Napa County, CA Short-Term Rentals: Registration Rules (2026)

Because Napa County Code Section 18.104.410 prohibits 'transient commercial occupancies of dwelling units' in the unincorporated county, the county does not maintain an STR registration system analogous to those in Sonoma, San Diego, or Sacramento counties. There is no county platform-host registry, no STR permit number that hosts must include in Airbnb or Vrbo listings, no inspection schedule, no listing cap, and no annual STR renewal. Only legally permitted bed and breakfast establishments, hotels, motels, residential care facilities, family day care homes, and farm labor camps are authorized to operate as transient-occupancy lodging in the unincorporated county; each of those has its own use-permit pathway under Title 18 (typically a Use Permit under Chapter 18.124) rather than an STR registration. Separately, Napa County operates a TOT registration system for legal lodging operators under Code Chapter 3.32, administered by the Auditor-Controller's office (707-253-4320). Holding a TOT Certificate of Authority means an operator has registered to collect and remit the 13% TOT and the 2% TBID assessment; it does not constitute zoning approval to use a dwelling as a short-term rental. An owner cannot 'register' an unpermitted STR through the TOT process and treat that as authorization. Cities within Napa County maintain their own STR registration programs (the City of Napa, for example, requires a hosted-rental permit under its municipal code with a capped allocation); those city registrations do not extend outside city limits.