Short-term rental rules in Pinellas County, by city

The rules by city at a glance

Reviewed on September 24, 2026 against the county, city and state sources linked below. This is a summary for owners, not legal advice. Confirm with the city before you list.

The table below covers what changes from city to city. The state license and the tax are the same across the county, so each has its own section further down.

Why the cities differ

One state law explains why the cities differ so much. Since 2011, Florida has not let a local government ban vacation rentals or limit how long or how often guests stay.

A local rule adopted on or before June 1, 2011 is exempt. So a city with an older rule can still set a minimum stay.

A city that acted later can only set rules on registration, safety, occupancy, parking and noise. That is why the county ordinance below sets no minimum stay.

Source: Florida Statutes, section 509.032

Unincorporated Pinellas County

Outside every city limit, the county's short-term rental Certificate of Use applies. It comes from Ordinance 25-15, adopted in August 2025. Inside a city, the county sends you to that city.

The ordinance names no zones and sets no minimum stay. It was adopted after 2011, so it cannot set one. What it sets is who needs a certificate.

• You need one to rent under 30 days at a time, more than three times in a calendar year.
• You also need one if you advertise the home for regular guest rentals.
• Renting one room in the home you live in does not need a certificate.
• A separate guest house on the same lot does need one.

County fees and house rules

The certificate costs 450 dollars in the first year. You pay 250 dollars when you apply and 200 dollars after the home passes inspection.

The first inspection costs 150 dollars, and a re-inspection after a failed one costs 100 dollars. The renewal is 450 dollars each year, and the home is inspected again every two years.

The certificate cannot be transferred. A buyer applies again within 30 days of the purchase. The county also sets these house and listing rules.

• Occupancy is two people per bedroom plus two in one common area, to a maximum of ten.
• Guests of all ages count toward that limit.
• You need one off-street parking space for every three occupants.
• Quiet hours run from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.
• You name one responsible party, 18 or older, and post a one-page notice inside the front door.
• Every listing must show the occupancy limit, the parking limit, the state license number and the county certificate number.

Sources: Pinellas County short-term rentals · Certificate of Use questions · Ordinance 25-15

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg limits how often, not how long. On any residential property, you may rent for less than 30 days at most three times in any 365 days.

The code calls this a term shorter than monthly. The city says the 2011 state law grandfathered this rule. That is why the city can still limit frequency.

Short stays more often than that make the home a transient accommodation use. The city allows that use only in a licensed hotel or motel, or on land with a Resort Facilities Overlay.

Some private guides describe different permit tiers for owner-occupied and other homes. We did not find those tiers in the city's handout or in its code.

• The city's handout says that no site had the Resort Facilities Overlay yet.
• The city has no short-term rental permit of its own.
• Its handout states no inspection or occupancy rule.
• The state license and the county tax still apply.

Source: St. Petersburg transient accommodation handout

St. Pete Beach

St. Pete Beach allows stays of less than 30 days in two places only. Those are the RM zoning district and properties in the Pass-A-Grille Overlay District.

Even there, the limit is three times in any 12 months. Every other district allows rentals of one month or more and nothing shorter. That includes the single-family districts.

We found no separate city registration, insurance rule or local rental tax for a home. We looked in the city code and on the city's pages.

• A rental of one month or more in a single-family home does not need a city business tax license.
• Permanent transient lodging, such as a hotel, needs one, with review by zoning and the fire marshal.
• The city states no occupancy rule.

Source: St. Pete Beach short-term rental rules

Madeira Beach

Madeira Beach sets minimum stays by district. Its rules date from 2006, before the state cutoff. The city's restriction map shows which rule applies to each lot.

In R-1, a rental of less than six months is not allowed. In R-2, the minimum is three months. R-3 allows vacation rentals.

The commercial districts allow them only above ground-floor commercial space. Those districts are C-3, C-4 and the John's Pass Village district that was C-1.

• A vacation rental needs a city certificate of compliance, which costs 300 dollars.
• The home is inspected before the first certificate is issued, then every year for 100 dollars.
• A violation must be fixed within 30 days.
• Occupancy is two people per sleeping room, and a living room does not count as one.
• The code also asks for one off-street parking space for each bedroom.
• Quiet hours run from 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, to 7:30 a.m.

Sources: Madeira Beach code, short-term vacation rentals · Vacation rental restriction map

Treasure Island

Treasure Island's code calls a short-term rental a tourist dwelling. It does not permit tourist dwellings in the RU-75 or RM-15 districts.

There is no minimum stay. The test is turnover. In RU-75, more than two changes of occupancy in a year make the code presume the home is a tourist dwelling.

In RM-15, the trigger is more than six changes of occupancy. Advertising the home for rent there can count as evidence too.

Read the city's own rental page before you list. It did not open for us on the review date, so this summary rests on the city code.

• Tourist dwellings are allowed in the CG, RFM-30 and RFH-50 districts.
• They are also allowed in the PR-MU Core and PR-MU Gulf Boulevard districts.
• In these districts there is no limit on changes of occupancy.
• The city charges a local business tax of 24.31 dollars a year for one rental unit.
• The code states no separate inspection or occupancy rule.

Sources: Treasure Island short-term rental information · Treasure Island code, definitions

Indian Rocks Beach

Indian Rocks Beach registers every vacation rental under Ordinance 2023-02. The rule covers the S, RM-1, RM-2 and CT districts and sets no minimum stay.

Occupancy is two people per bedroom plus two in a common area, to a maximum of ten overnight guests. In the CT district the maximum is twelve.

• Registration and each renewal cost 300 dollars a year.
• The home is inspected when you apply and every year after, for 150 dollars.
• A re-inspection costs 75 dollars.
• The city also asks you to book a fire inspection.
• You need a city business tax receipt.
• The state license and the county tax also apply.

Source: Indian Rocks Beach vacation rental information

Indian Shores

Indian Shores sits beside Indian Rocks Beach and handles rentals in the opposite way. The town states on its own site that it does not have rental restrictions.

Its code carries no rental registration. A condominium association can still restrict rentals, so read the declaration before you list. The state license and the county tax still apply.

Source: Indian Shores questions

Clearwater

Clearwater does not use the county certificate. It has its own rule for residential land. There, the city does not allow a rental of less than 31 days or one calendar month.

The rule dates from 2003 and 2009, so the 2011 state law leaves it in place. The tourist and downtown districts are not residential zones.

We did not confirm from the code which rentals those districts permit. For a property on Clearwater Beach or downtown, ask the city's planning department before you list.

• On residentially zoned land, the city also does not allow advertising for daily or weekly stays.
• The residential districts are LDR, LMDR, MDR, MHDR, HDR and MHP.
• Every residential rental in the city needs a business tax receipt and a named local contact.
• The receipt renews each year by September 30.

Sources: Clearwater code, definitions · Clearwater code compliance handbook

The Florida vacation rental license

Every whole-home short-term rental in the county also needs a state license. It comes from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Pinellas is in the department's District 3, where licenses renew on February 1. A home licensed from August 1 pays a half-year fee for its first period.

For a single unit, the first year costs 230 dollars. That is a 50 dollar application fee, a 10 dollar education fee and a 170 dollar license fee.

• The renewal is 180 dollars.
• An operator with several units can use a group or collective license instead.
• Renting a single room does not need a state license.

Source: DBPR vacation rental licensing guide

The tax on every stay

A stay of six months or less carries 13 percent tax in total. That is the 6 percent Florida sales tax, the 1 percent Pinellas surtax and the 6 percent Pinellas tourist development tax.

You register with both the Florida Department of Revenue and the Pinellas County Tax Collector. The sales tax and the surtax go to the state.

The tax collector is clear that the owner still pays the tourist tax on any booking a platform did not collect on. That includes every direct booking.

• The tourist tax goes to the tax collector, normally every month, and is late after the 20th.
• Airbnb has collected the Pinellas tourist tax since 2015, and Vrbo since 2018.
• Confirm with the Department of Revenue which platforms remit the state sales tax, because the county's page does not say.

Sources: Pinellas tourist development tax · Florida Department of Revenue, transient rentals

Before you list

Every rule on this page starts from the address. Confirm each check with the office that sets it. We do the first two before you sign. The registrations stay in your name.

• Find out whether the address is inside a city limit or on unincorporated county land.
• Read that city's rule on where short stays are allowed and for how long.
• Get the registration, certificate or business tax receipt the address needs.
• Get the Florida vacation rental license for a whole-home rental.
• Register with the Florida Department of Revenue and the Pinellas County Tax Collector.
• In Indian Shores, a condominium association can still restrict rentals, so read the declaration.

What changes when Off Grid manages the house

Off Grid works as a co-host. You keep the listing, the platform account and the payout, and we run the house.

The registrations on this page stay in your name, because the law puts them on the owner. We take on the work inside them.

Management is quoted per property. Send us a Pinellas County house and we will tell you what it can do inside these rules.

• We check which rules apply to your address before you sign.
• We put the required numbers on every listing.
• We hold the occupancy and parking limits in every booking.