San Diego County Short-Term Rental Rules: A City-by-City Guide for Owners & Investors

If you’re thinking about running a short-term rental (STR) anywhere in San Diego County, here’s the thing nobody tells you up front: there is no single “San Diego” rule. Every city sets its own rules, and they’re wildly different from one another. What’s perfectly legal in Oceanside can get you fined in Coronado. A whole-home Airbnb that thrives in Mission Beach is flat-out banned a few miles away.

So before you buy a property, list a room, or assume your beach condo is fair game, you need to know exactly which set of rules applies to your address. Below is a plain-English breakdown of what’s allowed versus restricted in each city — coastal zones, occupancy limits, permit caps, minimum stays, and the local hotel tax (TOT) you’ll owe — laid out from the north end of the county down to the border.

One important note: STR rules in San Diego County change constantly. The details below reflect what I found as of mid-2026, but caps fill up, ordinances get amended, and the Coastal Commission keeps weighing in. Always confirm the current rules directly with the city before you buy or list. This isn’t legal advice — it’s a starting map.

How to read this guide

A few terms that come up over and over:

• Hosted vs. non-hosted — “Hosted” means the owner lives on-site during the stay (renting a room, or a unit on a property you live at). “Non-hosted” means a whole-home rental with nobody living there. Non-hosted is almost always the more heavily restricted of the two.

• Coastal Zone — A state-defined strip along the ocean (roughly within ~1,000 yards of the high-tide line, sometimes inland to the first ridgeline) regulated by the California Coastal Commission. Several cities only allow STRs inside this zone.

• TOT — Transient Occupancy Tax, the “hotel tax” guests pay on stays under 30 nights. You collect it and remit it to the city (platforms like Airbnb often do this for you).

• Cap — A hard limit on how many STR permits a city will issue. Once it’s hit, you wait for someone to drop out.

Oceanside

The northernmost coastal city, and one of the more STR-friendly — but the rules tightened in 2026.

• Permit + tax required: City STR permit required, 10% TOT, and your permit number must be posted on every listing.

• Occupancy: 2 people per bedroom + 2 per unit. Maximum 14 overnight guests, and a maximum of 10 daytime guests regardless of bedroom count.

• Hosted STRs: Allowed in all zoning districts citywide, with no cap.

• Non-hosted (whole-home) STRs: Capped at 480 permits west of Coast Highway (the coastal area). As of the April 2026 ordinance update, only about 25 permits remained available.

• Restricted areas: Non-hosted STRs are banned in R-1 (single-family) residential zones outside the Coastal Zone. Existing grandfathered permits in those areas expire when the property is sold.

Carlsbad

Very location-restricted — where your property sits matters more here than almost anywhere else.

• Allowed only in two areas: STRs (called STVRs locally) are permitted only on residentially zoned property inside the California Coastal Zone, or within the La Costa Resort & Spa Master Plan area. They are strictly prohibited everywhere else in the city.

• Permit required under Municipal Code Chapter 5.60.

• Occupancy: 2 people per bedroom + 1 per unit.

• ADUs/JADUs: Accessory or junior accessory dwelling units that got a building permit after Jan. 1, 2020 cannot be used as STVRs.

• 24/7 contact rule: Owner or designated contact must be reachable around the clock and respond to complaints within 45 minutes.

• Strike rule: 3+ citations/code violations within 24 months = permit revoked, and you can’t reapply for that property for 36 months.

• Tax: 10% TOT + 2% Carlsbad Tourism Business Improvement District (CTBID) = 12% total.

Encinitas

Updated rules cleared the California Coastal Commission and are now in effect.

• Permit required: ~$425 application fee; $1,000,000 liability insurance required.

• Occupancy: 2 guests per bedroom + 1 additional per dwelling (one bedroom may hold up to 3 beds).

• Non-hosted STRs: Must keep a 200-foot separation from other non-hosted rentals and require a 2-night minimum stay.

• Caps: Non-hosted STRs capped at 2.5% of total housing units citywide, with a higher 4% cap inside the Coastal Zone.

• Hosted rentals: Not subject to the caps or the minimum-night rule.

• Tax: 10% TOT (2% of it earmarked for beach sand replenishment).

Solana Beach

Small, and effectively closed to weekend-style rentals.

• 7-night minimum: STRs are defined as 7 to 30 consecutive days. Anything under 7 nights is strictly prohibited in all residential zones. Only one booking per 7-day period is allowed.

• Permit required and renewed annually.

• Complaint response: Owner must respond to violation notices within 24 hours.

• Tax: 13% TOT, filed monthly even in zero-revenue months.

Del Mar

Tightly capped and currently full.

• Citywide cap of 129 STRs (~5% of dwelling units). The cap has been reached — the application window for existing STRs closed May 1, 2026, and new owners cannot apply while the cap is full.

• Primary-residence rule for new STRs: Owners must occupy the unit as their primary residence at least half the year. Once permitted, the home can be rented year-round and the owner doesn’t have to be present during guest stays.

• Minimum stay: 3 nights.

• Permit: 2-year permit — $815 first time, $598 renewal.

• Tax: 13% TOT (voter-approved in 2024). The state Coastal Commission signed off on Del Mar’s rules in 2026.

City of San Diego (La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, Downtown & more)

This is the big one — the most detailed framework in the county. The STRO (“Short-Term Residential Occupancy”) ordinance has been in effect since May 2023 and applies to any rental under 30 consecutive days. Every STR needs a license, sorted into four tiers:

• Tier 1 — Part-time: Whole-home rental for 20 days or less per year (e.g., renting while you travel). No cap.

• Tier 2 — Home sharing: Your primary residence, host lives on-site; you can rent rooms, or the whole home for limited days while away. No cap.

• Tier 3 — Whole-home (non-owner-occupied), outside Mission Beach: Capped at roughly 1% of the city’s housing units (~5,400 licenses). As of April 2026, only about 880 Tier 3 licenses remained available.

• Tier 4 — Mission Beach whole-home: Separate carve-out with its own cap of 30% of Mission Beach dwellings (~1,080 licenses). The cap is full — applications run on a waitlist basis and only open when current holders drop out or lose their license.

Occupancy limits (all tiers):

• 2 guests per bedroom + 2 additional per unit overnight (children included).

• Up to 10 daytime guests allowed between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

• Your posted occupancy number is legally enforceable — overcrowding complaints to the city’s STR hotline are one of the most common ways owners get cited.

Tax — and here’s where zoning hits your wallet. Under Measure C (effective May 1, 2025), the City of San Diego charges STR hotel tax on a three-zone system based on how close the property is to the Convention Center:

• Zone 1: 11.75%

• Zone 2: 12.75%

• Zone 3 (closest to the Convention Center / downtown core): 13.75% — the highest rate.

So two otherwise-identical rentals can owe different tax rates purely based on location. Use the City’s interactive tax-zone lookup map to confirm which zone your address falls in before you set your pricing.

Coronado

The short version: real vacation rentals essentially don’t exist here.

• 26-night minimum: Coronado has banned rentals of fewer than 26 consecutive nights for decades — long before Airbnb existed. This applies to whole homes, ADUs, and guest houses alike.

• Why: The city’s stated goal is preserving the residential character and quality of life for full-time residents.

• Enforcement: Renting for under 26 nights can trigger fines and legal action. In practice, only 26+ night stays are viable in Coronado — so if your business model is weekend or week-long getaways, Coronado is off the table.

National City

National City has been working through its own STR regulations more recently than its neighbors, and the specifics (permit process, caps, and tax) are best confirmed straight from the source.

• Action step: Before listing here, contact the National City Finance/Planning Department to confirm current permit requirements, any zoning restrictions, and the local TOT rate. Don’t assume San Diego or Chula Vista rules apply — they don’t.

Chula Vista

Resident-focused rules that limit out-of-town investors.

• Primary-residence requirement: STRs are limited to your primary residence, plus one non-primary residence — a maximum of 2 STRs per Chula Vista resident.

• Residency test: Hosts must live in Chula Vista at least 275 days a year to qualify for a permit.

• Occupancy: 2 people per bedroom + 2 additional, max 10 people. Children under 12 don’t count toward the limit.

• Cap: No permit cap at this time (the city will revisit if STRs start affecting housing).

• Tax: 10% TOT on stays of 30 nights or less (applies to rent, cleaning fees, and other non-refundable fees).

• Ordinance: Adopted December 2021.

Imperial Beach

The southernmost coastal city — and one where zoning is the whole ballgame.

• Allowed only in commercial/mixed-use zones: STRs are permitted only in specific districts — C/MU-1, C/MU-2, C/MU-3, and C/R-ET. They are not allowed in standard residential zones.

• License required: Apply through the city’s online portal under “Property Rental – Short Term.”

• Definition: Rentals of 30 consecutive days or fewer.

• Tax: 14% TOT — the highest rate in the county.

Unincorporated San Diego County (Julian, Ramona, Lakeside, Fallbrook, Borrego Springs, Rancho Santa Fe & more)

If your property sits outside any incorporated city, you fall under the County’s rules — which are notably lighter.

• No business license required, but you must register your STR and get a registration number (registration opened June 11, 2024).

• Tax: 8% TOT — the lowest rate in the region.

• Still applies: You must follow all local zoning rules and pay TOT.

• Where this applies: Communities including Alpine, Bonsall, Borrego Springs, Fallbrook, Julian, Lakeside, Ramona, Rancho Santa Fe, Spring Valley, Valley Center, and many more.

The bottom line

The single biggest mistake I see STR investors make in San Diego County is buying first and reading the ordinance second. A property’s STR potential — and therefore a big chunk of its value — lives or dies on which city it’s in, which zone, and whether the cap is already full. The numbers can swing your returns dramatically: a 14% tax in Imperial Beach versus 8% in the county, a wide-open hosted market in Oceanside versus a hard “no” in Coronado.

If you’re weighing a short-term rental purchase, let’s pressure-test the address against the current rules before you write an offer. I run a boutique STR brand here in San Diego (The Carmine Collection), so I look at every potential investment through both a real estate and an operator’s lens.

Thinking about buying or running an STR in San Diego? Let’s talk strategy — [book a call].