Crystal Beach, Florida Short-Term Rental Market
Crystal Beach STRs averaged $292/night at 67.2% occupancy in April 2026 across 19,312 active listings.
Quick Answer: Crystal Beach, Florida is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the St. Petersburg market area is 68%. average monthly revenue in the St. Petersburg market area is $5,523. average daily rate in the St. Petersburg market area is $295. the top operator in the St. Petersburg market area is Resort Rentals with 403 listings. market score is 56/100 (grade C).
Market data reflects the St. Petersburg regional market, which includes Crystal Beach. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Crystal Beach.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Crystal Beach is a small, unincorporated Gulf-front community in Pinellas County, Florida, situated within the broader St. Pete/Clearwater market. Despite a resident population of approximately 979, the area supports 19,312 active short-term rental listings, reflecting its position inside one of Florida’s top coastal tourism regions. In April 2026, the average daily rate was $292.37 and occupancy reached 67.2%, generating a RevPAR of $196.43. Year-over-year, ADR rose 3.6% while occupancy fell 5.4%, resulting in an overall revenue decline of 2.1%.
Entire-place rentals dominate supply at 18,488 listings (95.7% of the market), with 797 private rooms and 27 shared rooms accounting for the rest. Two-bedroom listings are the most common configuration (6,987 units), followed by one-bedroom (5,999), three-bedroom (4,214), four-bedroom (1,421), and five-bedroom (642). Cross-platform distribution is high: 11,621 listings appear on both Airbnb and VRBO, 5,508 are Airbnb-only, and 2,183 are VRBO-only. The market’s total score is 55.5 out of 100, with rental demand (77.6) and investability (74.4) as the strongest underlying indicators.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| Jan | 65% |
| Feb | 82% |
| Mar | 82% |
| Apr | 65% |
| May | 62% |
| Jun | 70% |
| Jul | 70% |
| Aug | 54% |
| Sep | 48% |
| Oct | 56% |
| Nov | 57% |
| Dec | 57% |
Month-by-month nightly rates and revenue figures for Crystal Beach are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in St. Petersburg market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the St. Petersburg market as a whole, which includes Crystal Beach, so these counts are not Crystal Beach-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Resort Rentals | 403 | 16,580 | ★ 4.58 |
| 2 | ITrip Vacations | 342 | 30,185 | ★ 4.65 |
| 3 | Travel Resort Services | 330 | 9,076 | ★ 4.65 |
| 4 | Vacasa | 302 | 15,079 | ★ 4.59 |
| 5 | Evolve | 299 | 12,477 | ★ 4.69 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Crystal Beach?
Revenue and nightly-rate breakdowns by bedroom count, property tier, and dwelling type for Crystal Beach 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 | 28.5% |
| vrbo | 11.3% |
| both | 60.2% |
Booking Insights
Booking-window and length-of-stay analysis for Crystal Beach — 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
Crystal Beach is unincorporated Pinellas County, so it falls under the county’s short-term rental ordinance (Ordinance 25-15), adopted in March 2025. This was Pinellas County’s first countywide STR regulatory framework. Under this ordinance, STRs are properties rented for stays under 30 days more than three times per year.
Operators must obtain a county-issued Certificate of Use at $450 per year, renewable annually and non-transferable (one per property). A safety inspection is required before the certificate is issued, at $150 for the initial inspection and $100 for reinspection, with re-inspections every two years.
Operational rules include: maximum occupancy of two guests per bedroom plus two in common areas (capped at 10 total); one off-street parking space per three guests (front-lawn parking excluded); and quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. Emergency contact and occupancy information must be posted inside the unit.
On the tax side, the county charges a 6% Tourist Development Tax (bed tax), and Florida state and local sales taxes add approximately 7%, for a combined transient tax rate of roughly 13%. There is no owner-occupancy or primary-residence requirement and no annual night cap. Applications opened March 31, 2025 with zip-code-based deadlines through July 2025. Enforcement by county Code Enforcement is rated moderate.
Market Comparison
Crystal Beach’s April 2026 ADR of $292.37 significantly exceeds the U.S. STR median ADR of approximately $220, placing it in the upper tier of coastal Florida markets. Occupancy at 67.2% is also well above the national median of roughly 55%, reflecting strong demand fundamentals in the Pinellas County Gulf Coast corridor.
The market’s rental demand score of 77.6 and investability score of 74.4 indicate above-average market quality. However, the total score of 55.5 reflects ongoing adjustments from occupancy compression and the new regulatory layer from Ordinance 25-15.
Among operators, Resort Rentals leads with 403 listings and 16,580 reviews at a 4.58 rating. ITrip Vacations follows with 342 listings and the highest review count among the top five at 30,185 (rating 4.65). Travel Resort Services holds 330 listings at a 4.65 rating, Vacasa 302 listings at 4.59, and Evolve 299 listings at 4.69. The top five operators collectively manage 1,676 listings, representing approximately 8.7% of the 19,312-listing market.
Frequently Asked Questions About Crystal Beach, Florida
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