Short-term rental permit rules in Cameron County, TX — also called Airbnb permits, vacation rental licenses, or STR registration — list the application steps, fees, and operating requirements for hosting.
Cameron County does not zone or license short-term rentals in unincorporated areas — Texas counties have no general zoning power. Permits are a city matter. South Padre Island requires every STR to hold an annual city license before advertising.
There is no county-wide STR permit in Cameron County; unincorporated land has no zoning. If your rental sits inside a city — especially the tourism hub of South Padre Island — that city licenses it. South Padre Island's Article VII short-term-rental ordinance (originally Ord. 15-03) requires each STR to register and obtain a license every year, and the assigned permit number must appear in all advertisements. Brownsville, Harlingen, Port Isabel and other Cameron cities set their own rules. The one universal county touchpoint is the county Hotel Occupancy Tax, not a permit.
South Padre Island: operating without a license, or omitting the permit number from ads, is punishable by fines up to $2,000 per day; three citations in 12 months can revoke the license.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Cameron County's permit requirements rules stack up against other locations.
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