Tennessee Short-Term Rental Regulations by City: Nashville to the Smokies in 2026

Tennessee is one of the three or four most important short-term rental markets in the country. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most-visited national park in the United States, and the cabin-rental corridor along U.S. 441 through Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Sevierville hosts more whole-home short-term rentals per capita than any comparable region. Nashville's tourism economy added thousands of urban STR units through the 2010s, much of it concentrated in The Gulch, East Nashville, and 12 South. The legal framework controlling all of this is unusually centralized for a Southern state: the Tennessee Short-Term Rental Unit Act of 2018, codified at TCA §13-7-602 through §13-7-605, preempts local STR bans, grandfathers existing operators, and creates a statewide two-tier classification — owner-occupied versus non-owner-occupied — that every Tennessee city must respect. Inside that framework, cities still hold most of the day-to-day regulatory power: registration, taxation, occupancy caps, parking standards, and where non-owner units can be located.

The Tennessee Short-Term Rental Unit Act: the statewide framework

In April 2018, the Tennessee General Assembly passed Public Chapter 1102, the Tennessee Short-Term Rental Unit Act, signed by Governor Bill Haslam on April 24, 2018. The statute, codified at TCA §13-7-602 through §13-7-605, was Tennessee's response to a wave of city-level STR bans and moratoria that had spread through Nashville, Memphis, and Brentwood between 2015 and 2017. The Act does three things, and understanding all three is essential before researching any Tennessee city ordinance.

First, TCA §13-7-602 establishes the statewide definition of a short-term rental unit: "a residential dwelling that is rented wholly or partially for a fee for a period of less than thirty (30) continuous days." Rentals of thirty days or more are governed by Tennessee's general landlord-tenant law, not the STR statute.

Second, TCA §13-7-603 creates the owner-occupied versus non-owner-occupied distinction that drives almost all subsequent municipal regulation. An "owner-occupied short-term rental" is a unit where the owner uses the dwelling as a primary residence and rents either a portion or the entire dwelling while the owner is temporarily absent. A "non-owner-occupied short-term rental" is any STR that does not meet that definition — typically an investor-owned cabin, condo, or single-family home rented to transient guests. The statute grants cities broad authority over non-owner units, including the ability to confine them to specific zoning districts, but constrains the regulation of owner-occupied units. Cities cannot prohibit owner-occupied STRs in any zoning district where residential use is otherwise permitted, though they may still require registration, inspection, and tax remittance.

Third, TCA §13-7-604 contains the grandfather clause. Any STR unit that was lawfully operating under a local permit, license, or registration as of the Act's effective date is entitled to continue operating regardless of subsequent local ordinance changes. The grandfather right runs with the property and the operator; transfer generally extinguishes the right, though Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg have negotiated narrower local interpretations. The clause saved thousands of pre-2018 Nashville and Memphis non-owner units from the post-Act zoning ordinances that would otherwise have rendered them illegal.

The Act under PC 1102 also added §13-7-605, which authorizes cities to levy reasonable application and renewal fees, require occupancy and noise standards, mandate local responsible-party contact information, and revoke permits for repeat violations. Subsequent amendments through the 2022 and 2024 sessions added clarifying language on grandfather transfers, the right of cities to require platform-based tax remittance, and the authority to set distance-separation buffers between non-owner units.

Nashville-Davidson County: Type 1 and Type 2 short-term rentals

Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County is the largest and most heavily regulated STR market in Tennessee, and its ordinance is the model that most other Tennessee cities have either copied or rejected. The framework lives at Metropolitan Code of Laws Title 17, with operative provisions at §17.16.250 and the registration scheme at Title 6, Chapter 6.28.

Metro Nashville classifies STRs into two types that map onto the state Act's owner-occupied versus non-owner-occupied distinction. A "Type 1 short-term rental property" is owner-occupied — the owner uses the dwelling as a primary residence and rents either rooms (hosted) or the entire dwelling while away (un-hosted, for limited periods). Type 1 STRs are permitted as accessory uses in every residential zoning district in Nashville. A "Type 2 short-term rental property" is non-owner-occupied — an investor-held unit rented to transient guests. Type 2 STRs are not permitted in any single-family residential zoning district; they are limited to specific commercial, mixed-use, and multifamily zones (CN, CS, CL, OL, MUI, MUL, MUG). Existing Type 2 STRs permitted before the 2018 ordinance changes remain legal under the state grandfather standard, but new Type 2 STRs in single-family neighborhoods have not been issued since 2018.

Both types must register with the Metro Codes Department under §6.28. The annual permit fee is roughly $313 for Type 1 and $626 for Type 2. Each unit must designate a 24-hour local responsible party, post the permit number on every listing, and remit the 6% Nashville hotel-motel occupancy tax. Maximum overnight occupancy is two adults per bedroom plus four additional persons, capped at twelve, with parking at one off-street space per bedroom. Enforcement runs through Metro Codes and the hubNashville 311 system, with quiet hours from 10 PM to 7 AM under Metro Code §11.12. Three substantiated violations within 12 months trigger permit revocation, and the property becomes ineligible for two years.

Gatlinburg: the Smoky Mountains capital

Gatlinburg sits at the gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and operates one of the oldest and most permissive STR registration programs in Tennessee. The city has long depended on cabin and chalet rentals as the core of its visitor economy, and its ordinance reflects that economic reality. Short-term rentals are regulated under Gatlinburg Code of Ordinances Title 5, Chapter 5, and the underlying zoning is permissive in the C-2 (Commercial Tourist), R-1 (Residential), and chalet/cabin overlay districts that cover most of the city.

Every short-term rental in Gatlinburg, whether owner-occupied or non-owner-occupied, must obtain an annual business license from the city and remit the 3% local hotel-motel occupancy tax. Unlike Nashville, Gatlinburg does not divide STRs into Type 1 and Type 2 categories. Non-owner-occupied vacation rentals are permitted in nearly every residential and commercial zone, subject to maximum occupancy of two persons per bedroom plus two additional persons, designated parking equal to one space per bedroom up to a four-space minimum, and a posted local contact's 24-hour phone number.

The city uses an aggressive complaint-based enforcement model coordinated through the Gatlinburg Police Department's non-emergency line. Repeated noise or trash violations can result in the suspension of the business license; revocation requires city commission action after notice and hearing. Fire safety inspections are required at initial license and on a periodic basis thereafter, in part because of the lessons of the November 2016 Chimney Tops 2 fire, which destroyed or damaged more than 2,400 structures in and around Gatlinburg and led the city to tighten inspection standards on all rental properties.

Sevier County context: the cabin rental corridor

Outside Gatlinburg city limits, most of the Smoky Mountains cabin economy is governed at the Sevier County level. Sevier County's unincorporated rural and resort districts contain the vast majority of cabin rentals — properties along Wears Valley Road, the Cosby corridor, and the ridges above the Pigeon Forge city limit. The county runs a registration and inspection program through the Sevier County Building Inspections Department, requiring annual permits, fire-and-life-safety inspection, and remittance of the 3% Sevier County occupancy tax in addition to the 9.75% state-and-local sales tax.

Sevier County's land-use regulation is famously light by Tennessee standards — the county does not have a comprehensive zoning code outside city limits — and as a result the cabin-rental density is among the highest in the country. The state STR Act's owner-occupied versus non-owner-occupied distinction has limited practical effect in the unincorporated county because non-owner-occupied units are not zoned out anywhere; the regulatory leverage instead comes through life-safety inspection and tax compliance.

Pigeon Forge: the family-tourism middle

Pigeon Forge, home to Dollywood and the U.S. 441 attraction strip, regulates short-term rentals under Pigeon Forge Code of Ordinances Title 9 and Title 13. The city operates a single-tier registration system: every STR requires a business license, an annual inspection, and remittance of the 2.5% Pigeon Forge hotel-motel tax. The city's overlay zoning permits short-term rental use in nearly every residential and tourist-commercial district, with the C-3 Resort district designed specifically for high-density cabin and condominium rentals.

Pigeon Forge's regulatory approach tightened modestly after 2019 when the city added occupancy caps, required posted emergency contact information at every entrance, and began requiring smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms in every sleeping room. Maximum occupancy follows the standard two-per-bedroom-plus-two rule with hard caps tied to septic capacity for properties outside the city sewer service area. Enforcement runs through the city's Codes Enforcement Office, with violations subject to fines of $50 to $500 per occurrence and possible business-license suspension on the third substantiated violation within twelve months.

Sevierville: gateway and growth

Sevierville, the Sevier County seat and the gateway city for tourists heading toward Gatlinburg, regulates short-term rentals under Sevierville Municipal Code Title 5 and the zoning code at Title 14. Sevierville's STR ordinance, last comprehensively updated in 2021, requires registration with the City Recorder, a one-time inspection, and annual business license renewal. The city collects a 3% local lodging tax that stacks on top of the Sevier County occupancy tax and the state sales tax.

Unlike Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Sevierville does separate owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied STRs for zoning purposes. Owner-occupied STRs are permitted in R-1, R-1A, and other residential districts. Non-owner-occupied STRs are restricted to the C-2 Tourist Commercial district and the Resort/Recreation overlay zones along Veterans Boulevard and the Parkway. The split mirrors the state Act's structure more closely than the Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge approach and has produced a more concentrated commercial-cabin development pattern along the southern Sevierville corridor.

Memphis: STR ordinance and the Type 1/2 model

Memphis adopted its first comprehensive STR ordinance in 2018 in direct response to PC 1102, and the ordinance is now codified at Memphis Code of Ordinances Chapter 22 and the Unified Development Code (UDC) §4.10.7. Memphis follows a Type 1 (owner-occupied) and Type 2 (non-owner-occupied) classification scheme parallel to Nashville's, though the substantive rules differ.

Type 1 STRs in Memphis are permitted in every residential zoning district as an accessory use. They require a permit from the city's Business Tax Division, posting of the permit number on listings, and remittance of the 3.5% Memphis hotel-motel occupancy tax. Maximum occupancy is two per bedroom plus four, capped at 16. Type 2 STRs are restricted to multifamily and mixed-use zoning districts — primarily downtown, Cooper-Young's commercial corridor, and parts of Midtown — and are not permitted in R-S single-family residential districts. A grandfather provision protects Type 2 units that held a valid Memphis business license as of May 17, 2018.

Enforcement is complaint-driven through the Memphis 311 system and the Office of Code Enforcement. The city imposes fines of $50 for a first violation, $250 for a second, and $500 plus possible permit revocation for a third within 24 months. Memphis has also pursued data-sharing agreements with Airbnb and Vrbo to identify unlicensed listings, and the platforms now generally include a Memphis permit-number field at the listing level.

Chattanooga: tiered STR rules

Chattanooga regulates short-term rentals under Chattanooga City Code Part II, Chapter 38, Article IV, and the underlying zoning at Title 38, Chapter 38, Article II. The city's framework, originally adopted in 2017 and significantly revised in 2019 and again in 2022, follows the Tennessee state-statute structure but layers a more nuanced district-by-district approach on top.

Chattanooga classifies STRs as either "Homestay" (owner-occupied, host-present hosted) or "Vacation Rental" (non-owner-occupied or non-host-present). Homestays are permitted in every residential zoning district. Vacation Rentals are permitted as a special use in the R-3, R-4, and R-5 districts and as a permitted use in C-2, C-3, M-1, and the form-based code zones; they are not permitted in R-1 or R-T/Z single-family districts unless grandfathered under the state Act. Vacation Rentals must obtain a permit from the Land Development Office, are subject to a $250 application fee and $200 annual renewal, and must remit the 4% Chattanooga hotel-motel tax.

Maximum occupancy is two adults per bedroom plus two, capped at twelve. Chattanooga also imposes a 600-foot density-separation rule between Vacation Rentals in single-family-zoned blocks, similar to the buffer logic used in Clark County, Nevada — a deliberate choice to prevent neighborhood saturation in formerly residential streets near Lookout Mountain and the North Shore.

Knoxville: STR rules under Title 16

Knoxville's STR ordinance is codified at Knoxville City Code Title 16, Chapter 16, with the operating standards in the Knoxville Zoning Ordinance §11. The ordinance, adopted in 2019 and amended in 2023, follows the now-familiar Type 1 (owner-occupied) and Type 2 (non-owner-occupied) framework.

Type 1 STRs are permitted by right in all residential districts. They require an annual short-term rental certificate from the Plans Review and Inspections Department, payment of the $50 annual fee, and remittance of the 3% Knoxville-Knox County hotel-motel occupancy tax. Type 2 STRs are permitted only in MU-NC, C-G, C-N, and the downtown form-based code districts. Existing Type 2 units that were licensed before the ordinance's effective date are grandfathered under the state Act and retain their certificate so long as they continuously renew.

Maximum occupancy in both types is two per bedroom plus two. Off-street parking is required at one space per bedroom, and Knoxville's noise ordinance — Chapter 17 of the city code — applies a hard quiet-hour standard from 10 PM to 7 AM. Three substantiated violations within 24 months result in certificate revocation; the property becomes ineligible for a new certificate for two years thereafter.

Franklin: affluent suburban restraint

Franklin, the Williamson County seat just south of Nashville, runs one of the most restrictive STR programs in Tennessee. The city's ordinance, adopted at Franklin Municipal Code Title 13 and Zoning Ordinance Article 3, permits STRs only as owner-occupied units in residential zoning districts. Non-owner-occupied STRs are limited to the city's commercial and mixed-use zones, of which there are relatively few in Franklin's master-planned neighborhoods like Westhaven, Berry Farms, and downtown's historic core.

Each STR must obtain a permit from the Codes Department, pay a $250 annual fee, designate a 24-hour local contact, and remit the 4% Franklin hotel-motel tax. Maximum occupancy is two adults per bedroom plus two, capped at ten. Franklin's regulations also include design-and-aesthetic standards — exterior trash storage screening, parking-area materials, and signage limits — that reflect the city's broader emphasis on historic preservation and master-planned suburban character.

Murfreesboro: Rutherford County's middle-tier

Murfreesboro, the Rutherford County seat and one of Tennessee's fastest-growing cities, regulates STRs under Murfreesboro Code of Ordinances Title 5, Chapter 5 and the Zoning Ordinance §38. The city allows owner-occupied STRs in all residential districts and non-owner-occupied STRs in commercial, office, and the OR Mixed-Use district. Annual permits are issued by the Building and Codes Department for a $200 fee, with mandatory life-safety inspection at initial issuance and on a periodic basis.

Murfreesboro's 4% local hotel-motel tax is remitted directly to the city. Maximum occupancy follows the two-per-bedroom-plus-two formula, capped at twelve. The city imposes a minimum-stay rule of one night and prohibits commercial events, weddings, or gatherings above permitted occupancy. Enforcement is handled through Codes Enforcement, with three substantiated violations within 24 months triggering permit revocation.

Johnson City and Tri-Cities region

Johnson City and the broader Tri-Cities region sit at the northeast corner of Tennessee, with growing STR activity driven by East Tennessee State tourism. Johnson City Municipal Code §38 requires STR registration, an annual $100 permit fee, life-safety inspection, and remittance of the 4% Johnson City hotel-motel tax. Owner-occupied units are permitted broadly; non-owner units are limited to the C-3 Central Business District and the MX Mixed-Use districts. Kingsport and Bristol run similar registration programs.

Tennessee's tax framework for STRs

A Tennessee STR operator pays a stack of taxes that adds up to roughly 13% to 16% of gross rent depending on the city. The base layer is the 7% Tennessee state sales tax under TCA §67-6-202, applied to all transient lodging. On top sits a 1.5% to 2.75% local-option sales tax (TCA §67-6-702) varying by county. Then each city's local hotel-motel occupancy tax — typically 3% to 6% — stacks on top.

In Nashville, the combined effective rate is 9.25% sales tax + 6% Metro hotel tax = 15.25%. In Gatlinburg, 9.75% + 3% = 12.75%. In Memphis, 9.75% + 3.5% = 13.25%. In Chattanooga, 9.25% + 4% = 13.25%. Operators must register with both the Tennessee Department of Revenue (state and local-option sales tax) and the city (local hotel-motel tax). Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit the state sales-tax portion automatically under voluntary collection agreements; the local hotel-motel tax must be remitted separately by the operator in most jurisdictions.

Tennessee Landlord-Tenant Act and the 14-day eviction

Operators occasionally find themselves running a stay that crosses the 30-day line, at which point Tennessee's landlord-tenant law takes over. The Tennessee Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA), codified at TCA §66-28-101 through §66-28-521, applies only in counties with populations over 75,000 — Davidson, Shelby, Knox, Hamilton, Rutherford, Williamson, Sumner, Sevier, and a handful of others. In smaller counties, the older Tennessee common-law landlord-tenant framework applies, with even fewer tenant protections.

Within URLTA counties, the 14-day notice for nonpayment of rent is the fastest mainstream eviction notice in the United States. TCA §66-28-505 provides that a landlord may serve a 14-day notice to pay or vacate; if the tenant fails to pay, the landlord may file a detainer action in General Sessions Court. The court typically schedules a hearing within 10 to 21 days of filing, and a writ of possession issues within 10 days of judgment. The full process from notice to physical removal commonly takes 30 to 45 days, faster than almost any other state. For lease violations other than nonpayment, TCA §66-28-505 requires a 14-day notice with a cure period for first-time violations; a second occurrence of the same violation within six months permits a 14-day termination notice without further cure opportunity.

Rent-control preemption

Tennessee preempts rent control statewide. TCA §66-35-102, enacted in 1986 and amended in 1995, prohibits any city or county from adopting any ordinance or resolution that controls the rent that may be charged by any landlord for any residential or commercial unit. The preemption is absolute — there is no narrow exception for affordable-housing overlays, for nonprofit operators, or for mobile-home parks. Several Nashville council members have introduced symbolic rent-stabilization resolutions over the years; each has been blocked at the city-attorney review stage on TCA §66-35-102 grounds before reaching council vote.

Common pitfalls for Tennessee STR operators

Six recurring issues catch Tennessee STR operators. First, the grandfather clause is narrower than many operators believe — the right protects the property under the same operator, and transfers to a new owner generally extinguish the right unless the local ordinance provides otherwise (Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg have local provisions that allow limited transfer; Nashville and Memphis do not). Second, HOA covenants in master-planned communities — particularly in Westhaven (Franklin), Stephens Valley (Brentwood), and the Tellico Village resort area — often ban STR use outright, and the state Act does not preempt private CC&Rs. Third, the Tennessee Department of Revenue and the city hotel-motel tax authority operate as separate collectors, and operators frequently underpay the local layer because the platform's automatic collection covers only the state sales tax. Fourth, Type 1 owner-occupied status in Nashville requires that the dwelling be the operator's actual primary residence — voter registration, driver's license address, and tax-filing address all at the property — and Metro Codes audits randomly selected Type 1 permits annually. Fifth, septic-system capacity in Sevier County and rural West Tennessee limits occupancy independently of the city ordinance; the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation can intervene if a rental's permitted occupancy exceeds the septic design capacity. Sixth, fire-safety inspections in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville have been significantly tightened since the 2016 Chimney Tops fire, and noncompliance with smoke-alarm, carbon-monoxide, and egress requirements is now an immediate basis for license suspension.

How to research your Tennessee city

State law tells you what your city must allow at minimum — owner-occupied STRs cannot be banned outright in any residential zone, and grandfathered non-owner units retain operating rights. City code tells you what actually applies: the registration fee, the local hotel-motel tax rate, the occupancy cap, parking standards, buffer rules, inspection cadence, and enforcement process that determine whether a property can profitably operate. CityRuleLookup maintains a short-term rentals page for every Tennessee city we cover. Start there, then confirm with the city's own code and, if your property sits inside an HOA or master-planned community, verify the CC&Rs separately. The Tennessee STR landscape rewards careful operators and punishes those who treat the state Act as a license to ignore local rules.