Palm Springs, California Short-Term Rental Market
The Palm Springs area STR market averaged $403 a night at 41.2% occupancy in June 2026.
Quick Answer: Palm Springs, California is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Coachella Valley market area is 41%. average monthly revenue in the Coachella Valley market area is $4,764. average daily rate in the Coachella Valley market area is $403. the top operator in the Coachella Valley market area is Vacasa with 593 listings. market score is 44/100 (grade D).
Market data reflects the Coachella Valley regional market, which includes Palm Springs. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Palm Springs.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Palm Springs, the tourism anchor of the Greater Palm Springs and Coachella Valley region, has its short-term rental performance tracked as part of a wider regional StaySTRA data series; this profile omits total listing counts, bedroom and channel mix, and property manager rankings since that dimension and property manager data is tracked at a shared regional level rather than uniquely for Palm Springs.
The Palm Springs area’s own STR performance averaged $402.93 a night (ADR) at 41.2% occupancy in June 2026, generating an average of $4,764 in monthly revenue per listing. Occupancy is up 0.6% year over year and ADR is up 4.1%, while revenue is essentially flat, down 0.1%.
Revenue varies by property type in the Palm Springs area itself: apartment-style units average $2,322 a month, entire-place units average $4,850, and standalone houses average $5,517, more than double the apartment figure.
Palm Springs draws about 14.5 million visitors a year regionally across the nine-city Coachella Valley, with the city of Palm Springs specifically capturing an estimated $1.9 billion in annual visitor spending. The city is known for its desert resort climate, mid-century modern architecture, LGBTQ+ tourism, wellness and spa culture, golf, and major events including the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals and Modernism Week; about 30% of overnight visitors stay in short-term rentals, generating roughly $309 million in annual visitor spending tied to that segment alone.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| Jan | 56% |
| Feb | 70% |
| Mar | 72% |
| Apr | 57% |
| May | 39% |
| Jun | 45% |
| Jul | 47% |
| Aug | 44% |
| Sep | 40% |
| Oct | 46% |
| Nov | 55% |
| Dec | 49% |
Month-by-month nightly rates and revenue figures for Palm Springs are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Coachella Valley market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the Coachella Valley market as a whole, which includes Palm Springs, so these counts are not Palm Springs-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vacasa | 593 | 14,029 | ★ 4.49 |
| 2 | Evolve | 340 | 9,820 | ★ 4.71 |
| 3 | AvantStay | 252 | 5,366 | ★ 4.80 |
| 4 | Acme House | 188 | 6,138 | ★ 4.78 |
| 5 | Park Royal Indian Palms Intervals | 170 | 0 | ★ 0.00 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Palm Springs?
Revenue and nightly-rate breakdowns by bedroom count, property tier, and dwelling type for Palm Springs are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 31.6% |
| vrbo | 12.3% |
| both | 56.1% |
Home Value Trends (Palm Springs)
Typical home values, median sale prices, and the 10-year price trend for Palm Springs are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Booking Insights
Booking-window and length-of-stay analysis for Palm Springs — how far ahead guests book and how to price around it — is available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Palm Springs allows short-term vacation rentals but under one of California’s most tightly managed regimes. Every operator must hold a Vacation Rental or Homeshare Registration Certificate plus a Transient Occupancy Tax permit. As of December 1, 2025, the standard annual certificate fee is $1,046.00, a Junior certificate, limited to 6 rental contracts a year, costs $523.00. Certificates renew annually and require proof of STR liability insurance with a $500,000 minimum limit, a passing safety inspection at initial application and each renewal, and annual completion of a city education program and test.
Rentals are capped by number of contracts per calendar year, one booking equals one contract regardless of length, so the constraint is on the number of stays rather than total nights. The cap depends on permit vintage: certificates issued after November 2022 are limited to 26 contracts a year, while legacy permits issued before that date retain a 36-contract cap. On October 22, 2025, the City Council voted to keep the legacy 36-contract cap indefinitely, canceling a scheduled reduction to 26 that would have taken effect after December 31, 2025, a decision driven by data showing most operators run well below their caps.
Owner-occupancy and primary-residence status are not required for a standard vacation rental certificate; separate homeshare certificates cover owner-present stays. Rentals are restricted to single-family dwellings in single-family residential neighborhoods, with apartments prohibited entirely, and a 20% per-neighborhood density cap blocks new certificates once a fifth of a neighborhood’s dwellings already hold one.
The Transient Occupancy Tax on vacation rentals is 11.5%, plus a 1.0% Tourism Business Improvement District assessment on stays under 28 days. Enforcement is aggressive: operating without a certificate carries a $5,000 fine and permanent disqualification from vacation rental operation.
Market Comparison
The Palm Springs area’s 41.2% occupancy runs well below the national short-term rental median of roughly 55%, about 13.8 percentage points lower, while its $402.93 ADR is roughly 83.2% above a national median ADR of about $220. This is a high-rate, lower-occupancy market, consistent with a strongly seasonal desert destination where owners charge a premium during the January through April high season but see meaningfully softer bookings the rest of the year, compounded here by the city’s contract-count permit caps that constrain how many bookings a licensed property can even accept.
Property manager data for this market area is tracked at a shared regional level rather than uniquely for Palm Springs, so no property manager breakdown is presented here. Buyers researching management options should verify any specific operator’s actual coverage of the Coachella Valley directly. Palm Springs’ own housing and regulatory profile, covered elsewhere in this report, remain reliable at the city level regardless of this limitation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Palm Springs, California
What is the average Airbnb occupancy rate in Palm Springs, CA?
What is the average nightly rate for a vacation rental in Palm Springs, CA?
How much does a short-term rental permit cost in Palm Springs?
How many times a year can I rent out a Palm Springs vacation rental?
Can I buy an apartment in Palm Springs and rent it as a short-term rental?
When is peak season for vacation rentals in Palm Springs?
What lodging tax applies to short-term rentals in Palm Springs?
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