Sacramento County, CA Short-Term Rentals: Night Caps (2026)

Sacramento County defines and caps short-term rental activity in unincorporated areas through duration limits rather than an annual cap on total nights rented across all guests. A short-term rental is the use of a room or rooms for lodging for a period not to exceed 29 consecutive days per stay, and short-term rentals are limited to no more than 29 total days per rental party per year. In practical terms, any single guest party may stay up to 29 consecutive days, and that same party may not book more than 29 days total at the property over the course of a year. Stays of 30 days or more fall outside the short-term rental definition: a person who occupies a unit for 30 or more consecutive days is no longer a transient, so the stay does not require a short-term rental permit and is not subject to the Transient Occupancy Tax. This aligns with the County's tax definition, under which a transient is any person who occupies a room for fewer than 30 consecutive calendar days. The day caps work together with the primary-residence requirement (the home must be occupied by the owner or a long-term renter at least six months a year) and the accessory-use requirement to keep short-term rental subordinate to the residential use of the home. The County's published materials emphasize the per-stay and per-party day limits rather than a fixed maximum number of rentable nights per calendar year, so operators should plan bookings around the 29-day-per-stay and 29-day-per-party-per-year limits and confirm any property-specific conditions with Planning & Environmental Review.