Short-term rental permit cost in Philadelphia, PA

This city requires the owner to live at the property. If you do not, you do not qualify at any price.

Combined lodging tax: 15.5% of revenue. Charged on what you earn, so it is not in the totals above.

3 figures are not yet verified against the city (Application fee, Business licence, Inspection). They are left out of the total rather than counted as zero, so the real first-year cost is higher than shown.

Conditions attached

• No citywide cap on the number of permits or licences is stated in the phila.gov pages or code text reviewed. Zoning limits where non-primary-resident (Visitor Accommodations) rentals are allowed: only in certain commercial/mixed-use districts (per L&I FAQ, permitted by right only where the Zoning Summary Generator lists Visitor Accommodations).
• Philadelphia has two STR tracks. (1) Primary resident (owner living there with homestead exemption, or a tenant living there more than half the year with written owner authorization): Zoning Permit for Limited Lodging + Commercial Activity License (free) + Limited Lodging Operator License (fee $20 non-refundable application applied toward the license, $150 licence, $150 renewal per phila.gov, including a virtual L&I inspection at new and renewal; in the Tenth Council District the operator must be the owner). Max 3 unrelated occupants, smoke/CO alarms, no lodging signs, guest hours 8 a.m. to midnight, one-year records, lead-safe certification, no outstanding L&I violations, current on City taxes, must list only through a licensed Limited Lodging and Hotels Booking Agent and display the licence number. (2) Whole-home / non-primary-resident (fee figures above are for this track): Zoning Permit for Visitor Accommodations (only allowed in certain commercial districts; otherwise ZBA variance needed) + Commercial Activity License + Rental License with hotel designation ($69 per unit, no fee for owner-occupied units); building permit/Certificate of Occupancy may be required. Owner-occupancy is required for the residential-zone (Limited Lodging) track; non-owner-occupied whole-home rental is only possible under the Visitor Accommodations track.

Source: https://www.phila.gov/services/permits-violations-licenses/rent-or-sell-property/rent-your-property-short-term
Checked 2026-09-23 · Philadelphia Code 9-3909 (Limited Lodging Operator License), 9-3910 (Booking Agent), 9-3902 (Rental Licenses), 14-604(13) (Limited Lodging), Chapter 19-2400 (Hotel Room Rental Tax); Bill No. 210081 (2021)