Bethlehem, PA Short-Term Rentals: Permit Requirements (2026)

Bethlehem is a Third-Class City that straddles the Lehigh River, with most of the city north of the river in Northampton County and the south side in Lehigh County. The municipal code is hosted on AmLegal (codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/bethlehem). Bethlehem has not enacted a dedicated short-term rental chapter, so Airbnb, VRBO, and similar listings fall under overlapping local frameworks. First, owners of residential rental property in Bethlehem must register the rental through the city's Housing Inspections program in the Department of Community and Economic Development, and renting for compensation requires a Business Privilege License from the Bethlehem Bureau of Revenue/Tax Bureau. Second, Bethlehem's Zoning Ordinance treats transient lodging as a use that is permitted only in specific districts; pure single-family residential districts generally do not allow tourist or transient occupancy without a special-exception or conditional-use approval from the Zoning Hearing Board. Pennsylvania has not preempted local STR regulation (unlike Florida or Arizona), and the PA Supreme Court held in Slice of Life v. Hamilton Twp. ZHB, 207 A.3d 886 (Pa. 2019) that short-term rentals are NOT a 'single-family residential' use unless local code expressly says so. Practical takeaway: hosts must register the rental, hold a Business Privilege License, verify zoning, and collect either the Lehigh County or Northampton County 4% hotel room rental tax (depending on which side of the river the property sits) plus the Pennsylvania 6% state hotel occupancy tax under 72 P.S. §7210.