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

R68 is the performance requirement that governs every short-term or vacation rental in unincorporated Iredell County, and subsection C sets the occupancy math: two persons per bedroom plus two additional persons, calculated off the number of bedrooms shown in the property's most recent Iredell County tax record, not whatever bedroom count the host advertises online. The Ordinance spells out the arithmetic with its own example: a three-bedroom Dwelling Unit tops out at eight total occupants, three bedrooms times two, plus two. One carve-out narrows the headcount rather than expanding it: children under three years of age are excluded from the occupancy calculation, so a family with an infant does not push a rental over its cap.

R68(C) also requires the maximum occupancy figure to be posted prominently inside the STR itself and to appear in every online listing and advertisement for the property, closing off the common workaround of advertising a higher sleeping capacity than the tax record supports. Occupancy sits alongside two related R68 controls that are easy to trip at the same time: one off-street parking space is required per bedroom with no on-street parking allowed, and the property cannot be rented out to host a wedding, reunion, or other large gathering that exceeds the posted occupancy limit.

A property owner who wants to add a bedroom to raise the cap has to first get that bedroom reflected in the county tax record, which typically follows a permitted addition inspected under Chapter 4 of the Code of Ordinances.