Plant City, Florida Short-Term Rental Market
Plant City STRs averaged $167/night at 58.4% occupancy in June 2026 across 11,315 active listings.
Quick Answer: Plant City, Florida is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy is 58%. average monthly revenue is $2,645. average daily rate is $167. the top operator is Evolve with 141 listings. market score is 56/100 (grade C).
Market data reflects the Tampa regional market, which includes Plant City. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Plant City.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions Apivex evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Plant City, Florida had 11,315 active short-term rental listings as of the most recent snapshot, split between Airbnb (6,131 listings), Vrbo (601), and 4,583 properties listed on both platforms. The market posted a $166.52 average daily rate (ADR) and 58.38% occupancy in June 2026, generating average monthly revenue of $2,645 per listing. Occupancy is essentially flat year over year (up 0.07%), while ADR rose 1.3%, but average revenue fell 7.44% over the trailing year, a combination suggesting softer demand at the property level despite modestly higher headline rates.
Entire-place listings account for 9,847 of the total (87.0%), with 1,446 private-room listings and 22 shared-room listings. By bedroom count, 1-bedroom units lead supply at 5,411 listings, followed by 3-bedroom (2,251), 2-bedroom (2,071), 4-bedroom (1,114), and 5-bedroom (434).
Plant City’s 40,571 residents host an event-driven visitor market rather than a resort destination: the 11-day Florida Strawberry Festival each February/March drew more than 650,000 attendees in 2025 and is the area’s dominant tourism draw, supplemented by agri-tourism (U-pick strawberry farms), Dinosaur World, and the historic downtown Union Depot district. The city also functions as a lower-cost lodging base roughly midway between Tampa and Orlando on the I-4 corridor.
Booking data shows a relatively short 27.58-day average lead time and a 4.66-night average length of stay, both consistent with an event-and-day-trip market where bookings cluster around the Strawberry Festival window and short getaways rather than long, planned-in-advance vacations. StaySTRA’s overall market score for Plant City is 55.93, with rental demand the strongest component at 82.09 and revenue growth the weakest at 41.28.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 65% | $137 | $2,469 |
| Feb | 75% | $152 | $2,839 |
| Mar | 76% | $161 | $3,405 |
| Apr | 61% | $149 | $2,537 |
| May | 59% | $139 | $2,286 |
| Jun | 62% | $140 | $2,338 |
| Jul | 64% | $136 | $2,429 |
| Aug | 59% | $122 | $2,047 |
| Sep | 56% | $115 | $1,716 |
| Oct | 61% | $122 | $2,010 |
| Nov | 61% | $125 | $2,051 |
| Dec | 65% | $136 | $2,386 |
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Plant City
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evolve | 141 | 4,612 | ★ 4.54 |
| 2 | Sailport Waterfront Suites | 90 | 239 | ★ 4.28 |
| 3 | Emperor Rentals | 68 | 5,087 | ★ 4.83 |
| 4 | One Stone Property Group | 67 | 4,521 | ★ 4.61 |
| 5 | Bojano Stays | 61 | 121 | ★ 4.05 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Plant City?
Revenue and pricing by property type, tier, and bedroom count.
Revenue by Bedroom Count
| 1 bed | 5,411 |
| 2 bed | 2,071 |
| 3 bed | 2,251 |
| 4 bed | 1,114 |
| 5 bed | 434 |
ADR by Property Tier
| Entire Home | $177 |
| Luxury | $299 |
| Professionally Managed | $208 |
Revenue by Dwelling Type
| Apartment | $1,961 |
| Entire Place | $2,833 |
| House | $3,046 |
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 54.2% |
| vrbo | 5.3% |
| both | 40.5% |
Investment Analysis
Plant City’s tier spread is wide relative to its market-wide ADR. The $166.52 average sits well below the entire-home tier at $176.98, professionally managed listings at $208.33, and the luxury tier at $298.83. The gap between the market average and luxury tier is about $132, a 79.4% premium, a signal that top-tier positioning carries significant pricing power here.
Revenue by property type also varies sharply: houses average $3,046 per month, ahead of entire-place listings overall at $2,833 and well ahead of apartments at $1,961, a 55.3% spread between apartment and house revenue. That is a wide gap, suggesting house-style properties substantially outperform apartment-style units in Plant City.
The trailing-year trend is a concern for revenue growth specifically: while ADR rose 1.3% and occupancy was flat (up 0.07%), average revenue per listing fell 7.44% year over year. StaySTRA’s revenue-growth score for Plant City is 41.28 out of 100, the lowest of the six tracked market-score components, consistent with that decline.
Typical home value and median sale price data are not currently published for Plant City in this dataset, so a gross-yield calculation against acquisition cost cannot be produced here.
Revenue Trend (5 yr)
ADR & Occupancy Trends (5 yr)
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Booking Insights
Plant City guests book an average of 27.58 days in advance, a notably short window compared to many leisure markets, and one that likely reflects the area’s event-driven demand tied to the Florida Strawberry Festival and its role as a last-minute, lower-cost alternative to Tampa and Orlando lodging. Operators have less runway than in longer-lead-time markets to adjust pricing far ahead of arrival, which argues for pricing tools that react to booking pace within a 3 to 4 week window rather than a 60-day horizon.
Average length of stay is 4.66 nights, a mid-length stay consistent with short getaways and festival trips rather than week-long vacations. This length of stay supports 3 to 4-night minimum-stay policies without significantly restricting bookable inventory, while still allowing reasonable turnover efficiency between guests. Combined, the short booking window and moderate stay length mean operators should monitor near-term booking pace closely around the February-March festival period rather than relying on advance bookings to signal demand months out.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Short-term rentals are permitted in Plant City, and unlike many nearby incorporated Florida cities, a permit is required here. Per StaySTRA’s area profile (last updated July 4, 2026), operators must hold a Florida DBPR Vacation Rental license, register with the Florida Department of Revenue for state sales tax, and obtain a City of Plant City Local Business Tax Receipt, which renews annually (due before October 1, expiring September 30).
Florida Statute 509.032 preempts municipalities from banning short-term rentals or regulating rental frequency and duration, so Plant City cannot outlaw Airbnb or Vrbo use and does not impose its own owner-occupancy or annual-night-cap rules. There is no owner-occupancy requirement and no primary-residence requirement at the city level.
Tax obligations layer on top of licensing: the 6% Hillsborough County Tourist Development (‘bed’) Tax applies to stays of 30 days or less, remitted monthly by the 20th, in addition to Florida’s state sales tax. Airbnb automatically collects the county tourist tax for stays under 184 nights, but hosts must still register and file. No Plant City-specific STR zoning ordinance was located; properties generally operate under standard residential zoning subject to the city’s rental and nuisance codes. Enforcement runs through standard code and nuisance channels rather than a dedicated STR program, and is characterized as minimal. Investors should confirm current zoning treatment and fees directly with the Plant City Planning/Zoning Department before purchasing.
Market Comparison
Plant City’s 58.38% occupancy runs modestly above the roughly 55% national STR median, but its $166.52 ADR sits about 24% below the national median of approximately $220. That combination, above-average occupancy paired with below-average rates, suggests a market where operators compete more on price and volume than on premium positioning, consistent with Plant City’s role as a lower-cost lodging alternative to Tampa and Orlando.
The market’s top property managers are smaller-scale relative to bigger metro markets. Evolve leads with 141 listings and 4,612 reviews (4.541 rating), followed by Sailport Waterfront Suites (90 listings, 239 reviews, 4.281 rating), Emperor Rentals (68 listings, 5,087 reviews, 4.826 rating, the highest-rated of the top five), One Stone Property Group (67 listings, 4,521 reviews, 4.610 rating), and Bojano Stays (61 listings, 121 reviews, 4.049 rating). Together these five operators manage 427 listings, about 3.8% of the market’s 11,315 total active listings, indicating supply here is dominated by independent hosts rather than large management companies.
Frequently Asked Questions About Plant City, Florida
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