St. Louis, MO short-term rental market report (2026)
St. Louis city, Missouri. Rules, revenue, home values, demand, climate, reach and risk, each figure with its source.
- RulesStrict (4/5)
- Average revenue$42K a year
- 4-BR typical value$323K
- Gross yield13.0%
- FEMA riskRelatively High
- Demand drivers within 50 mi2
Everything STR HUB holds on St. Louis, MO 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 St. Louis?
What the rating rests on: Permit regime adopted — currently halted by court order.
| Rule | What we hold on file |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | City of St. Louis |
| Permit or licence | Occupied / Non-Occupied STR permit (Ord. 71729) |
| Permit fee | $150 per permit (fee under legal challenge) |
| Cap on rentals | 1 occupied + 4 non-occupied permits per natural person; building caps 50% / 25% / 12.5% |
| Minimum stay | 2 nights |
| Penalties | $500 per violation per day; revocation + 12-month bar on 3rd violation |
Rules for St. Louis last verified September 20, 2026. 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
Loosening. The rules we hold report a recent or pending change.
PERMIT REGIME ENJOINED by court order since Apr 2025 - check city status page.
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 St. Louis city
Zillow Home Value Index: county-wide typical values for St. Louis city, 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
2 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of St. Louis. Ordered by published attendance. Attendance appears only where a source publishes it.
Attractions
- Forest Park (Saint Louis Zoo, Art Museum, Science Center)
- When
- Year-round; April to October busiest. The zoo, art museum, history museum and science centre are free.
- Attendance
- 13,000,000 (Wikipedia (Forest Park, St. Louis infobox): 13 million visits annually (KSDK, April 2022). Wikipedia separately gives the Saint Louis Zoo about 3 million annual visitors.)
- STR angle
- Four free major institutions in one park (zoo, art museum, history museum, science centre) make St. Louis an unusually cheap family trip, which supports multi-night stays. The Central West End, Dogtown and The Hill border the park; the city introduced STR permitting, so check permit requirements.
Parks and public lands
- Gateway Arch National Park
- When
- Year-round; peaks June, July, August (by recreation-visit volume, 2025).
- Attendance
- 2,209,028 (NPS recreation visits, full calendar year 2025)
- STR angle
- Fully urban park — drives downtown St. Louis hotel/STR demand rather than a rural cabin market.
When they come
Summer-peak climate: May to September is comfortable and December to February highs average under 45°F. 6 of 12 months have an average high between 60°F and 88°F. Warmest month: July (average high 88°F). Coldest: February (average low 25°F).
- Jan42°26°Cold
- Feb45°25°Cold
- Mar57°37°Cool
- Apr66°45°Comfortable
- May75°56°Comfortable
- Jun86°66°Comfortable
- Jul88°71°Hot
- Aug86°69°Comfortable
- Sep82°63°Comfortable
- Oct68°50°Comfortable
- Nov55°37°Cool
- Dec48°31°Cool
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high (°F) | 42 | 45 | 57 | 66 | 75 | 86 | 88 | 86 | 82 | 68 | 55 | 48 |
| Average low (°F) | 26 | 25 | 37 | 45 | 56 | 66 | 71 | 69 | 63 | 50 | 37 | 31 |
| Precipitation (in) | 3.9 | 3.0 | 6.1 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 6.1 | 3.1 | 4.7 | 2.3 | 2.8 |
| Snowfall (in) | 5.2 | 4.6 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 2.4 |
| Sunshine (hours a day) | 5.3 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 8.9 | 9.7 | 11.5 | 11.8 | 11.0 | 10.4 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 6.0 |
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 |
|---|---|
| St. Louis County, MO | 999,703 |
| St. Charles County, MO | 406,262 |
| St. Louis city, MO | 298,018 |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Very High | 98.9 |
| Earthquake | Relatively High | 98.5 |
| River flooding | Relatively High | 97.0 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 87.1 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 79.7 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 32.1 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 3.0 |
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. FEMA does not model coastal flooding for this county, which is not the same as zero risk. Get property-level flood, wind and wildfire quotes before you buy.
Market context
Housing and jobs in St. Louis city
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 St. Louis 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 St. Louis'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 Missouri, so the list is not just the neighbours. Similar numbers do not mean similar rules: check each market's regulation section.
See St. Louis on the map
Open St. Louis on the National STR Map to see it against its neighbours, switch overlays and run the deal calculator on your own assumptions.
St. Louis STR questions, answered from the data
Is Airbnb legal in St. Louis?
STR HUB rates St. Louis's short-term rental rules 4/5 (Strict) on a scale from 1 (relaxed) to 5 (very strict). Permit rule on file: Occupied / Non-Occupied STR permit (Ord. 71729) Cap on file: 1 occupied + 4 non-occupied permits per natural person; building caps 50% / 25% / 12.5%. Rules change, so confirm current requirements with the local jurisdiction before you buy or list.
How much does an Airbnb make in St. Louis?
The average short-term rental in St. Louis, MO grosses $42,000 a year, on a $175 average nightly rate and 65% occupancy. That ranks #80 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 St. Louis?
The typical 4-bedroom home in St. Louis city is valued at $322,950 (Zillow Home Value Index), and the typical home of any size at $181,925, with all-home values down 0.3% over the past year. These are county-wide typical values, not list prices.
What is the gross rental yield in St. Louis?
13.0%: average annual short-term rental revenue of $42,000 divided by the county's typical 4-bedroom home value of $322,950. 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 St. Louis?
2 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of St. Louis: Forest Park (Saint Louis Zoo, Art Museum, Science Center) (13,000,000 published attendance) and Gateway Arch National Park (2,209,028 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 (official source: stlouis-mo.gov).
- 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.
- Park visitation: National Park Service, NPS Visitor Use Statistics.
- 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 St. Louis city 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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