Green Bay Short Term Rental Regulation: A Guide For Airbnb Hosts

Do you own a place in Green Bay and you're weighing whether to put it on Airbnb or Vrbo? Well, the good news is that Wisconsin protects your right to do it, and Green Bay, in Brown County, has built an actual permitting system around that right rather than fighting it. Entire-home rentals are legal here, which already sets Green Bay apart from cities that only allow a hosted room. Make sure you register the property, pass a health inspection, and collect the right taxes, and you're covered.

There's a catch worth knowing before you get attached to the idea, though. The number of permitted short-term rentals in Green Bay grew from roughly 120 in 2022 to about 500 around the 2025 NFL Draft, and that surge brought noise complaints, party-house reports and a genuine political fight at city hall. Council members debated capping rentals at 180 days a year and forcing a seven-night minimum stay, which would have gutted the Packers-weekend business model most Green Bay hosts run. Owners pushed back hard. The council sent that draft back to staff in December 2025. What passed in March 2026 instead is a lighter-touch ordinance: clearer house rules, a public map of permit holders, and a structured process before the city suspends anyone. So the market stayed open, but it's being watched more closely than it was two years ago.

This guide walks through what the city actually requires in 2026: the permit, the health inspection, every layer of tax, how strictly Green Bay enforces its own rules, and who to call when you get stuck. Going through the city's own STR page, Brown County's health department checklist and four separate local news accounts of the March 2026 vote, every figure below is dated and sourced at the point it's used. Run the numbers on the property through BNBCalc before you commit to any of this, since permit costs and taxes both eat into what a Green Bay listing actually clears.

What are short term rental (Airbnb, VRBO) regulations in Green Bay, Wisconsin?

So let's start with the rule itself, since everything else here hangs off it. Green Bay regulates short-term rentals under Sec. 44-1580(j) of the Green Bay Municipal Code, most recently amended by General Ordinance No. 12-23 in 2023 and again in March 2026. A short-term rental is defined as a dwelling unit rented to transient guests for compensation for fewer than 28 consecutive days. The ordinance applies to every existing dwelling unit in the city, "regardless of legal conforming or legal nonconforming status and regardless of zoning districts." That last part matters. Unlike plenty of cities that carve out entire zoning districts, Green Bay doesn't zone short-term rentals out of anywhere.

Renting for 28 nights or more sidesteps the ordinance entirely and falls under ordinary landlord-tenant law instead, per the city's own FAQ page. Below that threshold, you need a Short-Term Rental Permit (STRP), with one real exception: homesharing. If the unit is your primary residence and you're there while guests stay, you don't need an STRP at all, though you still need the Brown County Health Inspection and, depending on the setup, the city may treat it as a bed and breakfast instead. Everyone else, whether you're renting a whole house or a detached unit, needs the permit.

Once you clear that threshold, a handful of rules apply to every STRP holder:

• The property owner has to authorize it. A landlord's tenant can't turn a rental into a short-term rental without the owner's written permission, and both owner and renter are on the hook for any ordinance violation.
• A local representative has to be reachable within 30 minutes of the property, and the city verifies this before issuing anything.
• No RVs, campers or tents count as lodging. Occupancy has to happen inside the actual dwelling unit.
• Basements can't be used as sleeping space unless they have proper egress, meaning a legal second way out in an emergency.
• Occupancy is capped by bedroom count, following the limits in the State of Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code rather than a flat number the city sets itself.

The March 2026 amendments layered transparency requirements on top of all that. Per unanimous Common Council approval on March 3, 2026, applicants must now disclose whether the property is their primary residence and how many guests they intend to market it for. Every STRP holder has to post written house rules covering parking, noise and a local contact. The city also maintains a public GIS map showing every permitted address, the permit holder's name and contact details, and the issuance date. Mayor Eric Genrich framed it plainly: the goal is to let "neighborhood residents and property owners... communicate with one another" before a small problem becomes a revocation case.

Starting a Short Term Rental Business in Green Bay

Since the ordinance itself doesn't block much, the real question is what kind of business works here. Unlike New York City or plenty of other markets in this series, Green Bay lets you run an entire home as a short-term rental, rather than only a spare room. That's the model most local hosts have built around Lambeau Field weekends. One catch, mind you: Lambeau Field itself sits barely over the line in Ashwaubenon, which runs its own separate ordinance with a six-night minimum stay. Don't assume Green Bay's rules apply once you cross that boundary.

The growth curve tells you who's already doing this. Green Bay had roughly 120 active STRs in 2022, and that number climbed to around 500 during the 2025 NFL Draft before settling to about 430 by October of that year. Packers season and marquee events like the Draft are what make the math work for a lot of owners. A BiggerPockets thread on Green Bay short-term rentals backs that up: investors describe strong demand for larger, multi-bedroom houses on game weekends, since a group of visiting fans would rather split one house than book four hotel rooms.

That growth is also exactly what triggered the political fight. A more restrictive draft debated through late 2025 would have capped rentals at 180 days a year and required a seven-night minimum stay on every booking, which two hosts who spoke to Fox11 said would have killed the Packers-weekend model outright. One put it bluntly: "when you're coming into town to see the Packers play, nobody wants to stay for seven nights." The Green Bay Short-Term Rental Alliance organized against it. The council sent the draft back to staff in December 2025, and the version that passed in March 2026 dropped both the day cap and the minimum stay. So if you're starting now, you're starting under the friendlier version of what was on the table, though be aware that the city clearly has an appetite to revisit this if complaints keep climbing.

Before you commit to a property, it's worth checking BNBCalc Markets for what Green Bay listings are actually earning, since Packers-season seasonality swings revenue hard enough that a property priced on an annual average can mislead you badly.

Short Term Rental Licensing Requirement in Green Bay

Assuming the business model checks out, the licensing itself is where most of the actual work sits. The Short-Term Rental Permit (STRP) is administered by the city's Community and Economic Development Department, and applications are online only. Review and approval can take up to 14 business days once everything is submitted, and the department won't touch an incomplete application. It gets rejected outright rather than held for follow-up, so don't submit anything until the full packet is ready.

Here's what the fee actually looks like:

Charge	Amount	Paid to
Initial STRP application/review fee	$500	City of Green Bay
STRP annual renewal (filed April 1 to June 30)	$250	City of Green Bay
STRP renewal filed after June 30	$500 (treated as new)	City of Green Bay
Brown County Health Inspection, initial	roughly $490 to $500	Brown County Public Health
Brown County Health Inspection, renewal	$350	Brown County Public Health
Non-compliance fee for a missing placard	$75	City of Green Bay

Keep in mind that the health-inspection range above needs a word of explanation. Brown County's own TRH application and checklist lists $490 for a property that's never held a tourist rooming house license and $455 if it has, while the city's STR page quotes $492 flat for an initial inspection. Both are official figures pulled from the two agencies' own pages, so treat "roughly $490 to $500" as the honest answer rather than picking one and presenting it as exact.

Your STRP runs on a fixed calendar, not from your approval date: every permit expires June 30, no matter when in the year it was issued, and the renewal window opens April 1. Miss June 30 and the permit is void outright, so you're back to filing as a brand-new applicant and paying the full $500 again. Don't forget to diarize that date, because it's the single easiest way to accidentally lose a season of bookings.

Before the city will even look at your STRP application, the ordinance requires two things from the state level: a Wisconsin tourist rooming house permit and a Wisconsin sale and use tax permit. Both are separate from the city permit and separate from each other, which trips people up. Brown County Public Health acts as the local agent that issues the tourist rooming house license here, rather than the state's Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection handling it directly. Its own inspection checklist covers everything from smoke and carbon monoxide detector placement to sleeping-room air space per guest and dish sanitation between stays.

Penalties for skipping any of this aren't symbolic. Operating without a valid Brown County license draws a flat $500 penalty on top of the license fee itself, and the city's own ordinance caps STRP violations at up to $500 per violation, plus possible suspension or revocation of the permit. That's not nothing, but it's also nowhere near the scale of the per-transaction fines platforms face in cities like New York, which is part of why Green Bay's market kept growing through 2025 rather than contracting.

Required Documents for Green Bay Short Term Rentals

Since the application gets rejected outright if anything is missing, it's worth assembling this list before you start the online form rather than mid-submission. Per the ordinance text and the city's own application guidance, an initial STRP application needs:

• Completed STRP application on the city's own online form, with a local representative named.
• The $500 application/review fee.
• Proof of insurance on the property. The ordinance requires it but doesn't set a specific minimum coverage figure, so check with your carrier about what a short-term rental use actually needs.
• State of Wisconsin tourist rooming house permit, issued through Brown County Public Health as the local agent.
• State of Wisconsin sale and use tax permit.
• Proof of registration with the City of Green Bay Treasurer for Brown County room tax requirements. The city will submit this to its own Finance Department on your behalf, though it can take five to ten business days to process.
• Proof of registration with the Brown County Health Department, plus a passed Tourist Rooming House inspection.
• A lease agreement example showing language that requires guests to comply with parking, noise and other applicable city ordinances during their stay.
• Proof of condominium association approval, if the property is a condo.
• Proof of property owner consent, if you're applying as a local representative rather than the owner.

Renewals are lighter: proof of insurance, the same permits and registrations from the initial list, and the $250 renewal fee, assuming nothing material changed since your last approval. Once everything clears, the city issues a physical placard that has to be visible from the street right-of-way where the property sits, and it needs to display the local representative's name and phone number. Skip the placard and you're looking at that $75 non-compliance fee on top of everything else.

Green Bay Short Term Rental Taxes

Getting the paperwork right is only half the job, since a permitted Green Bay short-term rental still owes three separate tax layers on every booking. Here's how they stack:

Tax	Rate	Collected by
Wisconsin state sales and use tax	5.0%	Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue
Brown County sales tax	0.5%	Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue
City of Green Bay room tax	10.0%	City of Green Bay Treasurer
Combined rate	~15.5%	all three, combined

The room tax figure comes straight from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue's own municipal room tax filing data, which lists Green Bay's rate at 10.0%, administered by City Treasurer Linda Chosa. That's on the higher end for a Wisconsin municipality, and it applies to the full listing price including any cleaning or guest fees, per the state's general room tax rules under Wis. Stat. § 66.0615. The 5.5% combined sales tax is the standard Brown County rate, five points state and half a point county, per the same statewide sales tax structure covered in our Wisconsin statewide guide.

Here's the part that surprises new hosts, as of July 2026: even if Airbnb or Vrbo collects and remits sales tax and room tax automatically on your behalf, as marketplace providers are required to do under Wisconsin law, the city still requires you to personally hold a valid Wisconsin sale and use tax permit for the property. The city's own FAQ page says it directly: "the City requires the sales and use tax permit for the property regardless of leasing mechanism." So platform collection doesn't excuse you from registering. Keep documentation of what your platform collects on your behalf anyway, since you're the one who'll need it if a filing ever gets questioned.

Wisconsin wide Short Term Rental Rules

All of that sits on top of a state framework that protects your right to run the business in the first place. Wisconsin's so-called "right to rent" law, Wis. Stat. § 66.1014, bars any city, village, town or county from banning the rental of a residential dwelling for seven consecutive days or longer. Any local ordinance that conflicted with that rule when it took effect on September 23, 2017 became void that day, which is exactly why Green Bay regulates short-term rentals rather than prohibiting them.

The state does carve out some room for local control, though. Municipalities can still enforce permits, noise and parking ordinances, and for rentals between 6 and 29 nights specifically, a locality is allowed to cap total rental days at no fewer than 180 per year, provided the cap runs consecutively rather than picking specific dates. That's precisely the tool Green Bay's council considered and then dropped in 2025, and it remains legally available to them if they want to revisit it later.

Anyone who rents more than 10 nights a year also needs a tourist rooming house license, which in most of the state comes from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. As covered above, it comes from Brown County Public Health here instead, since the county holds agent status. Statewide legislation to strip the whole preemption away, 2025 Senate Bill 1080, failed to pass by the March 23, 2026 legislative cutoff. So the protections that keep Green Bay's market open are still standing as of this writing. For the full statewide picture, including how nearby markets handle it differently, see our guides to Wisconsin generally, the Appleton, Wisconsin market, and Wisconsin Dells, which runs one of the highest room tax rates in the state.

Does Green Bay strictly enforce STR rules? Is Green Bay Airbnb friendly?

Given everything above, the honest answer is moderately, and getting more so. Green Bay isn't chasing hosts out of the market the way some cities are, but it's also not looking the other way anymore. An Equal Rights Commission report cited in the city's own review cycle flagged noise disturbances, "party house" complaints and neighborhoods where 5 to 10% of homes had converted to short-term use, and that's what actually drove the March 2026 amendments.

Enforcement now runs through a structured process rather than an immediate fine. A permit holder found out of compliance first gets a correction meeting, and only after that does the city move toward suspension or revocation. If a permit does get revoked, the holder has to wait 12 months before reapplying, per the ordinance changes reported by WBAY. Fines for straightforward violations, meanwhile, top out at $500 per violation under the ordinance itself, which is real money but a fraction of what unregistered operators risk in stricter cities.

The city council's own recent history is the clearest signal of where things actually stand. Alders debated a genuinely aggressive draft through late 2025, one that would have capped rentals at 180 days a year and forced seven-night minimum stays, and they walked it back after hearing from the Green Bay Short-Term Rental Alliance and dozens of owners. Mayor Genrich's own assessment of the final version was measured rather than triumphant: "I think we're at a good spot, given the constraints that our council gave us." Not every resident agreed, though. One, Jeanne Biebel, called the final ordinance "almost laughable" and "watered down" relative to what neighbors had asked for. That gap is worth remembering. It's the same gap that could produce a stricter ordinance the next time complaints spike.

How to Start a Short Term Rental Business in Green Bay

Assuming you've decided the numbers work and you're able to clear the requirements above, the order below keeps you from wasting the application fee on a property that was never going to qualify.

1. Confirm the property isn't in Ashwaubenon or another neighboring municipality with its own separate ordinance. Green Bay's rules apply only within city limits.
2. Get proof of insurance in place, and check what coverage a short-term rental use requires with your carrier before you apply.
3. Apply for the Wisconsin tourist rooming house permit through Brown County Public Health, and pass the health inspection covering smoke and CO detectors, egress, and sanitation. Budget roughly $490 to $500 for an initial inspection.
4. Register for a Wisconsin sale and use tax permit, since the city requires this regardless of whether Airbnb or Vrbo collects tax on your behalf.
5. Register with the City of Green Bay Treasurer for Brown County room tax purposes; the city can route this for you, but build in five to ten business days.
6. Assemble the rest of the documents: a lease example with the required ordinance language, condo approval if applicable, and owner consent if you're the local representative rather than the owner.
7. Submit the online STRP application with the $500 fee, and expect up to 14 business days for review once the packet is complete.
8. Install the placard where it's visible from the street right-of-way, with the local representative's name and phone number on it.
9. Post written house rules inside the unit covering parking, noise and your local contact, as required under the March 2026 amendments.
10. Diarize June 30 as your renewal deadline every year, and file between April 1 and June 30 to keep the $250 renewal rate instead of restarting at $500.

Who to contact in Green Bay about Short Term Rental Regulations and Zoning?

Whichever step trips you up, three offices between them handle almost everything.

STRP applications, zoning and general ordinance questions

City of Green Bay, Community and Economic Development Department

• Address: 100 N. Jefferson Street, Room 608, Green Bay, WI 54301
• Phone: 920-448-3300
• STR program contact: Mike Boutott, Compliance Inspector, 920-448-3397, [email protected]
• Hours: City Hall's regular hours are Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Brown County Health Inspection and tourist rooming house licensing

Brown County Health and Human Services Department, Public Health Division

• Address: 2198 Glendale Ave, Green Bay, WI 54303 (licensing correspondence)
• Phone: 920-448-6400
• Email: [email protected]

Room tax registration

City of Green Bay Treasurer's Office

• Contact: Linda Chosa, Treasurer
• Address: 100 N Jefferson St #105, Green Bay, WI 54301-5026
• Phone: 920-448-3015
• Email: [email protected]

Urgent complaints about an active rental

For anything happening in real time at an operating short-term rental, the city directs neighbors to the Green Bay Police Department non-emergency line at 920-391-7450, and to 911 for anything life-threatening.

What do Airbnb hosts in Green Bay on Reddit and Bigger Pockets think about local regulations?

What follows is my read of the recurring themes rather than any kind of formal survey, so weigh it accordingly. On the BiggerPockets thread specific to Green Bay, the tone is cautiously optimistic. An out-of-state investor asking about the market got a consistent piece of advice: call the county health department and city zoning directly before buying anything, since local rules can shift under you. One reply summed up the general sentiment on Wisconsin as "decent from a legal standpoint," with a caveat that conditions have been "going downhill a little" as more cities tighten up. Hosts on that thread also flagged the obvious upside for anyone targeting Packers weekends. Groups of visiting fans consistently prefer a shared house over splitting up across hotel rooms.

The organized local voice, though, isn't on a forum at all. It's the Green Bay Short-Term Rental Alliance, a group of property owners that formed specifically to push back on the 180-day cap and seven-night minimum proposal. And it won. That's a genuinely unusual outcome among the cities in this series, most of which watch restrictions tighten with no organized pushback at all. Hosts who spoke to local news during that fight were blunt about why the minimum stay would have hurt: Packers-weekend guests want three or four nights, not seven, and a mandatory week kills that booking pattern for most of the calendar outside summer.

That said, don't read the win as the end of the story. Neighbors organized too, through the city's Equal Rights Commission process, and at least one resident publicly called the final ordinance too weak. The city clearly has an appetite to revisit this if complaints keep climbing the way they did through the 2025 NFL Draft season, so treat the current rules as the state of play in 2026, not a settled outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you legally run an Airbnb in Green Bay in 2026?

Yes. Green Bay allows entire-home short-term rentals citywide, in any zoning district, once you hold a city Short-Term Rental Permit (STRP), pass an annual Brown County Health Inspection, and hold the state's tourist rooming house permit and sale and use tax permit. Homesharing, where you live in the unit and rent to guests while present, doesn't require an STRP, though it still needs the health inspection. Rentals of 28 nights or more fall outside the ordinance entirely.

How much does a Green Bay short-term rental permit cost?

The initial STRP application and review fee is $500. Annual renewal costs $250 if filed between April 1 and June 30, the required renewal window, or $500 if filed after June 30, since a late renewal is treated as a brand-new application. Add the Brown County Health Inspection on top, which runs roughly $490 to $500 for an initial inspection and $350 for renewals.

What taxes apply to a Green Bay Airbnb?

Three layers apply: 5% Wisconsin state sales tax, 0.5% Brown County sales tax, and a 10% City of Green Bay room tax, for a combined rate of roughly 15.5%. Airbnb and Vrbo generally collect and remit these automatically as marketplace providers under Wisconsin law, but the city still requires every host to hold a personal Wisconsin sale and use tax permit for the property regardless of which platform handles bookings.

Does Green Bay cap the number of nights you can rent short-term?

No, not currently. A more restrictive proposal debated through late 2025 would have capped rentals at 180 days a year and required a seven-night minimum stay, but the Common Council dropped both provisions after strong pushback from local hosts, and neither made it into the ordinance that passed in March 2026. Wisconsin state law would allow a city to impose a 180-day cap on 6-to-29-night rentals if it chose to, so it remains a possibility Green Bay could revisit later.

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

You're looking at real financial exposure on two fronts. The city's own ordinance allows penalties of up to $500 per violation, plus possible suspension or revocation of any permit you do hold, and Brown County separately assesses a flat $500 penalty for operating without a valid tourist rooming house license. Both agencies can act independently, so an unpermitted rental risks fines from the city and the county at the same time.

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