Salt Lake County, UT Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Salt Lake County has adopted the International Residential Code and the International Building Code with Utah state amendments, which set the baseline for occupant load through bedroom size, egress, and life safety requirements. The county does not set a single statewide numeric cap for all short-term rentals, but it enforces occupancy limits through a combination of the building code (sleeping room minimum square footage and egress), health code (septic system design capacity for homes on on-site wastewater), and local nuisance ordinances (noise, parking overflow, disorderly conduct). Operators are generally expected to advertise a maximum occupancy consistent with the number of legal sleeping rooms. A common hosting guideline of two people per bedroom plus two additional is widely used. Larger events such as weddings, receptions, or parties that draw non-lodging guests are generally a separate land use not permitted as part of a residential short-term rental. Violations lead to nuisance citations and can support a license revocation proceeding. Utah's STR preemption still allows the county to enforce these neutrally applied rules.