Taos, NM short-term rental market report (2026)
Taos County, New Mexico. Rules, revenue, home values, demand, climate, reach and risk, each figure with its source.
- RulesVery strict (5/5)
- 4-BR typical value$728K
- FEMA riskRelatively Low
- Demand drivers within 50 mi3
- People within 300 mi9.0 million
- ClimateSki-plus-summer
Everything STR HUB holds on Taos, NM 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 Taos?
| Rule | What we hold on file |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Town of Taos (in-town) and Taos County (unincorporated county, under a separate ordinance adopted August 2024) — two distinct permit regimes apply depending on parcel location. |
| Permit or licence | Town of Taos: a Short-Term Rental Permit, issued first-come-first-served up to the 120-permit cap; annual renewal is due November 30 (the permit year ends September 30). Taos County (unincorporated area only): an STR permit under the county's August 2024 ordinance, capped at roughly 400 permits, with an estimated 220-230 existing home-occupation-permit holders grandfathered in if they maintain their county business registration. |
| Cap on rentals | Town: hard cap of 120 STR permits citywide, allocated first-come-first-served, plus outright bans in Historic Districts, Historic and Hotel Overlay Zones, and the Central Business District (with limited renewal-only exceptions for previously permitted units in those zones). County (unincorporated): hard cap of roughly 400 permits, effective on or about October 21, 2024, with exemptions for certain existing operators. |
| Lodging and sales taxes | Town of Taos: 5.0% Lodgers' Tax on reservations under 30 nights, plus New Mexico's statewide Gross Receipts Tax. |
Rules for Taos 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
Tightening. The rules we hold report a recent or pending change.
Taos County separately adopted its first comprehensive STR ordinance on August 20, 2024, capping permits in the unincorporated county at roughly 400.
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 Taos County
Zillow Home Value Index: county-wide typical values for Taos 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
3 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of Taos. Ordered by published attendance. Attendance appears only where a source publishes it.
Outdoor activities
- Angel Fire Resort (bike park & ski area)
- When
- Summer lift-served biking; winter skiing.
- STR angle
- Texas and Oklahoma families treat Angel Fire as a drive-to mountain escape in both summer and winter. Condos near the lifts and cabins in the valley rent in two seasons, which is unusual for the Southwest.
- Taos Ski Valley
- When
- Winter ski season, roughly late November to mid-April; summer brings hiking and lift-served biking.
- STR angle
- Steep, expert-leaning mountain with a small base village. Slope-side condos are limited, so casitas in Arroyo Seco and Taos pick up skiers in winter and art and culture travelers the rest of the year.
Landmarks
- Taos Pueblo
- When
- Open most of the year with closures for tribal observances; summer and fall bring Taos most of its cultural visitors.
- STR angle
- A continuously inhabited adobe pueblo and World Heritage Site is the cultural heart of a Taos trip that also sells art, the gorge and skiing, giving the town summer and winter seasons. Adobe casitas and houses with mountain views are the product; check town and county rental permit rules.
- Source
- Wikipedia: Taos Pueblo
When they come
Ski-plus-summer climate: at least three months bring six inches or more of snowfall, and May to September is comfortable. 7 of 12 months have an average high between 60°F and 88°F, and 4 months average six inches or more of snow. Warmest month: July (average high 85°F). Coldest: January (average low 13°F).
- Jan34°13°ColdSnow
- Feb36°14°ColdSnow
- Mar46°24°CoolSnow
- Apr60°33°Comfortable
- May70°41°Comfortable
- Jun80°50°Comfortable
- Jul85°55°Comfortable
- Aug83°54°Comfortable
- Sep77°49°Comfortable
- Oct63°37°Comfortable
- Nov51°27°Cool
- Dec38°16°ColdSnow
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high (°F) | 34 | 36 | 46 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 85 | 83 | 77 | 63 | 51 | 38 |
| Average low (°F) | 13 | 14 | 24 | 33 | 41 | 50 | 55 | 54 | 49 | 37 | 27 | 16 |
| Precipitation (in) | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.4 |
| Snowfall (in) | 6.7 | 8.1 | 10.1 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 8.4 |
| Sunshine (hours a day) | 8.5 | 9.3 | 10.0 | 11.9 | 12.8 | 13.0 | 13.2 | 12.5 | 11.5 | 10.3 | 9.2 | 8.3 |
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 |
|---|---|
| Bernalillo County, NM | 674,692 |
| Pueblo County, CO | 168,135 |
| Santa Fe County, NM | 154,481 |
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 | Relatively Moderate | 96.2 |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 92.9 |
| River flooding | Relatively Moderate | 81.7 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 62.0 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 21.7 |
| Hail | Very Low | 17.2 |
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 hurricane and 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 Taos 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 Taos 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 Taos'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 New Mexico, so the list is not just the neighbours. Similar numbers do not mean similar rules: check each market's regulation section.
See Taos on the map
Open Taos on the National STR Map to see it against its neighbours, switch overlays and run the deal calculator on your own assumptions.
Taos STR questions, answered from the data
Is Airbnb legal in Taos?
STR HUB rates Taos's short-term rental rules 5/5 (Very strict) 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. Permit rule on file: Town of Taos: a Short-Term Rental Permit, issued first-come-first-served up to the 120-permit cap; annual renewal is due November 30 (the permit year ends September 30). Taos County (unincorporated area only): an STR permit under… Cap on file: Town: hard cap of 120 STR permits citywide, allocated first-come-first-served, plus outright bans in Historic Districts, Historic and Hotel Overlay Zones, and the Central Business… Rules change, so confirm current requirements with the local jurisdiction before you buy or list.
How much does a 4-bedroom home cost in Taos?
The typical 4-bedroom home in Taos County is valued at $727,514 (Zillow Home Value Index), and the typical home of any size at $438,441, with all-home values down 0.5% over the past year. These are county-wide typical values, not list prices.
What brings visitors to Taos?
3 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of Taos: Angel Fire Resort (bike park & ski area), Taos Pueblo and Taos Ski Valley. Attendance is shown only where a source publishes it, and each driver's source is linked in the report.
What natural hazards affect Taos?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Taos County "Relatively Low" overall, with a score of 74.3 out of 100 (a national percentile). The highest-scoring hazards we track there are wildfire and winter weather. It is a county-wide index, not an insurance quote or a flood-zone determination.
When is the weather best in Taos?
7 of 12 months have an average high between 60°F and 88°F (April, May, June, July, August, September and October). Ski-plus-summer climate: at least three months bring six inches or more of snowfall, and May to September is comfortable. These are 2019-2023 climate normals, not booking data.
Sources and method
- Regulation summary and strictness rating: STR Agent HUB regulation research (official source: taosnm.gov).
- 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 Taos 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.
Buying a short-term rental in Taos?
Get matched with a Taos agent who works short-term rentals every day and knows which properties can legally operate.
Get matched with a Taos STR agent →