Washington, DC short-term rental market report (2026)
District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.. Rules, revenue, home values, demand, climate, reach and risk, each figure with its source.
- RulesVery strict (5/5)
- 4-BR typical value$980K
- FEMA riskRelatively High
- Demand drivers within 50 mi10
- People within 300 mi69.0 million
- ClimateFour-season
Everything STR HUB holds on Washington, DC 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 Washington?
| Rule | What we hold on file |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | District of Columbia — Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP), under the Short-Term Rental Regulation Act of 2019 |
| Permit or licence | Short-Term Rental (STR) license — host present, unlimited days/year, 30-night max per stay; OR Vacation Rental (VR) license — host absent, 90 cumulative nights/year cap, 30-night max per stay. Both applied for via boss.dc.gov / Access DC. |
| Permit fee | $99 for a 2-year license (either type) |
| Cap on rentals | Not a numeric citywide cap, but a structural ban on non-primary-residence STR investment; the Vacation Rental type is additionally capped at 90 cumulative nights/year |
| Owner occupancy | Required for both license types — the unit must be the licensee's primary residence and Homestead-Tax-Deduction-eligible; only a natural person (no LLC or corporation) may hold the license |
| Occupancy limit | STR type: maximum 8 guests or 2 per bedroom, whichever is greater |
| Lodging and sales taxes | Combined 15.95% sales/use tax on transient accommodations (10.20% base + 4.45% additional), extended through Sept 30, 2027 per DC OTR |
Rules for Washington 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
Stable. The rules we hold report no recent or pending change.
the core primary-residence licensing framework (2019 Act) is unchanged.
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 District of Columbia
Zillow Home Value Index: county-wide typical values for District of Columbia, 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
10 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of Washington, 1 of them new, planned or one-off (flagged emerging). Ordered by published attendance. Attendance appears only where a source publishes it.
Events
- National Cherry Blossom Festival
- When
- Mid-March through early April, about 3 weeks (Tidal Basin)
- Attendance
- 700,000 ("More than 700,000" visitors annually (per Wikipedia, no single specific year cited for the figure).)
- STR angle
- A three-week event (versus a single festival weekend) whose exact peak-bloom dates vary annually, so DC/NoVA/Maryland STR pricing spikes are driven by a bloom-date forecast, not a fixed calendar date.
- Preakness Stakes
- When
- Third Saturday in May (shifting to the fourth Sunday starting 2027)
- STR angle
- The second leg of the Triple Crown drives a major but temporarily-relocated lodging spike; investors should track whether demand is currently centered on Pimlico (Baltimore) or Laurel Park during the reconstruction window.
Attractions
- National Mall & Smithsonian museums
- When
- Year-round; peaks at spring break / cherry blossom and in summer.
- Attendance
- 24,000,000 (Wikipedia (National Mall): "approximately 24 million visitors each year" (NPS reference dated 2008). For scale, Wikipedia's 2024 museum list gives National Gallery of Art 3,936,543, Natural History 3.9 million, Air and Space 3.1 million, American History 2.1 million.)
- STR angle
- Free museums and monuments make Washington a year-round family and school-trip destination. The District only licenses short-term rentals in a host's primary residence, so investor demand spills to Arlington, Alexandria and close-in Maryland near Metro stations.
- Source
- Wikipedia: National Mall
- National Harbor (MGM, Gaylord National)
- When
- Year-round; convention calendar plus summer and December holiday events.
- Attendance
- 12,000,000 (Wikipedia (National Harbor): the developer, Peterson Companies, says National Harbor draws 12 million visitors annually, as of 2025. A developer claim, not an audited count.)
- STR angle
- Convention delegates, casino visitors and DC tourists who want parking and lower rates than downtown. Condos in and near the development see midweek business demand as well as weekends; Prince George's County requires an STR licence.
- National Aquarium & Baltimore Inner Harbor
- When
- Year-round, mostly indoor; summer is busiest.
- Attendance
- 1,500,000 (Wikipedia (National Aquarium, Baltimore): annual attendance of 1.5 million (infobox dated 2009); described as the largest tourism attraction in Maryland.)
- STR angle
- The anchor of a waterfront that also includes the science centre, historic ships and two stadiums, so weekends stack leisure on top of sports. Fells Point, Federal Hill and Canton rowhouses are the usual STR stock; Baltimore requires a licence and limits hosts.
- Museum of the Bible
- When
- Year-round, indoor.
- Attendance
- 453,000 (Wikipedia (Museum of the Bible): the museum states it had 453,000 guests in 2024, bringing total admissions past 3 million.)
- STR angle
- Draws church groups and faith-based tours that travel in larger parties than typical city visitors. DC's primary-residence-only STR rule pushes group houses into Virginia and Maryland suburbs.
- New Stadium at RFK Campus (Washington Commanders) emerging: under construction, target 2030
- When
- Seasonal (NFL season) + events
- STR angle
- Brings the Commanders back into DC proper from Landover, MD; a 2030 opening is a long-horizon watch item for STR investors in DC's eastern neighborhoods (Capitol Hill/Anacostia-adjacent), which currently have limited game-day lodging infrastructure.
Landmarks
- National Mall Memorials (Lincoln, WWII, Vietnam, Korean War, MLK)
- When
- Year-round; busiest months by 2025 NPS recreation visits were Apr, Mar, May.
- Attendance
- 7,743,295 (NPS recreation visits, full calendar year 2025 — Lincoln Memorial only, the most-visited single memorial. Other memorials are counted separately in the same NPS data (Vietnam Veterans 4,848,112; World War II 3,993,717; Korean War Veterans 3,975,010; MLK 2,843,263) and the same visitors appear in several counts, so they are not added together. Wikipedia says the Mall as a whole receives about 24 million visitors a year)
- STR angle
- The memorials are the backbone of Washington's family, school-group and veterans' travel, peaking with spring break and cherry blossoms and again in summer. The District limits short-term rentals largely to primary residences, so many investors look to Arlington and Alexandria near Metro stations instead.
- Harpers Ferry National Historical Park & Historic Town
- When
- Year-round; busiest months by 2025 NPS recreation visits were Aug, Oct, Jul.
- Attendance
- 537,876 (NPS recreation visits, full calendar year 2025 — Wikipedia's infobox shows 407,008 for 2022)
- STR angle
- History, the Appalachian Trail midpoint, river tubing and fall colour stack up in one small town about an hour from Washington, so weekend demand is strong from spring to late October. Houses for four to eight guests in Harpers Ferry, Bolivar and along the rivers serve it.
- George Washington's Mount Vernon
- When
- Open year-round; spring school-trip season and summer peak.
- STR angle
- Mount Vernon is a half-day add-on to a Washington trip and pulls families toward Old Town Alexandria, which has looser rental rules than the District and a historic core of its own. Townhouses near King Street or the Metro serve both the estate and the capital.
- Source
- Wikipedia: Mount Vernon
When they come
Four-season climate: comfortable months are spread across the year without one dominant season. 6 of 12 months have an average high between 60°F and 88°F. Warmest month: July (average high 89°F). Coldest: January (average low 29°F).
- Jan44°29°Cold
- Feb49°31°Cool
- Mar57°37°CoolEvent
- Apr66°46°ComfortableEvent
- May74°54°ComfortableEvent
- Jun84°64°Comfortable
- Jul89°70°Hot
- Aug86°69°Comfortable
- Sep80°62°Comfortable
- Oct69°52°Comfortable
- Nov56°39°Cool
- Dec49°33°Cool
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high (°F) | 44 | 49 | 57 | 66 | 74 | 84 | 89 | 86 | 80 | 69 | 56 | 49 |
| Average low (°F) | 29 | 31 | 37 | 46 | 54 | 64 | 70 | 69 | 62 | 52 | 39 | 33 |
| Precipitation (in) | 3.1 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 5.2 | 6.6 | 7.7 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 4.8 |
| Snowfall (in) | 4.9 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 |
| Sunshine (hours a day) | 6.0 | 6.6 | 8.0 | 9.3 | 10.1 | 11.4 | 12.0 | 10.6 | 9.3 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 6.0 |
| Event month | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Event months within 50 miles
- March: National Cherry Blossom Festival
- April: National Cherry Blossom Festival
- May: Preakness Stakes
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 |
|---|---|
| Philadelphia County, PA | 1,593,208 |
| Fairfax County, VA | 1,145,354 |
| Montgomery County, MD | 1,056,910 |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| Earthquake | Relatively High | 98.3 |
| River flooding | Relatively High | 97.4 |
| Hail | Relatively High | 97.0 |
| Winter weather | Very High | 96.8 |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | 96.0 |
| Tornado | Relatively High | 90.4 |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Moderate | 74.0 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 26.2 |
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. Get property-level flood, wind and wildfire quotes before you buy.
Market context
Housing and jobs in District of Columbia
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 Washington 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 Washington'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 Washington, D.C., so the list is not just the neighbours. Similar numbers do not mean similar rules: check each market's regulation section.
See Washington on the map
Open Washington on the National STR Map to see it against its neighbours, switch overlays and run the deal calculator on your own assumptions.
Washington STR questions, answered from the data
Is Airbnb legal in Washington?
STR HUB rates Washington'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: Short-Term Rental (STR) license — host present, unlimited days/year, 30-night max per stay; OR Vacation Rental (VR) license — host absent, 90 cumulative nights/year cap, 30-night max per stay. Both applied for via boss.dc.gov /… Cap on file: Not a numeric citywide cap, but a structural ban on non-primary-residence STR investment; the Vacation Rental type is additionally capped at 90 cumulative nights/year. Rules change, so confirm current requirements with the local jurisdiction before you buy or list.
How much does a 4-bedroom home cost in Washington?
The typical 4-bedroom home in District of Columbia is valued at $980,465 (Zillow Home Value Index), and the typical home of any size at $570,135, with all-home values down 1.0% over the past year. These are county-wide typical values, not list prices.
What brings visitors to Washington?
10 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of Washington, including National Mall & Smithsonian museums (24,000,000 published attendance), National Harbor (MGM, Gaylord National) (12,000,000 published attendance) and National Mall Memorials (Lincoln, WWII, Vietnam, Korean War, MLK) (7,743,295 published attendance). Attendance is shown only where a source publishes it, and each driver's source is linked in the report.
What natural hazards affect Washington?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates District of Columbia "Relatively High" overall, with a score of 97.6 out of 100 (a national percentile). The highest-scoring hazards we track there are earthquake and river flooding. It is a county-wide index, not an insurance quote or a flood-zone determination.
When is the weather best in Washington?
6 of 12 months have an average high between 60°F and 88°F (April, May, June, August, September and October). Four-season climate: comfortable months are spread across the year without one dominant season. These are 2019-2023 climate normals, not booking data.
Sources and method
- Regulation summary and strictness rating: STR Agent HUB regulation research (official source: dlcp.dc.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 District of Columbia 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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