San Diego, CA short-term rental market report (2026)
San Diego County, California. Rules, revenue, home values, demand, climate, reach and risk, each figure with its source.
- RulesStrict (4/5)
- Average revenue$75K a year
- 4-BR typical value$1.1M
- Gross yield6.6%
- FEMA riskVery High
- Demand drivers within 50 mi3
Everything STR HUB holds on San Diego, CA in one place, in the order an investor needs it: whether you can operate, what the numbers are, why and when people come, who can reach it, and what could go wrong.
Every figure comes from a named dataset listed under Sources and method, dated September 21, 2026. Where we do not hold a figure, that part of the report is left out rather than estimated.
Can you operate in San Diego?
What the rating rests on: Home sharing ordinance in effect. Whole-home STRs limited to primary residence only.
Rules change, and a city rating does not cover HOA or deed restrictions. Confirm current requirements with the jurisdiction before you buy or list.
Which way the rules are moving
Tightening. The rules we hold report a recent or pending change.
March 2026 Increased Insurance Requirements Minimum liability insurance coverage increasing from $500,000 to $1,000,000 for Tier 3 and Tier 4 whole-home licenses.
Classified from the regulation text we publish; a direction is only kept when the sentence it rests on appears word for word in that text.
The numbers
Revenue
Gross market averages from STR HUB market analytics, the same figures shown on the market page. They are before cleaning, management, utilities, taxes and financing, and an individual property can earn more or less.
Home values in San Diego County
Zillow Home Value Index: county-wide typical values for San Diego County, not list prices. A specific property can sit well above or below them.
Gross yield
Gross yield is before every operating cost and before financing. It is a screening ratio, not a cash-on-cash return.
What it costs to own
Screening figures, not a bill or a quote. The tax rate is a county-wide median for owner-occupied homes (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2018-2022); second homes and rentals are often taxed more heavily, and a purchase usually resets the assessed value. Expected annual loss is from the FEMA National Risk Index.
Housing market momentum
County-level, for-sale housing market: it says nothing directly about STR bookings. A relative ranking among tracked markets, not a forecast. Sources: Realtor.com Economic Research, U.S. Census Bureau, Zillow Home Value Index.
Why people come
3 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of San Diego. Ordered by published attendance. Attendance appears only where a source publishes it.
Events
- San Diego Comic-Con
- When
- Late July, 4 days (San Diego Convention Center)
- Attendance
- 135,000 (More than 135,000 attendees (2022, per Wikipedia/official data).)
- STR angle
- The largest pop-culture convention in the world books out downtown San Diego hotels/STRs a year in advance for its late-July dates.
Attractions
- Balboa Park
- When
- Year-round; December Nights and summer are busiest.
- Attendance
- 12,000,000 (Wikipedia (Balboa Park): "By 2001, over 12 million people visited the park each year.")
- STR angle
- Seventeen museums, gardens, theatres and the zoo in one park beside downtown. San Diego caps whole-home STR licences at about one percent of housing (more in Mission Beach) and allocates them by lottery, so a licence is the scarce asset.
- San Diego Zoo
- When
- Year-round; summer "Nighttime Zoo" and school holidays peak.
- Attendance
- 4,000,000 (Wikipedia (San Diego Zoo infobox): 4 million annual visitors (2018; San Diego Union-Tribune, January 2019).)
- STR angle
- One of the best-known zoos in the world and a core reason families choose San Diego. North Park, Hillcrest and South Park houses are closest; the city's licence cap and lottery govern whole-home rentals.
- Source
- Wikipedia: San Diego Zoo
When they come
Year-round climate: at least nine months of the year have an average high between 60°F and 88°F. 12 of 12 months have an average high between 60°F and 88°F. Warmest month: September (average high 78°F). Coldest: February (average low 46°F).
- Jan63°47°Comfortable
- Feb63°46°Comfortable
- Mar63°50°Comfortable
- Apr67°54°Comfortable
- May68°57°Comfortable
- Jun71°61°Comfortable
- Jul75°64°ComfortableEvent
- Aug78°66°Comfortable
- Sep78°65°Comfortable
- Oct75°59°Comfortable
- Nov70°52°Comfortable
- Dec64°48°Comfortable
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high (°F) | 63 | 63 | 63 | 67 | 68 | 71 | 75 | 78 | 78 | 75 | 70 | 64 |
| Average low (°F) | 47 | 46 | 50 | 54 | 57 | 61 | 64 | 66 | 65 | 59 | 52 | 48 |
| Precipitation (in) | 2.8 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 2.7 |
| Sunshine (hours a day) | 8.6 | 9.3 | 9.8 | 10.5 | 10.8 | 11.4 | 12.1 | 11.4 | 10.5 | 9.8 | 9.4 | 7.9 |
| Event month | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Event months within 50 miles
- July: San Diego Comic-Con
This is climate and events, not booking data. Monthly normals are 2019-2023 averages from the Open-Meteo Historical Weather API (ERA5 reanalysis) at the market pin. Event months come from the demand drivers listed above. We do not hold monthly occupancy or rate data for this market.
Who can reach it
Largest counties within 150 miles
| County | Population |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 9,936,690 |
| San Diego County, CA | 3,289,701 |
| Orange County, CA | 3,175,227 |
County populations (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2018-2022) summed for every county whose centre lies within each straight-line radius. Straight lines are shorter than roads, so read these as generous upper bounds, not drive-time counts.
What could go wrong
| Hazard | FEMA rating | Score (0-100) |
|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | Very High | 100.0 |
| Earthquake | Relatively High | 99.7 |
| River flooding | Very High | 99.7 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 77.0 |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Moderate | 72.8 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 64.4 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 48.3 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 8.3 |
This is a county-level index, not an insurance quote or a flood-zone determination. A coastal or wildfire-fringe rental can carry far more exposure than its county average suggests. Get property-level flood, wind and wildfire quotes before you buy.
Market context
Housing and jobs in San Diego County
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2018-2022. Vacation-home share is housing units held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use. All three describe the whole county, not one town or neighbourhood.
What is within 15 km of the San Diego pin
Counts of features mapped in OpenStreetMap within 15 km of the market pin. A fixed radius favours dense metros, and map coverage varies by area.
Similar markets
The 4 tracked markets whose numbers sit closest to San Diego's. Each links to its own report.
Closest by normalised distance across the figures both markets hold (typical 4BR value, revenue, occupancy, regulation rating, vacation-home share, tourism job share, 4+ bedroom share, amenity score, population within 300 miles, comfortable months and FEMA risk score). At most 2 of the 4 come from California, so the list is not just the neighbours. Similar numbers do not mean similar rules: check each market's regulation section.
See San Diego on the map
Open San Diego on the National STR Map to see it against its neighbours, switch overlays and run the deal calculator on your own assumptions.
San Diego STR questions, answered from the data
Is Airbnb legal in San Diego?
STR HUB rates San Diego's short-term rental rules 4/5 (Strict) on a scale from 1 (relaxed) to 5 (very strict). Rules change, so confirm current requirements with the local jurisdiction before you buy or list.
How much does an Airbnb make in San Diego?
The average short-term rental in San Diego, CA grosses $75,000 a year, on a $285 average nightly rate and 72% occupancy. That ranks #19 of the 88 tracked markets with revenue data. It is a gross market average before cleaning, management, taxes and financing, and an individual property can earn more or less.
How much does a 4-bedroom home cost in San Diego?
The typical 4-bedroom home in San Diego County is valued at $1,141,945 (Zillow Home Value Index), and the typical home of any size at $930,800, with all-home values up 0.5% over the past year. These are county-wide typical values, not list prices.
What is the gross rental yield in San Diego?
6.6%: average annual short-term rental revenue of $75,000 divided by the county's typical 4-bedroom home value of $1,141,945. It is before every operating cost and before financing, so treat it as a screening ratio, not a cash-on-cash return.
What brings visitors to San Diego?
3 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of San Diego: Balboa Park (12,000,000 published attendance), San Diego Zoo (4,000,000 published attendance) and San Diego Comic-Con (135,000 published attendance). Attendance is shown only where a source publishes it, and each driver's source is linked in the report.
Sources and method
- Regulation summary and strictness rating: STR Agent HUB regulation research.
- Revenue, nightly rate and occupancy: STR Agent HUB market analytics.
- Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), county level. Data provided by Zillow Group.
- Housing, employment and population figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2018-2022.
- Natural hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, county level.
- Amenity counts: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
- Climate normals: Open-Meteo Historical Weather API (CC BY 4.0), 2019-2023 averages.
- Demand drivers: each entry links its own published source in the list above.
Figures come from the STR HUB national dataset dated September 21, 2026 and this page is regenerated whenever that dataset is rebuilt. County-level figures describe San Diego County as a whole, not one street or neighbourhood. The Opportunity Score (0-100) is a screening heuristic that weighs revenue (35%), regulatory climate (25%), tourism employment (15%), nearby amenities (15%) and large-home supply (10%) relative to the other tracked markets.
Confirm before you act. Short-term rental rules change. Confirm current requirements with the jurisdiction, and work with a licensed local agent who knows which properties can legally operate. This report is screening data, not investment, legal or tax advice.
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