier 4 waitlist, plus state legislation (SB 346) and local news from the past year. No change to the Tier 3 (1%) or Tier 4 (30%) cap percentages was found. A proposed vacation-rental tax ballot measure was rejected by the City Council Rules Committee on January 28, 2026 (news reports only; not enacted). Tier 3/Tier 4 counts are a snapshot that changes as licenses are issued, revoked or lapse. Watch the Tier 4 waitlist PDF, City Council agendas for cap or tax proposals, and any San Diego ordinance adopting SB 346 platform reporting.
New STRO fee schedule took effect, covering Tier 1-2 ($33 application / $193-284 license) and Tier 3-4 ($41 application / $1,129 license).
Voter-approved Measure C replaced the flat 10.5% TOT with zone-based rates (11.75%, 12.75%, 13.75%) effective May 1, 2025.
The city accepted Tier 4 (Mission Beach whole-home) waitlist applications from July 1 to August 15, 2025, the first window since November 2022. A random lottery set waitlist order; licenses are issued from the waitlist only as Tier 4 licenses become available (113 applicants on the published waitlist as of September 15, 2026).
SB 346 (Chapter 751, Statutes of 2025, approved October 13, 2025) authorizes local agencies to require short-term rental facilitators such as Airbnb and Vrbo to report each rental's address and to display local license and tax certificate numbers, with administrative fines for non-compliance. It applies in a city only through a local ordinance; whether San Diego has adopted one was not confirmed.
Sources
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This page is general information compiled from public sources, not legal or tax advice. HOA rules, deed restrictions and zoning for a specific property can be stricter. Confirm with the local permitting office and a qualified professional before buying or listing a property.