Redwood City, California Short-Term Rental Market
Redwood City permits short-term rentals only in an owner's primary residence; investment-property STRs are barred, even as demand runs $260/night.
Quick Answer: Redwood City, California is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the San Francisco market area is 83%. average monthly revenue in the San Francisco market area is $5,556. average daily rate in the San Francisco market area is $260. the top operator in the San Francisco market area is Blueground with 273 listings. market score is 92/100 (grade A).
Market data reflects the San Francisco regional market, which includes Redwood City. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Redwood City.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Redwood City permits short-term rentals only in an operator’s full-time primary residence: second homes and non-owner-occupied investment properties are barred entirely from STR use. This is a fundamental gate that any investor evaluating this market needs to understand before looking at the performance numbers below, since the headline stats in this profile describe the STR market that exists (primarily hosted rentals and rooms in owner-occupied homes), not a market open to a typical arms-length investment purchase.
Redwood City is a Silicon Valley hub on the San Francisco Peninsula, roughly midway between San Francisco and San Jose, with a visitor base driven predominantly by business and tech travel rather than classic tourism (Redwood City was Oracle’s former headquarters and is still home to Box and numerous other tech firms). Leisure visitors are drawn to the revitalized historic downtown around Courthouse Square, the restored 1929 Fox Theatre, and nearby open-space preserves for hiking.
Because StaySTRA’s short-term rental performance data for this submarket is shared across a wider San Francisco Bay Area cluster (Redwood City, San Francisco, San Mateo, Half Moon Bay, San Anselmo, San Rafael, and Stinson Beach, all verifiably part of the Bay Area), this profile frames occupancy, rate, and revenue figures as describing the San Francisco Bay Area STR market rather than claiming Redwood City-only precision.
In June 2026, that area STR market averaged 83.14% occupancy and a $260.21 average daily rate, with average monthly revenue of $5,555.75 per active listing, up a strong 11.62% year over year. Average length of stay ran 6.56 nights, among the longest in this pipeline, consistent with extended tech-industry business travel rather than short leisure trips.
Listing count, bedroom mix, and channel split data for this area are tracked at a shared regional level rather than uniquely for Redwood City, so this profile omits those specific breakdowns.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| Jan | 63% |
| Feb | 67% |
| Mar | 70% |
| Apr | 68% |
| May | 72% |
| Jun | 78% |
| Jul | 77% |
| Aug | 74% |
| Sep | 73% |
| Oct | 71% |
| Nov | 64% |
| Dec | 61% |
Month-by-month nightly rates and revenue figures for Redwood City are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in San Francisco market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the San Francisco market as a whole, which includes Redwood City, so these counts are not Redwood City-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blueground | 273 | 85 | ★ 4.24 |
| 2 | Kasa Properties | 76 | 3,135 | ★ 4.50 |
| 3 | Luxury Bookings FZE | 60 | 31 | ★ 4.30 |
| 4 | Landmark | 53 | 214 | ★ 4.55 |
| 5 | Anyplace | 44 | 87 | ★ 4.86 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Redwood City?
Revenue and nightly-rate breakdowns by bedroom count, property tier, and dwelling type for Redwood City 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 | 71.8% |
| vrbo | 4.6% |
| both | 23.6% |
Home Value Trends (Redwood City)
Typical home values, median sale prices, and the 10-year price trend for Redwood City 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 Redwood City — 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
Redwood City allows short-term rentals only in an operator’s full-time primary residence; second homes and non-owner-occupied investment properties are barred from STR use entirely. This is the defining rule for anyone considering this market and excludes classic arms-length investment-property STR operation outright.
Hosts must register and obtain a permit through the city’s Deckard (XCP) portal, plus a separate city business license, renewing annually with reapplication due by May 31. The permit runs about $250 a year and the business license roughly $50 a year. Guests pay a 12% Transient Occupancy Tax on rent, including cleaning fees, for stays under 30 nights, with that revenue dedicated to the city’s Affordable Housing Fund.
Hosted stays, where the owner is present, carry no annual night cap. Unhosted stays (owner away) are capped at 120 days a calendar year, and no single tenant may stay more than 29 consecutive days. A designated local contact must be available during unhosted stays to respond to complaints. Accessory dwelling units generally cannot be rented short-term unless they were registered before January 1, 2020, and special events like weddings or corporate retreats are prohibited outright.
Enforcement is active and third-party administered: the city contracts Deckard Technologies to detect unpermitted listings and monitor platforms, with escalating fines of $250, then $500, then $1,000 for repeat violations, and serious cases risking permit revocation and a one- to two-year operating ban. No major new ordinance change was identified in the past 24 months, meaning this is a stable but strict framework rather than a recently tightened one.
Market Comparison
The area STR market’s 83.14% occupancy in June 2026 runs well above the roughly 55% occupancy typical of the broader U.S. short-term rental market, and its $260.21 ADR also outpaces the national median of roughly $220, putting underlying demand well ahead of a typical U.S. market on both dimensions.
Property manager data for this area is tracked at a shared regional level rather than uniquely for Redwood City, so this profile omits naming specific operators here.
The single most important comparison point for Redwood City, though, is regulatory rather than performance-based: unlike most markets in this pipeline, Redwood City does not permit non-owner-occupied investment-property STRs at all. An investor drawn by the strong occupancy and revenue figures above needs to understand that this market’s structure only rewards owner-occupants, fundamentally different from the open-investment markets processed elsewhere in this pipeline.
Frequently Asked Questions About Redwood City, California
Can I buy an investment property in Redwood City and rent it out short-term?
How much does an STR permit cost in Redwood City?
Is there a limit on how many nights I can rent my Redwood City home while I'm away?
What taxes apply to short-term rentals in Redwood City?
How aggressively does Redwood City enforce its STR rules?
What is the average nightly rate for a short-term rental in the Redwood City area?
Can I rent out an accessory dwelling unit in Redwood City short-term?
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