Spokane, WA Short-Term Rental Rules (2026)
Can I operate a short-term rental in Spokane?
Allowed in all residential zones with a per-unit administrative permit and city business licence. Structure-based unit caps and a notarized life-safety and insurance package are the main friction.
Key facts
What the record says about short-term rentals in Spokane, with the level of law each comes from. What do these facts mean?
Can you operate?
Stay limits
Taxes
Why this score
The main reasons Spokane scores the way it does. Listed most important first.
What holds it back
- Permit or license (Yes) lowers the score.
- Lodging tax (13.1%) lowers the score.
- Platform collects tax (Partly) lowers the score.Source
Not yet known
- 15 more factors — free account
- 15 facts are not yet established, so the score leans on typical values.
Operating restrictions
What limits how, where and how often you can rent in Spokane.
Occupancy / night caps / zoning limits
Structure-based limits restrict how many STRs a structure can hold, such as one per single-family structure or ADU and one half of a duplex.
- Per-structure STR limits under the zoning chapter
- Grandfathered pre-July-2023 permits cannot expand beyond their approved use
Enforcement / penalties
The city contracted a monitoring vendor in January 2024 to identify unpermitted listings. A revoked permit blocks a replacement permit for the owner at that site for a multi-year period.
- Permit revocation bars reissuance at the site for a multi-year period
New to this? Owner-occupied vs non-owner-occupied STRs, explained
Permit requirements
What you need to file or hold before hosting in Spokane.
Permits & licensing
Applications run through the city's online permitting portal under the planning tab. A residential-zone application fee is assessed on approval, with a reduced renewal fee. Each unit in a multi-unit building needs its own permit, and the permit closes automatically if the renewal fee is unpaid.
- City of Spokane business licence
- Short-term rental permit per unit (residential zones: $200 application, $100 renewal)
- Notarized annual life-safety compliance form
- Liability insurance copy
- Floor, fire-safety, parking and site plans
- Neighbor notification letter for residential-zone applications
- Permit number on all advertisements
New to this? How short-term rental permits and licensing work
Taxes
Lodging, occupancy and related taxes or fees.
Taxes & fees
Washington Department of Revenue rules apply: retail sales tax, applicable lodging taxes and B&O tax on short stays, with marketplaces collecting some taxes under agreements. The city business licence is separate from the permit fee.
- Register with the Department of Revenue
- Collect and remit retail sales and applicable lodging taxes unless a marketplace does so
New to this? Short-term rental lodging taxes, explained
Recent changes
The dated change history is part of the free account. Email alerts above need no account.
Market assumptions
Estimates, not lawRevenue, occupancy and returns depend on the specific property and are estimates, separate from the rules above.
Run any property in Spokane through the deal analyzer for cash flow, cap rate, and long-term projections.
Sources
Last verified October 22, 2026 (19 days ago). Short-term rental rules can change between checks. Confirm current requirements with the jurisdiction before relying on this for a real decision.
- my.spokanecity.org
- zoneomics.com
- bnbcalc.com
- dor.wa.gov › lodging-guide/personal-home-rentals
- redawning.com
- law.justia.com › chapter-64-37/section-64-37-010
- law.justia.com › chapter-64-37/section-64-37-020
- lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov › RCW 64 . 37 CHAPTER/RCW 64 . 37 .030.htm
- lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov › RCW 64 . 37 CHAPTER/RCW 64 . 37 .040.htm
- law.justia.com › chapter-64-37/section-64-37-050
- dor.wa.gov › …guide/online-marketplaces-and-property-managers
- washingtonstatestandard.com
A free STRVE account shows which rule each source supports, plus the full jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction breakdown, change history, and rule-change alerts for Spokane.
More STR-friendly options nearby
Nearby cities with a higher regulation score than Spokane.
How we research this
The STRVE Score is our own regulation rating, built from seven levels of authority: state, county, town, HOA, deed restrictions, special districts, and platform rules. Each level is scored separately, with its own citations and the date we verified it. The headline number is the strictest of the seven, never an average, because the tightest rule is the one that governs you.
We keep a history of what a city's rules said before and when they changed, so a score that moves is traceable to the rule that moved it.
- Highly permissive
- 90+
- Friendly
- 70–89
- Moderate
- 45–69
- Heavily restricted
- 20–44
- Effectively banned
- 0–19
Not legal advice
STRVE is a research tool, not financial or legal advice. Always verify regulation, tax, and permitting details with the local jurisdiction and a licensed professional before you buy.
The STRVE Score and the seven-level breakdown are our own rating framework, not an official or government rating, and no jurisdiction endorses or reviews them. The rules behind them are researched from public sources with AI assistance and are current only as of the verification date shown, so they can be incomplete, outdated, or wrong. None of it substitutes for advice from local counsel. Confirm every permit, tax, occupancy, and zoning requirement against the jurisdiction's own municipal code and with an attorney licensed in that jurisdiction before you buy, list, or operate. Terms of Service