Santa Rosa Beach, FL short-term rental market report (2026)
Walton County, Florida. Rules, revenue, home values, demand, climate, reach and risk, each figure with its source.
- RulesLight-touch (2/5)
- 4-BR typical value$1M
- FEMA riskRelatively Moderate
- Demand drivers within 50 mi4
- People within 300 mi25.4 million
- ClimateYear-round
Everything STR HUB holds on Santa Rosa Beach, FL 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. The Opportunity Score here is partial: it was calculated without revenue data, with the cash-flow component assumed to be below average, so it can understate the market.
Can you operate in Santa Rosa Beach?
What the rating rests on: Every rental needs a Walton County Short-Term Vacation Rental certificate ($300 per structure each year), a Florida DBPR lodging license, a designated local responsible party reachable around the clock, and an occupancy affidavit capped at one guest per 150 square feet.
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
Stable. The rules we hold report no recent or pending change.
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
We have not verified revenue figures for this market yet.
Home values in Walton County
Zillow Home Value Index: county-wide typical values for Walton County, not list prices. A specific property can sit well above or below them.
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
4 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of Santa Rosa Beach. Ordered by published attendance. Attendance appears only where a source publishes it.
Attractions
- Scenic Highway 30A / Seaside
- When
- March to early August, with a strong October.
- STR angle
- A string of master-planned New Urbanist beach villages between Destin and Panama City Beach that command some of the highest nightly rates on the Gulf. Walton County is rental-friendly; large houses near a beach access with bikes and a pool are the template.
Parks and public lands
- St. Andrews State Park
- When
- Gulf beach season, spring break through summer is peak.
- Attendance
- 750,000 (750,000 visitors in 2005, per Wikipedia infobox (visitation_num/visitation_year fields); old figure, likely outdated given Panama City Beach's tourism growth since.)
- STR angle
- A top Gulf-coast state park inside Panama City Beach reinforces one of Florida's largest beach-condo/STR markets.
- Destin
- When
- Spring through summer (Mar-Aug) is peak, aligned with Emerald Coast beach season.
- STR angle
- The 'World's Luckiest Fishing Village' anchors a high-end Emerald Coast condo and beach-house STR market.
- Panama City Beach
- When
- Spring break (Mar) through summer (Jun-Aug) is peak.
- STR angle
- A top spring-break and family beach destination on the Florida Panhandle with an extensive high-rise condo/STR market.
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: August (average high 86°F). Coldest: January (average low 48°F).
- Jan62°48°Comfortable
- Feb65°53°Comfortable
- Mar70°57°Comfortable
- Apr74°61°Comfortable
- May81°69°Comfortable
- Jun86°76°Comfortable
- Jul86°78°Comfortable
- Aug86°78°Comfortable
- Sep86°74°Comfortable
- Oct79°66°Comfortable
- Nov70°55°Comfortable
- Dec64°52°Comfortable
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high (°F) | 62 | 65 | 70 | 74 | 81 | 86 | 86 | 86 | 86 | 79 | 70 | 64 |
| Average low (°F) | 48 | 53 | 57 | 61 | 69 | 76 | 78 | 78 | 74 | 66 | 55 | 52 |
| Precipitation (in) | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 6.3 | 2.9 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 6.5 | 5.7 | 4.0 | 2.8 | 6.3 |
| Sunshine (hours a day) | 7.8 | 7.8 | 9.9 | 10.3 | 11.7 | 11.4 | 11.1 | 10.5 | 10.1 | 9.7 | 8.8 | 7.6 |
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. We do not hold monthly occupancy or rate data for this market.
Who can reach it
Largest counties within 150 miles
| County | Population |
|---|---|
| Mobile County, AL | 413,878 |
| Escambia County, FL | 321,296 |
| Leon County, FL | 294,128 |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively High | 97.4 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 85.6 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 75.7 |
| River flooding | Relatively Low | 68.3 |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Moderate | 62.2 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 46.4 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 22.9 |
| Hail | Very Low | 15.5 |
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 Walton 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 Santa Rosa Beach 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 Santa Rosa Beach'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 Florida, so the list is not just the neighbours. Similar numbers do not mean similar rules: check each market's regulation section.
See Santa Rosa Beach on the map
Open Santa Rosa Beach on the National STR Map to see it against its neighbours, switch overlays and run the deal calculator on your own assumptions.
Santa Rosa Beach STR questions, answered from the data
Is Airbnb legal in Santa Rosa Beach?
STR HUB rates Santa Rosa Beach's short-term rental rules 2/5 (Light-touch) on a scale from 1 (relaxed) to 5 (very strict). That rating was derived from the regulation text we hold and has not yet been reviewed by a person. Rules change, so confirm current requirements with the local jurisdiction before you buy or list.
How much does a 4-bedroom home cost in Santa Rosa Beach?
The typical 4-bedroom home in Walton County is valued at $1,021,984 (Zillow Home Value Index), and the typical home of any size at $654,948, with all-home values up 0.4% over the past year. These are county-wide typical values, not list prices.
What brings visitors to Santa Rosa Beach?
4 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of Santa Rosa Beach, including St. Andrews State Park (750,000 published attendance), Destin and Panama City Beach. Attendance is shown only where a source publishes it, and each driver's source is linked in the report.
What natural hazards affect Santa Rosa Beach?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Walton County "Relatively Moderate" overall, with a score of 88.6 out of 100 (a national percentile). The highest-scoring hazards we track there are hurricane and tornado. It is a county-wide index, not an insurance quote or a flood-zone determination.
When is the weather best in Santa Rosa Beach?
12 of 12 months have an average high between 60°F and 88°F. Year-round climate: at least nine months of the year have an average high between 60°F and 88°F. These are 2019-2023 climate normals, not booking data.
Sources and method
- Regulation summary and strictness rating: STR Agent HUB regulation research.
- 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 Walton 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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