Colorado Short-Term Rental Rules, City by City (Verified July 2026)
Program and regulatory figures verified July 24, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Buying a short-term rental in the wrong Colorado jurisdiction is a six-figure mistake. This is the table we check before writing a single loan: dated, sourced, and re-verified when councils and county commissioners move, because in Colorado they move often.
The 2026 status table
| Jurisdiction | Status (as of July 2026) | Cost | Key rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | Owner-occupied primary residence ONLY | City license + lodger's tax | One license per person; non-resident investors effectively excluded |
| Colorado Springs | Owner + non-owner permits allowed | $124.95/yr | Non-owner apps after 12/26/2019 barred in single-family zones (R-E/R-1); owner-occupied needs 185 days/yr |
| Breckenridge / Summit Co. | Numeric cap by basin, waitlist | County license fee | Lower Blue cap 550 (508 issued); Upper Blue cap 590 (563 issued); issues by attrition |
| Steamboat Springs | Color-coded overlay: red / yellow / green | License + 9% STR tax | Red bars new licenses; yellow caps by subzone; green unrestricted; 9% excise since 1/1/2023 |
| Aspen / Pitkin Co. | Permitted, 120-day annual cap | Permit (3 types by residency/unit) | 120 days per year; 2026 renewals were due January 14, 2026 |
| Vail / Eagle Co. | Town of Vail regulates; Eagle County has NO ordinance | Vail license per property | $1M liability insurance; local rep within 60 minutes 24/7; county defers to metro districts and HOAs |
| Crested Butte / Gunnison Co. | Town at its 30% cap (no new Unlimited licenses) | Town license | Hard cap below 198; 2 licenses per block face; Mt. Crested Butte more permissive; county program in development |
| Estes Park | Vacation home license + lottery | $200 base + $50/bedroom + $1,500 linkage fee | $1,500 Workforce Housing Regulatory Linkage Fee; lottery for residential-zone licenses; $200 non-refundable app fee |
| Durango | Limited Use Permit required | LUP + lodger's tax license | Permit before advertising; lodger's tax remitted on top of city sales tax |
Fees and statuses verified July 2026 against city, county, and state sources; several regimes carry active caps, waitlists, or lotteries that change on a 2026 cycle. Confirm current rules with the jurisdiction, the HOA, and the metro district before purchase.
There is no Colorado statewide STR law
Colorado leaves short-term rentals entirely to local government, which is why this table exists and why it carries a date. The range is wide. On one end, Denver limits STR licenses to a host's single primary residence. On the other, Eagle County declined to write any county ordinance at all. The mountain towns sit in between with caps, zones, and day limits that each work differently. One more corrective belongs here: rent control. Colorado has banned local rent control statewide since 1981, and repeal bills (most recently the HB23-1115 line of attempts) keep getting introduced and keep failing, so no Colorado city can cap your rent increases today.
The Eagle County non-rule (a real information gap)
If you search "Eagle County STR rules," you'll find confusion, because there's almost nothing to find at the county level, and that's the point. In October 2025, Eagle County decided not to adopt a county-wide short-term-rental ordinance. Regulation is left to individual metro districts and HOAs, with the Town of Vail running its own separate town rules ($1M liability insurance, a local representative within 60 minutes of the property and reachable 24/7, licenses that renew annually). So a Vail-area buyer's real regulator is often the HOA or metro district, not the county. A licensing search alone is not diligence here; you have to read the covenants. We flag it on every Eagle County deal.
The pattern in the Colorado rules
Line the regimes up and a shape emerges. The big cities protect neighborhoods by pinning STRs to residency: Denver requires a primary residence, Colorado Springs splits owner from non-owner and zones the non-owners out of single-family blocks. The resort towns ration supply by number or by calendar: Summit caps per basin, Aspen caps the days, Steamboat zones the map, Crested Butte caps the town. And Eagle County opts out entirely, pushing the decision down to private covenants. For a buyer the sequence is always the same: confirm the jurisdiction's rule, confirm the parcel's zone or basin, confirm the HOA allows STR use, then talk price. We run that sequence on every STR loan: how the financing works · Denver · Colorado Springs · the resorts.
No pressure, no obligation, and no salesy follow-up: a 20-minute call with our team, real numbers, and a straight answer on whether the deal pencils.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run an Airbnb in Denver if I don't live there?
Effectively no. A Denver STR license covers only the host's single primary residence, so a non-resident investor with no Denver home cannot license an in-city short-term rental. Denver doesn't ban STRs outright, it restricts them to owner-occupants, which excludes pure-investment operations from the city (as of July 2026).
What are Steamboat Springs' short-term rental zones?
Steamboat uses a color-coded red, yellow, and green overlay map: red zones bar new STR licenses, yellow subzones cap the number allowed, and green zones are unrestricted. A voter-approved 9% STR excise tax has applied since January 1, 2023. Confirm your address's zone before you buy; the map is address-specific.
How many days a year can I rent my Aspen property short-term?
120 days per year under Aspen and Pitkin County's post-2021 rules, with three permit types differentiated by residency and unit type. Permits run on a calendar year: the 2026 renewal window opened November 15, 2025 and renewals were due by January 14, 2026 to stay valid. This day cap is different from Summit County's numeric license cap.
What are Vail's short-term rental requirements, and does Eagle County regulate STRs?
The Town of Vail requires a license per property, $1M liability insurance, and a local representative within 60 minutes of the property and reachable 24/7. Eagle County itself declined in October 2025 to adopt any county STR ordinance, leaving regulation to metro districts and HOAs, so outside Vail town limits the covenants are your real rulebook.
Can I still get a new Airbnb license in Crested Butte?
Not an Unlimited license this year: the town's 30% cap has been reached, so no new Unlimited vacation-rental licenses are being issued, and the town runs a hard cap below 198 with a 2-per-block-face limit. Mt. Crested Butte next door is more permissive, and unincorporated Gunnison County was rolling out its own program as of early 2026.
What does it cost to license a vacation rental in Estes Park?
The 2026 fee is $200 base plus $50 per bedroom plus a $1,500 Workforce Housing Regulatory Linkage Fee, along with a new $200 non-refundable application fee credited toward the license if issued. Residentially-zoned licenses run through a lottery. Larimer County's unincorporated Estes Valley renewal is $250 starting January 1, 2026.
Does Durango require a permit for short-term rentals?
Yes. Durango requires a Limited Use Permit before you establish or advertise a short-term rental, plus a separate lodger's tax license to remit lodger's tax to the city, on top of standard sales tax. It's a dual-permit structure, different from the single-license model most resort towns use. Confirm the current requirements with the city before you buy.
Does Colorado have rent control?
No. Colorado has banned local rent control statewide since 1981, so no municipality may cap rent increases. Repeal bills that would let cities decide (such as the HB23-1115 line) keep being introduced and keep failing, so the statewide preemption still holds as of July 2026. That's a stability point for buy-and-hold underwriting.
Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content, not a loan commitment and not legal or tax advice. City and county STR rules, tax figures, and filing fees change; verify current requirements with the city or county, the HOA or metro district, your CPA, or a Colorado real estate attorney before you buy. Loans are subject to buyer and property qualification.