Grays Harbor County, WA Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Grays Harbor County Code § 17.60.020(B)(3) sets a two-part occupancy test for short-term rentals permitted under the section. The first, simpler ceiling is two persons per bedroom plus two additional persons; a three-bedroom rental, for example, could sleep up to eight guests under that formula alone. The second ceiling is tied to sewage capacity: the number of persons the on-site sewage disposal system can accommodate, as determined by the county's environmental health division. Whichever of the two numbers is lower governs, so a property with a bedroom count that would otherwise sleep a large group but a septic system sized for fewer people is capped at the septic number instead.

That link to environmental health matters because § 17.60.020(B)(2)(c) separately requires every short-term rental to maintain a properly functioning permitted septic system or sewer connection, and the county reviews that system as part of permitting. The occupancy figure that results also has to be printed on the posted notice required inside the rental under § 17.60.020(C)(2)(a), which must show the permit number and maximum occupancy where applicable, so a guest or a neighbor can check the limit against what's posted. The rule applies only to permitted short-term rentals; it does not set an occupancy ceiling for a long-term rental or an owner-occupied home.