Short-Term Rentals in Pennsylvania (2026)

The City of Erie requires a Short-Term Rental license before any dwelling may be rented for under 30 days. Operators…

Philadelphia requires a zoning permit for any short-term rental plus, where a primary resident lives in the unit, a…

Bethlehem bans short term lodging citywide unless the owner first obtains a Short Term Lodging License for that…

Pittsburgh treats short-term homestays as rental units, requiring a valid rental permit from the License Officer before…

Pottstown requires an annual inspection and license for short-term rentals, which the Property Maintenance Code defines…

Reading allows short-term rentals by right in its commercial districts and by special exception in R-3, but only inside…

Renting out a home short-term in Scranton is a zoning-regulated use, not an unrestricted right. City Code Section…

Allentown has no dedicated short-term-rental ordinance; any dwelling or rooming unit rented out, including STRs, must…

Lancaster County itself issues no short-term-rental permit. Under Pennsylvania's Municipalities Planning Code, each of…

Montgomery County sets no countywide short-term rental permit. Whether you need a permit is decided by your borough or…

York County's only county-level compliance step for a short-term rental or homestay is tax registration, not a land-use…

Berks County has no STR-specific noise ordinance. Guest noise is handled by municipal noise ordinances and by…

Bethlehem's Short Term Lodging ordinance bars a licensed rental from generating noise, vibration, glare or odor that…

Erie's short-term rental ordinance locks in fixed quiet hours under Zoning Ordinance Section 305.49(a)(7): no noise or…

Philadelphia's short-term rental rule bars any Limited Lodging use that generates noise, vibration, glare, or odor…

Reading bars short-term rental guests from disorderly conduct or excessive noise, and holds the owner or manager…

Scranton expressly folds every short-term rental into the City's general noise and nuisance ordinances. In residential…

Pennsylvania charges a 6% state hotel occupancy tax on every short-term rental booked for fewer than 30 days to the…

Philadelphia STR operators must collect and remit the 8.5% city Hotel Tax (Phila. Code Chapter 19-2400) plus the 6%…

Pittsburgh treats Airbnb-style short-term homestays as rental units under its Residential Housing Rental Permit…

Booking agents like Airbnb and Vrbo that process short-term rental reservations in Allegheny County may be required to…

Short-term stays in Berks County face a 5% county hotel room rental tax plus Pennsylvania's 6% state hotel occupancy…

Bethlehem requires every Short Term Lodging Facility to hold an annual license, pay a yearly license and inspection fee…

When a booking platform like Airbnb or Vrbo collects payment for a Bucks County short-term rental and acts as the…

Short-term rentals in Chester County owe a 5% county Hotel Room Rental Tax under Ordinance #2019-2, on top of…

Delaware County, PA levies a Hotel and Short Term Rental occupancy tax. Effective April 1, 2026 the rate is 5%, due on…

Erie charges short-term rental operators an annual license fee that rises the later they pay: $80 by May 15, $130 by…

Lancaster County levies a hotel room rental tax (3.9%) plus a county hotel excise tax (1.1%) on lodging patrons…

Lehigh County levies a 4% hotel room rental tax on stays under 30 days, collected by the operator and remitted monthly…

Short-term stays in Monroe County carry Pennsylvania's 6% Hotel Occupancy Tax plus the county's 3% Hotel Room Rental…

Montgomery County imposes a 4% hotel room rental tax on stays under 30 days, collected by the County Treasurer for the…

York County taxes short-term rentals and homestays the same as hotels: a 5% excise tax on the rent charged for any…

Erie's short-term rental ordinance requires all guest and renter vehicles to park on the rental property itself under…

Lancaster County sets no STR parking rule; it is municipal. The City of Lancaster requires one off-street parking space…

Montgomery County has no countywide STR parking rule. Off-street parking requirements for short-term rentals are set by…

Pittsburgh lets short-term rental owners without off-street parking apply for an annual residential parking permit…

Reading requires at least one off-street parking space at every short-term rental, or nearby public parking as a…

Scranton's zoning code treats short-term rentals as a conditional or special-exception use and requires one off-street…

Erie short-term rentals may not exceed the number of occupants allowed in the applicable zoning district, with maximum…

Philadelphia caps limited lodging at no more than three unrelated persons (including owner and lodgers), limits any…

Allentown sets no STR-specific guest cap, but its 2025 Zoning Ordinance (eff. Jan 1, 2026) caps a Bed and Breakfast Inn…

Every Bethlehem Short Term Lodging License states a specific maximum number of lodgers, and that number is set by the…

Lancaster County sets no STR occupancy cap; limits are municipal. In the City of Lancaster, the number of guests in one…

Montgomery County sets no countywide occupancy cap for short-term rentals. Maximum guest counts are a municipal zoning…

Reading caps short-term rental overnight guests at two per bedroom, twelve total, plus day guests up to half the…

Erie requires every short-term rental owner to carry at least $500,000 in general liability, hazard, and casualty…

Montgomery County does not require short-term-rental insurance. Liability-insurance conditions, where they exist, are…

Neither Lehigh County nor Allentown caps the number of nights a short-term rental may operate. The meaningful 30-day…

Montgomery County sets no cap on how many nights a year a short-term rental may operate. Any limit on length of stay or…

Bethlehem lets an owner rent up to 2 bedrooms of their owner-occupied home to transient visitors, but only if the owner…

Only the dwelling's primary resident, owner or a qualifying renter, may operate it as limited lodging under…

Lancaster County sets no host-presence rule. Whether an owner or manager must be present is municipal. The City of…

Philadelphia limits short-term rental licenses to primary residents. Under Philadelphia Code § 9-3909(2), only a…

Scranton only allows a dwelling to operate as a short-term rental if it is the owner's permanent address and the owner…

Lancaster County imposes no primary-residence requirement on short-term rentals. Whether a rental must be your home is…

Montgomery County imposes no primary-residence requirement on short-term rentals. Whether an STR must be the owner's…

Bethlehem allows an owner to rent out their entire primary residence to transient visitors, but only as a licensed…

Reading allows short-term rentals only in its C-C, C-R, C-N and C-H commercial districts by right, or in R-3 by special…

Guests who stay more than 30 consecutive days in a Philadelphia home-share or hotel room become "permanent residents"…

Scranton does not run a graduated strike system for short-term rentals: a single conviction is enough. If a house guest…

A Bethlehem short-term rental owner convicted of a third violation of the Short Term Lodging ordinance within any…

Airbnb-style booking platforms need a City license and must verify each host's permit before listing a rental.