Davidson County, Tennessee Short-Term Rental Regulations: A 2026 Guide For Airbnb Hosts

Do you own a place in Davidson County, Tennessee and you're weighing whether to put it on Airbnb or Vrbo? Well, the good news is that you probably can, and the answer turns almost entirely on one question: do you live in the property yourself? One thing to get straight before anything else, though. Davidson County and the city of Nashville are a single consolidated government, joined since 1963, so the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County writes the short-term rental rules for nearly the whole county, and its Codes Department has issued permits for these since 2015. Live in the home, and an owner-occupied permit is realistically open to you across most residentially zoned land. Buy a place only to rent it out, and Metro allows that in just a defined set of commercial and mixed-use districts, not on an ordinary residential street.

That last split is the catch, and it's worth making real before a listing-site revenue estimate gets you attached to a number. A Short Term Rental Property permit costs $313 a year, new or renewed, and it carries conditions you can't buy your way out of: a million dollars of liability insurance, a ceiling of four sleeping rooms, an occupancy cap that tops out at twelve guests, and three separate taxes layered onto every booking. Skip the permit and you're not saving the fee so much as swapping it for a fine that compounds by the day, plus a waiting period that can lock the property out of the program for years.

So let's walk through what running one of these properly actually takes in 2026: who qualifies for which permit, what the paperwork and inspections involve, the tax layers that attach to a stay, how Tennessee's own law both protects and limits what Metro can do, and how hard any of it gets enforced. Every figure below comes from Metro Nashville's own pages or the Tennessee Department of Revenue, checked in July 2026, and where a number is still moving I've said so. Assuming you're comparing a Davidson County property against a market with an easier path to a whole-home license, do run both through BNBCalc first.

What are Short-Term Rental (Airbnb, VRBO) Regulations in Davidson County, Tennessee?

Before any of those numbers mean much, you need the legal definition Metro works from, because it decides whether you're even inside this system. Under Metropolitan Code § 6.28.030, enacted by ordinance BL2020-187, a Short Term Rental Property is a residential dwelling with no more than four sleeping rooms that's rented or advertised through an online marketplace for transient stays, where "transient" simply means fewer than 30 continuous days. Rent to the same guest for 30 days or longer, though, and you've stepped outside the STR rules altogether, into ordinary landlord-tenant territory, with no Metro permit required. That thirty-day line matters.

Metro sorts every permit into one of two tracks, and the line between them is simply where you sleep at night. An owner-occupied permit covers a home the owner actually lives in, whether they rent the whole thing while away or let a room while they're there. A not-owner-occupied permit covers a property the owner doesn't live in, which is the investor model most people mean when they say "Airbnb business." Only a natural person can hold the owner-occupied kind, so an LLC, corporation, or trust is shut out of that track from the start.

The two tracks share a floor of rules, but they part ways hard on zoning, and this is where hopeful investors get caught. An owner-occupied STR is allowed as an accessory use in essentially every district that permits homes at all. A new not-owner-occupied permit is a different animal, since Metro issues it only as a "use permitted with conditions," and only inside a named list of districts, the mixed-use, office, commercial, downtown, and shopping-center zones (MUN, MUL, MUG, OG, CN, CL, CS, the Downtown Code areas, and their kin). Regular residential zoning, the AR2A, R, RS, and RM districts where most of the county's houses sit, is off that list for any brand-new investor permit. That isn't a detail to lawyer around. It's the whole shape of the market here.

Starting a Short-Term Rental Business in Davidson County

Because the market's shape is set by that zoning line, "starting a short-term rental business" in Davidson County means two very different things depending on which side of it you land on. Plan to live in the property, and an owner-occupied permit is realistically within reach on almost any residential lot. Metro issues only one such permit per lot in single-family and two-family districts, and if it's a duplex, you can't split ownership of the two units: the same person has to own both, and one has to be that owner's genuine primary residence, recorded to match the deed.

Plan to buy purely for nightly rentals, and the door is far narrower. Since new not-owner-occupied permits only issue in that commercial-adjacent list, an ordinary house on an ordinary street can't get a fresh one today, no matter how good the spreadsheet looks. Owners who already hold a residential-zone permit can keep renewing it, because the restriction bites only on new applications, yet those permits don't transfer when the property sells. Sell, and the next buyer starts over in a zone that probably won't qualify, so the pool of investor rentals in residential Nashville only shrinks over time. Do treat that as a one-way door rather than a loophole to wait out.

One more trap sits on top of the zoning list for new investor permits. Metro Code § 17.16.070, added by ordinance BL2019-78, keeps any new not-owner-occupied permit at least 100 feet from a church, a school or its playground, a park, or a licensed daycare. Metro Council can waive that buffer for a specific property, but only after a public hearing and 21 affirmative votes, so it happens rarely and one address at a time.

There's a wrinkle unique to the county, too. A few small satellite cities sit inside Davidson County's borders while keeping their own governments, among them Belle Meade, Forest Hills, Oak Hill, Berry Hill, Goodlettsville, and Ridgetop. Metro's permit program covers the vast majority of the county, but if your address falls inside one of those enclaves, be aware that its own zoning may pile on restrictions of its own, so that's worth confirming with the city directly before you count on a Nashville permit. If the numbers don't survive all of that, our Nashville guide walks the same permit program in more depth, and the nearby Murfreesboro guide covers a Middle Tennessee market running on a very different local rulebook.

Short-Term Rental Licensing Requirements in Davidson County

Assuming your property clears that zoning test, the permit itself still runs through the Metro Department of Codes and Building Safety in three stages, and the order matters. First, the sensitive identity documents go by email straight to the department rather than through the public portal, since the online system isn't built to carry them. An owner-occupied applicant sends four proofs of residence: two from a first group (Tennessee driver's license, state ID card, Davidson County voter registration, an IRS W-2 or 1099, or a current vehicle registration) and two from a second (current auto, life, or homeowner's insurance, a pay stub, a bank statement, or an employer letter on letterhead). Every one has to be current and show the owner's name at the property address, matching the recorded deed. A not-owner-occupied applicant instead sends the documents tying the individual to the owning entity, usually the operating agreement or articles of organization.

Second comes what Metro calls document preparation, and it's the heavy part. You'll draw a floor plan of every story showing rooms, windows, doors, and smoke-detector placements, because UL217-certified smoke alarms are required in each sleeping area, along the whole path of egress, and on every level including the basement. For a single- or two-family home, a state-licensed architect, engineer, or home inspector has to certify that the property meets the fire and safety provisions of Metro Code § 6.28.030; a multifamily building draws an actual Fire Marshal inspection instead. On top of that you'll gather proof of a $1,000,000 homeowner's fire, hazard, and liability policy, a notarized affidavit swearing the application is true, and written proof that you notified every adjacent property owner before filing, by certified mail or a hand-signed receipt. Airbnb's own host coverage can satisfy that insurance minimum, so do check your existing policy before you go buy a new one.

Third, once all of that is in hand, you complete the application on ePermits and staff assemble the permit for you. The fee is $313 as of July 2026, due when the application is approved rather than at filing, payable by cash, check, or card, though a card adds a 2.3% surcharge. Keep in mind it doesn't come back if you're denied, which is exactly why the zoning and buffer checks belong first. A granted permit lasts 365 days and has to be renewed yearly for the same $313, along with fresh insurance proof and evidence your occupancy taxes are paid. Permits are non-transferable, full stop: sell the home, restructure the LLC, or change how title is held, and the permit dies with the old arrangement.

Then there's the enforcement end of the same rule. Metro can revoke a permit outright once the zoning administrator finds three violations of any generally applicable ordinance tied to the rental's operation, after 15 days' written notice, with a right of appeal to the Short Term Rental Appeals Board. Operate with no permit at all and the penalty is a $50 fine imposed by a court, counted separately for each day you run. On top of that comes a mandatory waiting period before you may even reapply, and its length depends on who makes the finding. The zoning administrator's own determination costs a year, a lapsed renewal six months, and a court finding a full three years. That three-year lockout is the figure that ought to change behavior. The $313 is nothing beside it.

Required Documents for Davidson County Short-Term Rentals

Given how expensive a lockout gets, it's worth laying the full document set out in one place before you start hunting for pieces mid-application. Davidson County's permit pulls from a few families of paperwork, and which ones you need depends on your permit type and how the property is owned:

• Identity and residency proof. Two documents from Group A (Tennessee driver's license, state ID, Davidson County voter registration, an IRS W-2 or 1099, or current vehicle registration) and two from Group B (auto, life, or homeowner's insurance, a pay stub, a bank statement, or an employer verification letter), each current and matching the property address.
• Entity paperwork, where a not-owner-occupied permit sits under an LLC, corporation, or trust, linking the named applicant to that entity through an operating agreement or articles of organization.
• A current property-tax receipt showing all property taxes paid, and for a renewal, proof that room, occupancy, and sales taxes are current too.
• A floor plan plus safety sign-off, mapping every room, window, door, and smoke detector, with either a licensed architect, engineer, or home-inspector certification for a single- or two-family home, or a Fire Marshal inspection for a multifamily one.
• Proof of $1,000,000 liability insurance, a homeowner's fire, hazard, and liability policy at that limit; Airbnb's host coverage counts if you attach the profile page showing it.
• Neighbor-notification proof, a signed acknowledgment or certified-mail receipt for the owner of each adjacent property, sent before you file rather than after.
• A notarized "true and accurate" affidavit, plus an Owner Authorization Form if someone other than the owner will apply or run the permit.

Each of these has to arrive as a PDF in ePermits, so make sure you scan everything before you sit down to apply. And do check that your two Group A and two Group B items really come from different categories, since two documents from the same group won't satisfy the rule even when both are perfectly current.

Davidson County Short-Term Rental Taxes

Paperwork filed and permit in hand, you still have to deal with tax, and Davidson County stacks three layers on nearly every stay. Two separate governments run them, so the rates, the thresholds, and the question of who sends the money in don't line up as neatly as you'd hope.

Charge	Rate	Collected by
State sales tax	7%	Tennessee Department of Revenue
Davidson County local sales tax	2.75%	Tennessee Department of Revenue
Metro Hotel Occupancy Privilege Tax	7% plus $2.50 per night	Metro Nashville Finance, or the state if booked through a platform
Business tax	tiered by gross income	Davidson County Clerk

The sales-tax line is the one that's changed, and it's worth flagging because plenty of older write-ups still quote the stale figure. Davidson County's local option sales tax climbed from 2.25% to 2.75% on February 1, 2025, a surcharge voters approved to fund Metro's transit plan. Stacked on the flat 7% state rate, that brings the combined sales tax to 9.75%, up from the 9.25% you'll still see repeated across 2024-era guides. It applies to the whole price of a stay, the nightly rate plus any cleaning, pet, or booking fees.

Metro's own charge is the Hotel Occupancy Privilege Tax, and it rose too: the Council took it from 6% to 7% on July 1, 2023, on top of a flat $2.50 per night that stayed put. Add the 9.75% sales tax and a guest is paying roughly 16.75% in tax plus that nightly fee before a dollar of room rate. Anyone who stays 30 straight days or more stops owing the occupancy tax after day 30, and government agencies are exempt when the agency itself foots the bill.

Who actually collects all this is simpler than it looks. Since January 1, 2021, a marketplace like Airbnb or Vrbo remits both the sales tax and the local occupancy tax straight to the Tennessee Department of Revenue for any booking it handles. You only collect and remit either one yourself on a booking made outside a platform, say a repeat guest who books direct. Remember to confirm your platform is really collecting rather than assume it, because the liability lands back on you if it isn't.

Business tax runs on its own track, keyed to yearly gross rather than to any single booking:

• Under $3,000 a year: nothing to file.
• $3,000 to $99,999: a minimal-activity license, $15 in the general services district or $30 in the urban services district, renewed each year.
• $100,000 or more: a full Business Tax License from the Davidson County Clerk, plus a return filed with the state. That $100,000 line was lifted from $10,000 back in 2023.

Run the rental through an LLC or corporation and franchise and excise tax applies as well, on the entity's net worth and net earnings. None of that reaches an individual hosting in their own name.

Tennessee Wide Short-Term Rental Rules

Those local charges sit inside a state framework worth understanding on its own, since it's the reason Metro can't simply outlaw this the way a few cities elsewhere have tried. Tennessee's Short-Term Rental Unit Act, on the books since 2018, is a partial-preemption law: it stops a local government from banning short-term rentals outright, and from shutting down a unit that was already operating before a new ordinance passed, yet it leaves permitting, zoning, safety, and enforcement firmly in local hands. Metro's zoning-district approach to investor permits leans on exactly that reserved authority, applying an ordinary land-use rule to short-term rentals the same way it would to any other use.

The Act carries its own safety floor, too. It requires at least $500,000 in liability insurance and compliance with the state's fire-sprinkler, smoke-alarm, and carbon-monoxide standards, which is why Nashville's $1,000,000 requirement is allowed to stand: a stricter safety rule survives, an outright ban wouldn't. There's also a legacy protection worth knowing if you're buying a property that already operates as a rental. A unit held out for short-term use before a local restriction took effect generally keeps its older status, until it's sold or transferred, sits unused for 30 straight months, or racks up three violations with no appeal left.

Three tax changes from the 2025 legislative session belong on your radar as well, all from the Department of Revenue's own pages. Public Chapter 364 now subjects the first 30 days of any stay to local occupancy tax regardless of how long the guest ultimately stays, for agreements entered on or after July 1, 2025. Public Chapter 372 caps how high a city's occupancy tax can climb and grandfathers rates already above the cap, though Nashville's 7% sits comfortably under it. A third trimmed the state's administration fee on local taxes. For the picture beyond the county line, our Tennessee statewide guide maps it jurisdiction by jurisdiction, and the Franklin guide covers a fast-growing market just south in Williamson County.

Does Davidson County Strictly Enforce STR Rules?

Williamson County's rules may differ, but Davidson County's own enforcement is real, and the state's legacy protections don't blunt it much, since they only shield what was lawful to begin with. As of July 2, 2025 Metro counted roughly 7,000 active STR permits across the county, with District 17 alone holding 1,077 of them, second only to District 19. More telling is what Metro Codes' own short-term rental chief told local news: about 98% of permitted operators are in full compliance. That points the real gap not at sloppy permit holders but at listings that never entered the system at all.

Enforcement here is complaint-driven, routed through hubNashville or a call to 311, and once a complaint lands, the department has to notify the permit holder in writing. Metro takes that channel seriously enough that state law makes it warn every complainant up front: a knowingly false complaint against a short-term rental provider is punishable as perjury under Tennessee Code § 39-16-702, a detail that cuts both ways for hosts and neighbors. Three documented violations tied to the rental's operation, with appeal rights exhausted, is the trigger for revocation, and disputes go to a real Short Term Rental Appeals Board, seven members with a four-member quorum, which has been issuing orders on a steady cadence through 2025 and into 2026.

Watch out for how the penalties compound, because that's where quiet non-compliance turns costly. A $50 daily fine looks trivial beside a nightly rate, right up until you remember each day is a fresh offense and a court finding tacks a three-year lockout onto the total. Pair that with the zoning wall in front of new investor permits, and getting caught operating without one in a residential zone doesn't just cost a fine. It can strip any future right to a legal permit at that address.

How to Start a Short-Term Rental Business in Davidson County

Since the cost of getting the order wrong is that steep, the sequence below is built to fail cheaply, because the early steps tell you whether the later ones are even worth the effort.

1. Settle your zoning first. Living in the unit puts an owner-occupied permit within reach almost anywhere residential; if you won't, check the property against Metro's District Land Use Table before assuming a not-owner-occupied permit is possible at all.
2. Check the 100-foot buffer for any new investor permit, since a nearby church, school, park, or licensed daycare can block it without a Council waiver.
3. Line up the $1,000,000 liability coverage, and confirm whether your current homeowner's policy or Airbnb's host protection actually meets it.
4. Notify every adjacent owner in writing before you file anything else, by signature or certified mail, because Metro wants that proof up front.
5. Get the floor plan and safety sign-off done, an architect, engineer, or home-inspector certification for a single- or two-family home, or a Fire Marshal inspection for a multifamily one.
6. Gather your identity, tax, and entity documents, then file the application through ePermits.
7. Pay the $313 only once you're approved, remembering it's non-refundable and due at approval, not at filing.
8. Register for business tax when it applies, since your platform generally handles sales and occupancy tax while business-tax registration falls to you past $100,000 in gross sales.
9. Diarize the renewal. The permit runs 365 days, renewal wants the same $313 plus fresh insurance and tax proof, and letting it lapse costs a six-month wait.

Who to Contact in Davidson County about Short-Term Rental Regulations and Zoning?

Whichever of those steps snags you, the work is split across a handful of Metro offices, and knowing which one owns your question saves a genuinely annoying amount of time on hold.

Metro Codes and Building Safety Department

This office issues, renews, and revokes every STR permit, so it's the first stop for anything about the application itself.

• Address: Metro Office Building, 800 President Ronald Reagan Way, 1st Floor, Nashville, TN 37210
• Phone: 615-862-6500
• Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., closed weekends
• General questions: [email protected]
• Application documents: [email protected]
• Renewals: [email protected]

Metro Planning Commission

Reach the Planning Commission for questions about Specific Plan (SP) or Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning conditions, which can override the standard permit rules on a given lot.

• Phone: 615-862-7190
• Email: [email protected]

Nashville Fire Department, Fire Marshal's Office

The Fire Marshal handles multifamily inspections and the fire and life-safety review behind an application.

• Address: Fire Prevention Office, 63 Hermitage Ave, Nashville, TN 37210
• Phone: 615-862-5230

Metro Nashville Finance, Collections Office

This office runs the Hotel Occupancy Privilege Tax, including registration and the monthly returns.

• Phone: 615-862-6151
• Email: [email protected]
• Mailing address: Metro Nashville Finance Collections, P.O. Box 305172, Dept. 168, Nashville, TN 37230-5172

Davidson County Clerk, Business Services

The County Clerk handles the Business Tax License once your gross sales pass $100,000.

• Address: Howard Office Building, 700 President Ronald Reagan Way, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37210
• Email: [email protected]

If you're not sure which office owns a question, hubNashville and 311 (or 615-862-5000) route it to the right desk, so that's a fair place to start.

What Do Airbnb Hosts in Davidson County on Reddit and Bigger Pockets Think about Local Regulations?

Start reading the forums and the tone shifts fast from procedure to grievance, because what hosts argue about in Davidson County isn't how to file, it's who still gets to. What follows is my read of the recurring themes across public host discussion rather than any kind of survey, so do weigh it as exactly that.

• Investors treat the zoning wall as the whole story. On BiggerPockets, the steady advice to anyone eyeing a Nashville investment purely for nightly rentals is to check the zoning before falling for the revenue math, because a great house on a residential street simply can't get a new not-owner-occupied permit. Threads that stay hopeful tend to drift toward the commercial-adjacent zones, or toward nearby counties instead.
• Owner-occupiers describe a workable, if fussy, process. Hosts who actually live in the property report that the permit is obtainable, with the friction landing on documentation, the neighbor-notification step, and the certified-mail receipts rather than on the rules themselves.
• The non-transferability rule stings most on resale. Owners holding a legacy residential-zone permit know it dies when they sell, which quietly caps what the property is worth to the next buyer, and that surfaces again and again as a genuine source of frustration.
• Nobody still claims the rules go unenforced. The debate has moved on from whether Metro checks to whether the zoning map is fair, which is a very different argument.

Take that last point to heart. Enforcement in Davidson County isn't a line item you can quietly price into a pro forma, because the real risk here isn't a fine you absorb. It's a permit you can never get, on a property you already bought. Before you write the county off over that, though, do compare the actual returns here against the rest of the state through the Tennessee market data, since the zones where an investor permit is still open can price very differently from the residential streets that are closed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you legally run an Airbnb in Davidson County, Tennessee in 2026?

Yes, in one of two ways. If you live in the property, an owner-occupied permit is available in nearly every residential zoning district. If you don't, a new not-owner-occupied permit is limited to a defined set of commercial, mixed-use, and downtown districts, not ordinary residential streets. Either route requires a $313 annual permit from Metro Codes, $1,000,000 in liability insurance, and compliance with occupancy, safety, and tax rules. Davidson County and Nashville share one Metro government, so these are the same rules.

How much does a Davidson County short-term rental permit cost?

The permit fee is $313, charged once the application is approved rather than at filing, and it's non-refundable even on a denial. Renewal runs the same $313 each year, plus current proof of liability insurance and occupancy-tax payment. Paying by card adds a 2.3% surcharge. Because the fee doesn't come back, confirm your zoning eligibility and the 100-foot buffer rule before you submit anything.

What taxes apply to a short-term rental in Davidson County?

Three layers. A combined 9.75% sales tax (7% state plus 2.75% Davidson County, current since February 2025), Metro's 7% Hotel Occupancy Privilege Tax plus a flat $2.50 per night, and business tax once gross sales reach $100,000 a year. If your booking comes through Airbnb or Vrbo, the platform generally collects and remits the sales and occupancy taxes for you, though you owe them directly on any booking made outside a marketplace.

Can an investor get a new non-owner-occupied permit anywhere in Davidson County?

No. New not-owner-occupied permits issue only in specific commercial-adjacent, mixed-use, and downtown zoning districts, never in standard single-family, two-family, or multifamily residential zones. Existing residential-zone permits can be renewed but not transferred when the property sells, so that inventory shrinks over time. A 100-foot buffer from churches, schools, parks, and licensed daycares also applies to every new investor permit.

What happens if you operate without a permit in Davidson County?

Operating without a permit draws a $50 court fine, with each day of operation counted as a separate offense, so the total mounts quickly. On top of that comes a mandatory waiting period before you can even reapply: one year on the zoning administrator's finding, six months for a lapsed renewal, or three years if a court makes the determination. That three-year lockout is the consequence that should shape the decision.

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