Modesto, CA Short-Term Rentals: Primary-Residence-Only Rule (2026)

No County ordinance requires that a short-term rental be the host's primary or permanent residence, since the unincorporated area has no dedicated STR rule that distinguishes owner-occupied from non-owner-occupied rentals. The closest related constraint is structural, not a stated primary-residence mandate. When a rental is treated as a home occupation under Chapter 21.94, the use must be "clearly incidental and subordinate" to the dwelling's residential use, must occupy no more than twenty percent of the principal dwelling's habitable floor area, and only "occupants of the dwelling" may be engaged in the home occupation. Those criteria assume an owner or resident actually living in the home, which functionally favors owner-occupied arrangements for a home occupation. A whole-house rental of a property nobody lives in does not fit the home-occupation model and would have to be evaluated under the parcel's general zoning, where a transient-lodging use may or may not be permitted. The Transient Occupancy Tax under Ordinance Code Chapter 4.04 applies regardless of whether the operator lives on site. California sets no statewide primary-residence rule for STRs, so the County's general zoning analysis governs.