Cary, NC Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

The Town of Cary does not have a stand-alone short-term rental ordinance and the Cary Land Development Ordinance does not list short-term rental as a separate land use, so there is no Town-imposed numeric cap on overnight guests at an Airbnb or Vrbo. Maximum occupancy is set instead by the building code dwelling standards adopted statewide: under the North Carolina Residential Code, every sleeping room must be at least 70 square feet for one occupant and add 50 square feet per additional occupant, which functionally caps how many people may sleep in any given bedroom. Many travel platforms apply a default rule of two persons per bedroom plus two additional persons, but that figure is platform policy, not Cary code. N.C. Gen. Stat. 160D-1207(c) prevents the Town from requiring an owner to register a residential rental or to enroll in any program as a condition of receiving a certificate of occupancy, except in narrow chronic-violator situations, so the Town cannot use a registration to enforce a per-property guest count. HOA covenants in many Cary subdivisions impose stricter occupancy and use limits, and those private restrictions are enforceable through the HOA. Cary's general nuisance, noise, and minimum housing standards still apply regardless of guest count.