Clarksville Short Term Rental Regulation: A Guide For Airbnb Hosts

Do you own a place in Clarksville and you're weighing whether to put it on Airbnb or Vrbo? Well, the good news is that Tennessee protects your right to do it, and Clarksville, the Montgomery County seat right outside Fort Campbell, has run a workable permit system since 2020 rather than trying to ban the practice outright. Most owners can operate here. The catch is that "most" isn't "all," and getting from "I want to host" to "I'm legally hosting" runs through a specific city department, a couple of inspections, and a tax bill that got noticeably heavier at the start of 2025.

That tax bill is worth sitting with before anything else, because it changed recently and plenty of hosts are still budgeting off the old number. Clarksville added its own 2.75% hotel-motel privilege tax on top of the existing 8% county tax and the 9.5% combined sales tax, which pushes a short stay here to roughly 20.25% in combined tax as of 2026, among the higher rates in the state. None of that touches whether you're allowed to operate. It changes what you'll owe.

So let's walk through what it actually takes to do this properly in 2026: who needs a permit and who's exempt from getting one, what the application and inspections cost, the tax layers that stack on top of each other, how Tennessee's state law limits what Clarksville can and can't do to you, and who to call when something doesn't add up. Every figure below comes from the city's own ordinance, Tennessee's Department of Revenue, or Montgomery County's own offices, checked in July 2026. Run the numbers on a specific Clarksville property through BNBCalc once you know which rules apply to it.

What are short term rental (Airbnb, VRBO) regulations in Clarksville, Tennessee?

Which rules apply starts with one ordinance. The City Council added an entire new chapter to the city code in 2020, Ordinance 1-2020-21, codified as Title 5, Chapter 3 of the Clarksville City Code, and it's still the operative law in 2026. It defines a short-term rental unit as a dwelling, or part of one, rented to a paying guest for up to 30 consecutive days, and it excludes hotels, motels, boarding houses, licensed healthcare facilities, and anything already approved as a bed and breakfast. Since September 3, 2020, it's been unlawful to operate or even advertise a short-term rental within city limits without a Short-Term Rental Unit Operating Permit.

Two things soften that requirement right away, though. First, the ordinance is broadly available: a permit can be issued in any Residential or Non-Residential zoning district, so there's no list of neighborhoods where the city has zoned short-term rentals out entirely. Second, and this matters if you already had a rental going before the ordinance passed, Tennessee's own Short-Term Rental Unit Act protects "legacy" operators. If your property was already being used as a short-term rental before September 3, 2020, you can keep running it without ever getting a permit, until you sell, stop renting it for 30 straight months, or rack up three violations with no appeals left. That protection comes straight from state law, T.C.A. §§13-7-602 through 13-7-604, and Clarksville's ordinance says so explicitly rather than trying to override it.

One more exemption is worth knowing before you assume you need the full process. In September 2021, the council relaxed things further for small-scale hosts: as ClarksvilleNow reported at the time, owners who operate only one short-term rental unit, who rent out a single room in a home they live in, or who rent for less than six months a year are exempt from the permit's safety-compliance requirements. I couldn't confirm that language against the current Municode text, since Municode blocks automated access and the amendment's own ordinance number isn't published anywhere I could find, so treat it as reported rather than as a line I read in the code myself. Airbnb's own regulatory page for Clarksville repeats the same three categories. Call it a second source.

Starting a Short Term Rental Business in Clarksville

Whichever of those categories you fall into, or don't, building a Clarksville short-term rental business is far more straightforward than in cities that ban whole-unit rentals outright. Entire homes, condos, and even a spare room can all legally go on Airbnb or Vrbo here, provided the ordinance's rules are met. You have to be the deeded owner of the property, or the entity that owns it if it's held in an LLC or trust with the right paperwork, since the city checks proof of ownership against the Montgomery County Register of Deeds before issuing anything. Renters generally can't apply in their own name. Hosting through a lease isn't what this permit was built for.

Before you spend money getting a property ready, do check your HOA covenants, condo bylaws, and any mortgage agreement, because Clarksville's ordinance makes clear the city has no obligation to enforce, or even check, private restrictions like those. Getting an Operating Permit doesn't override a homeowners' association that bans short-term rentals; you'd end up with a legal city permit and an HOA violation at the same time. And since the permit fee doesn't come back if you're denied or you decide the numbers don't work, it's worth confirming those private restrictions before you file anything.

Clarksville's growth works in a new host's favor, too. It's Tennessee's fifth-largest city, closing in on Chattanooga, and it sits next to Fort Campbell, one of the country's largest Army posts. Fort Campbell shifts the whole demand curve. It gives the market a built-in, fairly steady stream of demand from relocating soldiers, visiting families, and contractors that doesn't depend entirely on tourist season the way a vacation-town listing does. That's worth knowing before you assume this market behaves like Nashville or Gatlinburg. If you're sizing up a Clarksville property against demand in other markets, BNBCalc Markets breaks that down at the neighborhood level.

Short Term Rental Licensing Requirement in Clarksville

Assuming you're not one of the exempt categories above, or you'd rather have the permit on file regardless, here's what the actual licensing process looks like. Every application goes to the Clarksville Department of Finance and Revenue, and it isn't a same-day process. Expect a fire and life-safety inspection within 15 calendar days of your application being accepted, a separate building-safety inspection within another 15 days, and a final approval or denial within 15 days after whichever inspection finishes last. Fail either one and you get one shot at a re-inspection, with 10 days to fix whatever tripped you up.

The fee is $150. It's due at application, and it's non-refundable whether you're approved or not. That single detail is why it's worth doing the eligibility homework first rather than after. Once issued, the permit is good for one calendar year, and it applies to exactly one unit. If you're running more than one Clarksville property, each needs its own separate application and its own separate fee. Renewal costs less, $120, but you have to file it at least 30 days before the current permit expires, or you lose the right to renew altogether and start over from scratch at the full $150.

A permit isn't a rubber stamp, either. The Building and Codes Department can deny an application outright if the property or the paperwork doesn't meet the ordinance's requirements, and if that happens you get a written explanation within five days. The city has processed permits this way for every applicant who isn't grandfathered in under the state's legacy protection since 2020, and that consistency is part of why Clarksville's system reads as more predictable than cities that improvise enforcement case by case.

Required Documents for Clarksville Short Term Rentals

That predictability depends on showing up with the right paperwork the first time, since an incomplete packet gets returned rather than processed. Come prepared the first time. Clarksville asks for a specific bundle, not a general description of your property:

• The Short-Term Rental Unit Operator Application itself, completed and sworn under oath.
• Proof of ownership, meaning the deed as recorded with the Montgomery County Register of Deeds. Renters and non-owner managers can't apply in their own name.
• A City and County business license, $15 each, on top of the STR permit fee itself.
• An Affidavit of Life Safety Compliance, verifying the number and location of your smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detector, and fire extinguisher before an inspector ever shows up.
• A site plan and floor plan, showing the dwelling's layout, square footage, bedroom count and location, and the number of off-street parking spaces designated for guests.
• Local contact information, for whoever will be reachable 24/7 and able to respond to a complaint within 45 minutes. It can be you, but it doesn't have to be.
• Written confirmation that operating as a short-term rental doesn't violate any HOA agreement, condo covenant, mortgage, or insurance contract governing the property.

Renewal adds one more item to that list: proof of insurance, along with proof that you're current on the taxes covered further down. Keep in mind that a business entity or trust listed as the owner also has to show valid standing with the Tennessee Secretary of State, which is worth budgeting time for if you're holding the property in an LLC rather than your own name.

Clarksville Short Term Rental Taxes

Holding the property in an entity changes more than paperwork, since it can also change which taxes apply to you, and that's the part worth reading closely no matter how you hold title. Assuming you get through the permit process and are able to start hosting, there's still a complicated tax picture waiting on the other side, because three separate governments each take a cut of a Clarksville short-term rental stay.

Here's how the pieces stack:

Tax	Rate	Collected by
State sales tax	7%	Marketplace (if $100k+ in TN sales) or host, remitted to TN Dept. of Revenue
Local (Montgomery County) sales tax	2.5%	Same as above
County hotel/motel occupancy tax	8%	Montgomery County Trustee (direct bookings) or TN Dept. of Revenue (marketplace bookings)
City hotel/motel privilege tax	2.75%, effective January 1, 2025	City of Clarksville

That's roughly 20.25% in combined tax on a booking under 30 days, as of July 2026, and the city's 2.75% slice is new for 2025. ClarksvilleNow reported the council passed it 6-4 in May 2024 to help fund turning the Roxy Regional Theatre into a Performing Arts Center, and pushed the effective date back to January 1, 2025 so hoteliers already under 2024 contracts weren't caught mid-stay. Neither article I found names short-term rentals specifically, since the coverage focused on hotels, but Clarksville's own STR ordinance obligates every permit holder to pay "hotel/motel tax...as levied or assessed by the City," so the new rate reads as applying on the same basis as the county's long-standing 8%. I couldn't independently confirm that against the city's own hotel-tax ordinance, since that page wouldn't load even through an archive snapshot, so take that connection as reported rather than as something I read in the ordinance myself.

Who collects it depends on how the booking happens. Book through Airbnb, Vrbo, or a similar platform doing $100,000 or more in Tennessee sales, and that platform collects and remits the state and local sales tax on your behalf. It's also been remitting the local hotel/motel occupancy tax straight to the Tennessee Department of Revenue since January 1, 2021, a shift that's exactly why the Montgomery County Trustee's office no longer takes monthly occupancy-tax filings on those bookings. Book someone directly, outside a platform, and the obligation to collect and remit both taxes falls back on you.

Two more taxes only bite the bigger operators. Tennessee's business tax kicks in once your gross sales in a jurisdiction hit $100,000 in a year. That threshold used to be $10,000, before the 2023 Tennessee Works Tax Act raised it. Franchise and excise tax only applies if you've put the property into a corporation, LLC, or limited partnership, not if you hold it as an individual. Most single-property Clarksville hosts will clear the sales and occupancy tax thresholds without ever touching either one. Whichever taxes apply to you, run the actual numbers, not the sticker rate, through BNBCalc before you commit to a purchase. 20.25% off the top changes what a property needs to earn.

Tennessee Wide Short Term Rental Rules

Whether a property makes sense also depends on rules that exist above Clarksville entirely, since the city didn't invent this framework from scratch. Tennessee passed the Short-Term Rental Unit Act back in 2018, T.C.A. §§13-7-601 through 606, effective May 17, 2018, and it's the reason Clarksville could regulate short-term rentals at all but couldn't ban them outright. The Act lets a city or county set up a "reasonable" permitting process, enforce whatever generally applicable local laws already exist, and prohibit a specific unit after three separate violations with no appeals left. What it won't let a city do is apply brand-new restrictions retroactively to a property that was already legitimately operating as a short-term rental before the local ordinance existed, which is exactly the legacy protection Clarksville's own ordinance leans on.

That state law is also why the rules differ once you cross into a different Tennessee city or county, and it's worth reading the statewide picture before you assume Clarksville's approach is typical. Our Tennessee statewide guide covers how that varies market to market. Nashville and Davidson County run a stricter, more contested system than Clarksville's; the Davidson County guide walks through owner-occupancy requirements Clarksville doesn't impose. Murfreesboro, roughly an hour southeast, runs its own separate permit scheme worth checking if you're comparing mid-state markets side by side, and the Murfreesboro guide covers it. Don't assume what's true in Clarksville travels with you to the next county over. It generally doesn't.

Does Clarksville Strictly Enforce STR Rules?

How strictly a place enforces its own rules is a separate question from what the rules say, and Clarksville's enforcement mechanism is worth understanding on its own terms. The ordinance treats operating without a permit as a public safety hazard, which sounds severe, but the process itself is complaint-driven rather than proactive. A code official has to receive a complaint, send registered mail to the owner, and give that owner 20 days to respond before doing anything about it. If the complaint holds up, the city can suspend or revoke the permit, and revocation carries a real sting: a full year before you're even eligible to reapply, plus the full $150 fee all over again when you do.

I couldn't find a current, published count of how many Clarksville short-term rentals hold a permit today, which makes it hard to say precisely how many operators are running outside the system. The only hard number I found is from 2021, when the city's own CFO told the council that 35 units held permits that fiscal year with 16 more applications pending, and that's too old to treat as a current figure. What that number does suggest is a small, manageable market rather than a sprawling one, which tracks with why Clarksville hasn't generated the kind of lawsuits or citywide crackdowns that show up in the news out of bigger Tennessee cities. Do be aware, though, that "we haven't heard of enforcement" and "enforcement doesn't happen" aren't the same claim. A complaint is still the trigger. The ordinance gives the city real teeth once one lands.

How to Start a Short Term Rental Business in Clarksville

Knowing the city has real teeth is exactly why it's worth doing this in order rather than improvising. Here's the sequence that avoids wasting the application fee or your own time:

1. Check the exemption categories first. If you own only one unit, you're renting a single room in your own home, or you'll operate less than six months a year, you may not need the full permit process at all, per the city's 2021 policy change. Confirm this with the Business License & Tax Office before assuming it applies to you.
2. Confirm ownership and zoning. Pull your deed, confirm you're the record owner, and check that your property sits in a Residential or Non-Residential zoning district (nearly all of them qualify).
3. Read your HOA covenants, condo bylaws, and mortgage terms. The city won't check these for you, and it won't refund your fee if you find out too late.
4. Install the required safety equipment. UL 217 smoke alarms in and near every sleeping room and on every floor, a carbon monoxide detector within 15 feet of every bedroom, and a working fire extinguisher.
5. Line up your local contact. Someone who can respond to a complaint within 45 minutes, 24 hours a day, whether that's you or someone you designate.
6. Assemble the application packet. Deed, City and County business licenses, life-safety affidavit, site plan, local contact info, and the HOA/mortgage confirmation, all together in one submission.
7. Submit the application and pay the $150 fee to the Department of Finance and Revenue, then wait out the fire and building inspections, generally 15 days apiece.
8. Register for your taxes. Set up Tennessee sales tax collection if a marketplace facilitator doesn't already cover you, and confirm your occupancy tax situation with the Montgomery County Trustee.
9. Diarize your renewal date. File the $120 renewal at least 30 days before your one-year permit expires, since missing that window means starting over at the full fee.

Who to Contact About Short Term Rental Regulations and Zoning

Starting over is exactly what you want to avoid, and knowing which office owns which question is how you do that. Five contacts handle almost everything. A Clarksville host rarely needs a sixth.

Permit applications and eligibility

The Business License & Tax Office, inside the Department of Finance and Revenue, is where every Short-Term Rental Unit Operating Permit application starts and ends.

• Address: One Public Square, First Floor, Clarksville, TN 37040 (mail: PO Box 928, Clarksville, TN 37041)
• Phone: 931-645-7436

Building and fire safety inspections

The Building and Codes Department handles the building-safety inspection and the final approve-or-deny decision on your permit.

• Address: 100 South Spring Street, Clarksville, TN 37040
• Phone: 931-645-7426
• Fax: 931-645-7430

Clarksville Fire Rescue's Fire Prevention Division runs the life-safety inspection and sets your unit's maximum occupancy.

• Phone: 931-645-7462

County hotel/motel tax

The Montgomery County Trustee administers the county's 8% hotel/motel tax for bookings made outside a marketplace platform.

• Address: 350 Pageant Lane, Suite 101-B, Clarksville, TN 37040
• Phone: 931-648-5717
• Email: [email protected]
• Hours: Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

State sales tax and occupancy tax pass-through

The Tennessee Department of Revenue handles state and local sales tax registration, plus the occupancy tax platforms remit on your behalf.

• Register and file: Tennessee Taxpayer Access Point
• Sales and Use Tax Unit, Audit Division: 615-741-8499

Keep in mind that a call to the wrong office gets you transferred, so match your question to the list above before you dial.

What Do Airbnb Hosts Think About Local Regulations?

Matching your question to the right office is a small thing, but it's exactly the kind of practical detail that shows up again and again in how Clarksville hosts talk about this market. What follows is my read of the general tenor of that conversation rather than a survey of any specific forum, so weigh it accordingly.

The dominant theme is relief that Clarksville regulates at all, rather than ignoring short-term rentals or trying to squeeze them out the way some larger cities have. Hosts researching the market tend to describe the permit process as bureaucratic but doable: real paperwork, real inspections, real fees, but not an application that gets denied on a technicality or sits in limbo for months. The 2021 exemption for single-unit and single-room hosts gets mentioned as a meaningful concession, since it means a lot of casual, owner-occupied hosting never has to touch the full inspection process at all.

Where the frustration shows up is the tax stack, not the permit. A combined rate above 20% on a short booking is a real number to plan around. Hosts who built their pricing model before 2025 are the ones most likely to get surprised, since the city's new privilege tax landed with comparatively little fanfare outside the local hotel industry it was aimed at. The other recurring theme is Fort Campbell itself: hosts who cater to relocating military families and TDY contractors describe steadier, less seasonal demand than a typical tourist market, which is a real advantage Clarksville has over a lot of comparably sized Tennessee cities.

None of that changes the fact that this is still a young regulatory system, five years old as of 2026, without much of an enforcement track record to point to under real pressure. Treat the current calm as encouraging. It isn't a guarantee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you legally run an Airbnb in Clarksville in 2026?

Yes. Clarksville allows short-term rentals citywide under Ordinance 1-2020-21, in any Residential or Non-Residential zoning district. Most owners need a Short-Term Rental Unit Operating Permit from the city's Department of Finance and Revenue, which costs $150 and requires fire and building safety inspections. Owners who operate only one unit, rent a single room in their own home, or rent less than six months a year may be exempt from the permit's safety-compliance requirements, per a 2021 policy change. Properties operating before September 3, 2020 can continue under Tennessee's legacy protection without any permit at all.

How much does a Clarksville short-term rental permit cost?

The Short-Term Rental Unit Operating Permit costs $150, due when you submit the application, and it's non-refundable whether you're approved or not. Annual renewal costs $120, due at least 30 days before the current permit expires. Miss that renewal window and you lose the right to renew, meaning you'll have to reapply from scratch at the full $150 rate. A separate City and County business license, $15 each, is also required as part of the application packet.

What taxes apply to a Clarksville Airbnb?

A Clarksville short-term rental stay carries roughly 20.25% in combined tax: 7% state sales tax, 2.5% local sales tax, Montgomery County's 8% hotel/motel occupancy tax, and a 2.75% City of Clarksville privilege tax that took effect January 1, 2025. Book through Airbnb, Vrbo, or another platform doing at least $100,000 in Tennessee sales, and that platform collects and remits the sales and occupancy taxes on your behalf automatically. Direct, off-platform bookings put that collection responsibility on you instead.

Does Tennessee law allow cities to ban short-term rentals?

No. Tennessee's Short-Term Rental Unit Act (T.C.A. §§13-7-601 through 606, effective 2018) lets cities set up permitting systems and enforce existing local laws, but it stops them from banning short-term rentals outright or applying new rules retroactively to a property that was already legally operating as one before the local ordinance existed. That's the "legacy" protection Clarksville's own ordinance is built around. A city can still suspend or revoke a specific permit for violations, and can prohibit a unit entirely after three violations with no appeals left.

What happens if you operate a short-term rental in Clarksville without a permit?

Operating or advertising a short-term rental without a valid permit is unlawful under Clarksville's ordinance and treated as a public safety hazard, which can bring a civil citation adjudicated in Clarksville City Court. If a permit gets revoked for a violation, the owner faces a full year before becoming eligible to reapply, plus the full $150 fee again on top of that. The one exception is a property that qualifies for Tennessee's legacy protection, which never needed a permit to begin with.

Last verified: July 2026. Every ordinance, tax rate, state law, and contact detail in this guide links to or comes from its official source.