Data · September 2026
STR primary residence rules by city: which of 17 cities allow investment STRs
The short answer: most major US cities restrict short-term rentals to properties where the host actually lives. Of 17 cities surveyed, 8 allow only primary-residence STRs (no investment properties). Another 8 allow non-owner-occupied permits, but every one of those 8 attaches caps, zone restrictions, or both. Only Scottsdale, protected by Arizona's state preemption law, has no owner-occupancy requirement at all.
Primary residence only
8
No investment STRs allowed
Non-owner-occupied allowed
8
With caps or zone gates
No restriction
1
Scottsdale (state preemption)
The comparison table
"Primary residence" means different things in different cities: Denver says it is where your driver's license is registered. Portland says you must occupy the unit at least 270 nights per year. San Francisco says 275 nights. The definition matters because it determines whether a second home, a pied-a-terre, or a property managed by someone other than the owner qualifies.
| City | Rule | Non-owner-occupied? | How it works | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin, TX | Both types | Yes (Type 2) | Type 1: owner-occupied. Type 2: non-owner-occupied whole-dwelling, allowed in most zones but must be 1,000+ ft from another Type 2 in residential areas. Restored by Anding v. City of Austin (2023). | austintexas.gov |
| Boston, MA | Primary only | No | STRs restricted to owner-occupied condos, single-family, and 2-3 family buildings. Owner must occupy the property 9+ months per year. No true non-owner-occupied category exists. | boston.gov |
| Charleston, SC | Primary only Host must be present | No | Owner-occupied only, verified via property tax records. At least one full-time resident must be present each night of the stay. Non-owner-occupied STRs banned outright. | charleston-sc.gov |
| Chicago, IL | Both types 5+ unit buildings only | Limited | Primary residence = 245+ days/year. Single-family and 2-4 unit buildings: owner's unit only. Buildings with 5+ units: up to 25% of units (or 6, whichever is smaller) may register without owner-occupancy. True non-owner-occupied only possible in larger buildings. | chicago.gov |
| Colorado Springs, CO | Both types Zone-gated | Limited | Owner-occupied: principal residence, on deed, 185+ days/year. Non-owner-occupied applications filed after December 2019 are prohibited in single-family zoning districts. Pre-2019 non-owner-occupied permits may be grandfathered. | coloradosprings.gov |
| Denver, CO | Primary only | No | STR license requires the unit to be the licensee's primary residence. One person, one residence. No non-owner-occupied license category exists. | denvergov.org |
| Los Angeles, CA | Primary only | No | Home-Sharing Ordinance: host must reside in the unit 6+ months per year. Capped at 120 nights/year (extendable via Extended Home-Sharing registration). Not permitted in rent-stabilized buildings. | planning.lacity.gov |
| Nashville, TN | Both types | Yes (commercial zones) | Owner-Occupied STRP: owner permanently resides there, one permit per lot in single/two-family zones. Not Owner-Occupied STRP: only in commercial/mixed-use zones (MUN, MUL, MUG, OG, CN, CL, etc.). Barred in residential zones. Not transferable on sale. | nashville.gov |
| New Orleans, LA | Both types Lottery-capped | Yes (commercial zones) | Residential permits require primary residence. Commercial STR permits exist for non-residential zones. Residential areas capped at one STR per city square, allocated by lottery when oversubscribed. | nola.gov |
| New York City, NY | Primary only Host must be present | No | Local Law 18: unit must be host's primary residence (183+ days/year). Host must be physically present during the stay. Maximum 2 paying guests. Effectively bans all non-owner-occupied and entire-unit STRs under 30 days. | nyc.gov |
| Portland, OR | Primary only | No | ASTR permit: operator must occupy the unit as primary residence 270+ days/year. Maximum 95 days absent while renting. No non-owner-occupied whole-unit STR category. | portland.gov |
| San Diego, CA | Both types 4 tiers, hard-capped | Yes (Tier 3 and 4) | Tier 1: 20 nights/year or less, no owner-occupancy required. Tier 2: home-sharing, host resides onsite. Tier 3: whole-home, non-owner-occupied, capped at 1% of housing units (~808 licenses remaining). Tier 4: Mission Beach whole-home, capped at 30% of dwellings (waitlist only, 1,099 issued). Two-night minimum stay all tiers. | sandiego.gov |
| San Francisco, CA | Primary only | No | Permanent resident = 275+ nights/year in the unit. Absentee owners ineligible. Un-hosted (owner-absent) stays capped at 90 nights/year even for qualifying residents. | sfplanning.org |
| Savannah, GA | Both types Fully capped | Yes (capped at 20%/ward) | Non-owner-occupied STVRs capped at 20% of residential parcels per ward in the Downtown/Victorian Historic Districts. Owner-occupied exempt from cap. All wards have hit the cap (waitlist only for non-owner-occupied). Streetcar District: owner-occupied only. | savannahga.gov |
| Scottsdale, AZ | No restriction | Yes | Arizona state law (A.R.S. 9-500.39) preempts cities from restricting STRs based on owner-occupancy. Scottsdale's license applies uniformly regardless of whether the owner lives in the property. | scottsdaleaz.gov |
| Seattle, WA | Both types 2-unit cap | Yes (1 secondary unit) | Operators limited to 2 total STR units. At least one must be their primary residence (6+ months/year). The second, non-primary unit must also register under the Rental Registration and Inspection Ordinance. | seattle.gov |
| Washington, DC | Primary only | No | Property must be owned by a natural person and be their primary residence (Homestead Tax Deduction eligibility as proof). Two endorsements: Short-Term Rental (host present, no night cap) and Vacation Rental (host absent, 90-night cap). Both require primary-residence status. | dlcp.dc.gov |
What the data shows
The split is nearly even: 8 cities restrict STRs to primary residences, 8 allow non-owner-occupied permits with restrictions, and 1 has no owner-occupancy requirement. But "allowed with restrictions" does a lot of work. In practice, the non-owner-occupied path in most of those 8 cities is narrow: a specific zone, a hard cap, a waitlist, or all three.
San Diego has the most structured system: four explicit tiers with different rules for each. Savannah has the most restrictive "allowed" category: the 20% ward cap is already full across all eligible wards, so new non-owner-occupied permits go on a waitlist. Nashville and New Orleans gate non-owner-occupied permits by zone (commercial or mixed-use areas only), while Chicago gates by building size (5+ units only).
Three patterns worth noting
"Primary residence" has no standard definition
The minimum occupancy to qualify as a primary resident ranges from 183 days (New York City) to 275 nights (San Francisco). Denver does not specify a day count but requires the property to match the licensee's driver's license and vehicle registration. Portland requires 270 days. Boston says 9 months. Charleston checks property tax records. The same person could qualify as a primary resident in one city and not in another, depending on which city's calendar they are measured against.
Two cities require the host to be physically present during the stay
Charleston and New York City go beyond primary residence and require the host to be in the property while guests are there. This is the strictest form of owner-occupancy: it eliminates not just investment properties but also primary-residence owners who want to rent the whole unit while traveling. Portland comes close with its 95-day absence cap, but Portland does not require the owner to be present during the actual stay.
State preemption is the exception, not the rule
Scottsdale is the only city in this survey with no owner-occupancy requirement, and that is not because Scottsdale chose not to restrict. Arizona's state legislature passed A.R.S. 9-500.39, which preempts cities from prohibiting or restricting STRs based on the owner's occupancy status. Scottsdale's hands are tied by state law. No other state represented in this survey has the same blanket preemption, though several states have varying degrees of preemption legislation that limits (without eliminating) local authority.
What this means for an operator
If you are buying an investment property specifically to operate as a short-term rental, the primary-residence question is the first filter. In 8 of these 17 cities, a non-owner-occupied STR is simply not legal. In most of the other 8, it is legal only in specific zones or subject to hard caps that may already be full.
If you already own a primary residence and want to rent it while you travel, the question shifts to how the city defines "primary" and whether it restricts how many nights you can be absent. San Francisco caps un-hosted nights at 90. Portland caps absences at 95 days. Los Angeles caps total rental nights at 120. These are not the same number, and they are not measured the same way.
If you operate through a property management company, the owner-occupancy requirement usually still applies to you, the owner, not to the manager. Having a local property manager does not substitute for primary-residence status in any of these cities.
Confidence notes
- High confidence (verified against the city's own published page): Austin (type distinction, austintexas.gov), Boston (owner-occupancy requirement, boston.gov), Denver (primary-residence-only, denvergov.org), Nashville (two permit types with zone restrictions, nashville.gov), NYC (Local Law 18 with host-present requirement, nyc.gov), Portland (270-day occupancy rule, portland.gov), San Diego (4-tier system with caps and remaining licenses, sandiego.gov), San Francisco (275-night rule and 90-night un-hosted cap, sfplanning.org), Scottsdale (state preemption, scottsdaleaz.gov), Washington DC (primary-residence requirement with two endorsements, dlcp.dc.gov).
- Moderate confidence: Charleston (owner-occupied with host-present, sourced to ordinance page rather than ordinance text), Chicago (5+ unit building exception, sourced to eligibility criteria page), Colorado Springs (post-2019 single-family zone ban, coloradosprings.gov), Los Angeles (primary-only via Home-Sharing Ordinance, planning.lacity.gov returned 403, confirmed via administrative guidelines PDF), Savannah (20% ward cap fully subscribed, savannahga.gov), Seattle (2-unit cap with one primary, sourced to licensing pages).
- Lower confidence: New Orleans (commercial STR category exists per the 2019 STR Handbook PDF; exact current permit name and nola.gov URL should be re-confirmed directly with the city).
Sources
- City of Austin, Types of Short-Term Rentals (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 Registration eligibility criteria (chicago.gov).
- City of Colorado Springs, Short-Term Rental information (coloradosprings.gov).
- City and County of Denver, Short-Term Rental licensing (denvergov.org).
- City of Los Angeles, Home-Sharing Ordinance administrative guidelines, Department of City Planning (planning.lacity.gov).
- Metropolitan Government of Nashville, Short-Term Rental permit types (nashville.gov).
- City of New Orleans, Short-Term Rental Administration handbook (nola.gov).
- City of New York, Office of Special Enforcement, Short-Term Rental Registration Law (nyc.gov).
- City of Portland, Accessory Short-Term Rental permits (portland.gov).
- City of San Diego, Short-Term Residential Occupancy, Office of the City Treasurer (sandiego.gov).
- City and County of San Francisco, short-term residential rental FAQs (sfplanning.org).
- City of Savannah, STVR Regulations (savannahga.gov).
- City of Scottsdale, vacation and short-term rental information for owners and operators (scottsdaleaz.gov).
- City of Seattle, Short-Term Rental licensing (seattle.gov).
- District of Columbia, Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, operating a short-term rental (dlcp.dc.gov).
- Arizona Revised Statutes, Section 9-500.39 (azleg.gov).