10 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Madera County, California.
Verified from official government sources
To operate a short-term vacation rental in unincorporated Madera County you must hold a Madera County business license and a Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) certificate. A dedicated, non-transferable STVR land-use permit is in a draft ordinance that the Planning Commission was reviewing in 2026 but had not yet adopted.
Madera County's proposed STVR Ordinance would set quiet hours and acceptable noise levels for vacation rentals to protect neighbors in residential mountain areas. Specific quiet-hour times and decibel limits had not been published while the draft was under review in 2026.
Unincorporated Madera County charges a 9% Transient Occupancy Tax plus a 2.5% Tourism Business Improvement District assessment, for a total guest levy of 11.5% on stays of 30 days or less. Operators collect both, file a quarterly return, and remit under Madera County Code Title 3, Chapter 3.20.
Madera County's proposed STVR Ordinance would require operators to provide adequate on-site parking for guests, a response to parking congestion in mountain communities. The specific number of required spaces had not been published while the draft was under Planning Commission review in 2026.
Madera County's proposed Short-Term Vacation Rental Ordinance would set occupancy limits tied to the size of each rental unit. The specific guest formula had not been published while the draft was under Planning Commission review in 2026, so no fixed per-bedroom cap is yet adopted for the unincorporated county.
Madera County's publicly described short-term rental rules do not state a specific liability-insurance requirement. The draft STVR Ordinance emphasized permits, occupancy, parking, noise, trash and fire safety; any insurance or indemnification condition was not published while it was in draft in 2026.
Madera County has not published an annual cap on the number of nights a property can be rented short-term. Neither the tax framework nor the publicly described draft STVR Ordinance set a maximum rental-nights-per-year limit for the unincorporated county.
Every short-term rental operator in unincorporated Madera County must apply for and obtain an Annual Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate and a business license, pay a non-transferable annual fee, and register within 30 days of starting business. A separate application is required for each rental property.
Madera County does not require a host or owner to be present during a short-term rental stay. The proposed STVR Ordinance focused on a permit plus occupancy, parking, noise, trash and fire standards, and typically relies on a responsible local contact rather than on-site owner occupancy.
Madera County does not limit short-term rentals to an owner's primary residence. The County's tax framework treats all qualifying operators the same, and the proposed STVR Ordinance described occupancy, parking, noise and fire standards rather than a primary-residence restriction.
1 cities in Madera County have their own short-term rentals rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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