Springfield, IL Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Springfield, Illinois regulates short-stay lodging through its zoning definitions and tax thresholds rather than a fixed maximum-occupant number. Chapter 155 (Zoning), Sec. 155.001, defines a 'Tourist home, bed and breakfast inns' as 'an owner occupied single-family detached residence in which no more than three bedrooms are rented to transient guests on an overnight basis,' which caps the most common owner-occupied short-term-lodging use at three rentable bedrooms. The Springfield Taxation Code, Sec. 100.26, fixes the dividing line between taxable short-term lodging and exempt long-term tenancy: the hotel/motel room tax applies to each 24-hour period and does not apply 'on any person who rents a hotel or motel room for more than 30 consecutive days.' A renter who reaches the 31st consecutive day becomes a 'permanent resident' (Sec. 100.00.2) entitled to a refund or credit. The general zoning and building codes (bedroom egress, sanitation) govern raw occupancy; the code does not impose a separate per-bedroom or total-guest ceiling on non-B&B short-term rentals.