Data · September 2026

STR night caps by city: how many nights per year 17 US cities allow

STR Regulations Guide editors · Published September 5, 2026. Every figure sourced to the city's own licensing or ordinance page.

The short answer: most major US cities do not cap how many nights you can short-term rent per year. Of the 17 cities surveyed here, only 5 impose an annual night limit on unhosted (whole-unit, host-absent) rentals, and 1 more (New York City) bans them outright. The most common cap among cities that have one is 90 nights. The remaining 11 cities impose no annual night limit at all.

Cities with a night cap

of 17 surveyed

Unhosted rentals banned

New York City

No annual limit

unlimited if licensed

Verify before you act. This table was checked in September 2026 against each city's published page. STR ordinances change frequently. Confirm the current rule with your city's licensing office before making a business decision based on any figure here.

The comparison table

Every city below was included in our STR permit fees comparison. "Hosted" means the host is physically present in the unit overnight. "Unhosted" means the guest has the entire unit to themselves.

City	Unhosted limit	Hosted limit	Owner-occupied only?	Source
Austin, TX	No cap	No cap	No. Three license types (owner-occupied, non-owner-occupied, multifamily). Density caps apply to non-owner-occupied, but no night limit.	austintexas.gov
Boston, MA	No cap	No cap	Yes. Only owner-occupants of 1-3 family homes may operate. Investors and tenants are prohibited.	boston.gov
Charleston, SC	No cap	No cap	Yes. Primary residence requirement.	charleston-sc.gov
Chicago, IL	No cap	No cap	No. Both owner and non-owner units can register.	chicago.gov
Colorado Springs, CO	No cap	No cap	In single-family zones, yes (principal residence, 185+ days/year). Multi-family zones allow non-owner-occupied with distance restrictions.	coloradosprings.gov
Denver, CO	No cap	No cap	Yes. Primary residence only, one license per person.	denvergov.org
Los Angeles, CA	120 days	120 days	Yes. Primary residence only. Extended Home-Sharing beyond 120 days requires discretionary approval and a separate application fee.	planning.lacity.gov
Nashville, TN	No cap	No cap	No. Owner-occupied and not-owner-occupied permit types exist. Non-owner-occupied restricted by zoning.	nashville.gov
New Orleans, LA	No cap	No cap	NSTR: operator must reside on the same lot. CSTR (commercial): conditional use, currently frozen for new applications since June 2023.	nola.gov
New York City, NY	Banned	No cap	Yes. Host must be physically present in the unit, max 2 paying guests. Unhosted whole-unit rentals under 30 days are prohibited outright.	nyc.gov
Portland, OR	95 days	No cap	Yes. Host must reside in the unit at least 270 days per year.	portland.gov
San Diego, CA	20-90 days	No cap	Tier-dependent. Tier 1 (part-time): 20 days max. Tier 2 (home-sharing): host absent max 90 days. Tiers 3-4 (whole-home): no cap, min 90 days required.	sandiego.gov
San Francisco, CA	90 nights	No cap	Yes. Must be host's permanent residence (occupied 60+ consecutive days).	sf.gov
Savannah, GA	No cap	No cap	Permitted within the STVR overlay district. Non-owner-occupied allowed but subject to per-ward density caps.	savannahga.gov
Scottsdale, AZ	No cap	No cap	No. Arizona state law (ARS 9-500.39, SB 1168) preempts cities from prohibiting or limiting STRs by classification or use.	azleg.gov, scottsdaleaz.gov
Seattle, WA	No cap	No cap	No. Operators may run up to 2 units; one must be their primary residence if operating two.	seattle.gov
Washington, DC	90 nights	No cap	Yes. Primary residence required. Exemptions available for employment or medical absences exceeding 90 days.	dlcp.dc.gov

What the data shows

The majority of major US cities do not limit how many nights per year a licensed host can rent. Of the 17 cities surveyed, 11 impose no annual night cap at all. The 5 cities that do cap nights share a common pattern: the limit applies to unhosted (whole-unit) rentals only, and hosted rentals (host present overnight) are uncapped in every city that makes the distinction. New York City goes further and bans unhosted whole-unit rentals outright rather than capping them.

The most common cap is 90 nights per year, used by San Francisco and Washington, DC. Portland sets its cap at 95 days, tied to its 270-day residency requirement (365 minus 270 equals 95). Los Angeles is the outlier among capped cities in applying its 120-day limit to both hosted and unhosted rentals.

New York City is in a category of its own. Rather than capping nights, it prohibits unhosted whole-unit rentals under 30 days entirely. A host must be physically present in the same unit during the stay, with a maximum of two paying guests. This is not a night cap but an outright ban on the most common form of short-term rental.

Two patterns worth noting

Night caps track with owner-occupancy requirements

Every city that imposes a night cap also requires the host to be a primary resident. This is not a coincidence. The cap functions as an enforcement mechanism for the occupancy rule: if you rent out your home more than 90 or 120 nights a year, you are unlikely to be living in it as a primary residence. The cap is less about limiting rental activity and more about keeping the unit in the housing supply as a residence.

Cities without caps use other controls instead

The 11 cities with no night cap are not unregulated. Austin uses density caps by census tract. Nashville restricts non-owner-occupied permits by zoning district. Chicago requires shared housing unit registration. Scottsdale is preempted by Arizona state law from imposing most local restrictions. Seattle caps the number of units a single operator can run at two. The absence of a night cap does not mean the absence of regulation; it means the city chose a different lever.

What this means for an operator

If you operate in one of the 11 no-cap cities, the annual night limit is not the constraint on your business. Your constraints are licensing, zoning, density limits, and platform reporting requirements, depending on the city.

If you operate in one of the 5 capped cities (or New York, where the ban is even more restrictive), the cap is the hard constraint on revenue from any single unit. In San Francisco or Washington, DC, 90 unhosted nights means roughly a quarter of the calendar year is available for whole-unit rental. In Los Angeles, 120 days is roughly a third of the year. An operator running a full-time rental business in these cities needs either multiple units (where allowed), a hosted model, or a property in a different jurisdiction.

San Diego's tier system is worth understanding separately. Tier 1 (20 days) is designed for occasional renters. Tier 2 (home-sharing, 90-day absence limit) is for hosts who travel occasionally. Tiers 3 and 4 are whole-home, year-round licenses with a minimum utilization requirement of 90 days, not a maximum. The constraint in San Diego is which tier you qualify for, not the night count within it.

Confidence notes

High confidence (verified against the city's published page): San Francisco (90 nights), Portland (95 days), Washington DC (90 nights), Scottsdale (state preemption), Denver (no cap, primary residence), Chicago (no cap), Seattle (no cap), Colorado Springs (no cap), Nashville (no cap), Austin (no cap).
Moderate confidence (city page confirms the rule, but the ordinance PDF could not be fetched to check the enacted text): Boston (no cap; earlier drafts discussed a 120-night limit for Owner-Adjacent units, but the current city page does not state one), New Orleans (no cap; the superseded "Temporary STR" category had a 90-day limit, but the current NSTR/CSTR framework does not appear to carry one).
Verified through planning department materials: Los Angeles (120 days; the planning.lacity.gov FAQ returned a 403 at the time of research, but the rule is confirmed by the city's planning blog and ordinance summary), New York City (banned; confirmed via the Office of Special Enforcement page), San Diego (tiered; confirmed via the Treasurer's page), Savannah (no cap; confirmed via the STVR overlay regulations), Charleston (no cap; confirmed via the ordinance page).

Sources

City of Austin, Short-Term Rentals licensing page (austintexas.gov).
City of Boston, Short-Term Rentals, Inspectional Services Department (boston.gov).
City of Charleston, Short-Term Rental Ordinance (charleston-sc.gov).
City of Chicago, Shared Housing and Accommodations Licensing (chicago.gov).
City of Colorado Springs, Short-Term Rental information (coloradosprings.gov).
City and County of Denver, Short-Term Rental licenses, Business Licensing (denvergov.org).
City of Los Angeles, Home-Sharing ordinance, Department of City Planning (planning.lacity.gov).
Metropolitan Government of Nashville, Short-Term Rental operation rules (nashville.gov).
City of New Orleans, Short-Term Rental Administration (nola.gov).
City of New York, Office of Special Enforcement, STR registration tips for hosts (nyc.gov).
City of Portland, Accessory Short-Term Rental permits, before you apply (portland.gov).
City of San Diego, Short-Term Residential Occupancy, Office of the City Treasurer (sandiego.gov).
City and County of San Francisco, guide to opening a short-term residential rental (sf.gov).
City of Savannah, STVR Regulations (savannahga.gov).
City of Scottsdale, Vacation and Short-Term Rentals (scottsdaleaz.gov); Arizona Revised Statutes 9-500.39 (azleg.gov).
City of Seattle, Short-Term Rentals, business regulations (seattle.gov).
District of Columbia, Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, operating a short-term rental (dlcp.dc.gov).