Tarpon Springs, Florida Short-Term Rental Market
Tarpon Springs STRs averaged $295/night at 68.3% occupancy in June 2026 across 19,312 active listings.
Quick Answer: Tarpon Springs, Florida is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy is 68%. average monthly revenue is $5,523. average daily rate is $295. the top operator is Resort Rentals with 403 listings. market score is 56/100 (grade C).
Market data reflects the St. Petersburg regional market, which includes Tarpon Springs. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Tarpon Springs.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions Apivex evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Tarpon Springs, Florida had 19,312 active short-term rental listings as of the latest snapshot, split between Airbnb (5,508), Vrbo (2,183), and 11,621 properties listed on both platforms. The market posted a $294.60 average daily rate (ADR) and 68.30% occupancy in June 2026, generating average monthly revenue of $5,523 per listing. Occupancy fell 2.21% year over year, ADR rose 2.71%, and average revenue slipped 0.57% over the trailing year.
Entire-place listings dominate at 18,488 (95.7% of supply), with 797 private-room listings and 27 shared-room listings. By bedroom count, 2-bedroom properties are the largest category at 6,987 listings, followed by 1-bedroom (5,999), 3-bedroom (4,214), 4-bedroom (1,421), and 5-bedroom (642).
Tarpon Springs is a heritage-tourism destination on Florida’s Gulf Coast in Pinellas County, best known as the ‘Sponge Capital of the World’ and home to the largest concentration of Greek-Americans in the U.S., with a population of 25,791. The historic Sponge Docks along Dodecanese Boulevard anchor tourism, drawing day-trippers and regional visitors for natural sponge and Greek import shops, Greek restaurants, and narrated boat cruises. Key annual draws include the Greek Orthodox Epiphany cross-dive celebration each January and the Fine Arts Festival; local officials describe tourism as the city’s number-one industry, though no authoritative annual visitor count was found.
Booking data shows a 59.91-day average lead time and a 5.24-night average length of stay. StaySTRA’s overall market score for Tarpon Springs is 55.53, with rental demand the strongest sub-component at 77.60 and revenue growth the weakest at 54.11.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 65% | $187 | $3,152 |
| Feb | 82% | $215 | $3,952 |
| Mar | 82% | $249 | $5,116 |
| Apr | 65% | $233 | $4,080 |
| May | 62% | $222 | $3,765 |
| Jun | 70% | $238 | $4,404 |
| Jul | 70% | $220 | $4,224 |
| Aug | 54% | $197 | $3,127 |
| Sep | 48% | $174 | $2,331 |
| Oct | 56% | $179 | $2,573 |
| Nov | 57% | $175 | $2,467 |
| Dec | 57% | $188 | $2,626 |
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Tarpon Springs
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape.
| # | 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 Tarpon Springs?
Revenue and pricing by property type, tier, and bedroom count.
Revenue by Bedroom Count
| 1 bed | 5,999 |
| 2 bed | 6,987 |
| 3 bed | 4,214 |
| 4 bed | 1,421 |
| 5 bed | 642 |
ADR by Property Tier
| Entire Home | $300 |
| Luxury | $474 |
| Professionally Managed | $350 |
Revenue by Dwelling Type
| Apartment | $5,209 |
| Entire Place | $5,646 |
| House | $5,998 |
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 28.5% |
| vrbo | 11.3% |
| both | 60.2% |
Investment Analysis
Tarpon Springs’ ADR tiers show a wide spread: the market-wide average of $294.60 sits below the entire-home tier at $300.35, professionally managed listings at $349.95, and the luxury tier at $473.51, a $178.91 gap and roughly 60.8% premium over the market average.
On the acquisition side, the typical home value in Tarpon Springs is $388,987, with a median sale price of $397,417 and homes selling at 97.0% of list price with a median 52 days to pending, indicating a fairly tight, seller-favorable market. Annualizing the $5,523 average monthly revenue produces roughly $66,278 in gross annual revenue per listing, a gross yield of about 17.0% against the typical home value, before accounting for mortgage, management fees, taxes, insurance, and operating costs.
Revenue by property type favors larger homes: houses average $5,998 per month, ahead of entire-place listings overall at $5,646 and apartments at $5,209, a 15.2% spread between apartment and house revenue.
The trailing-year picture is mixed: ADR rose 2.71% while occupancy fell 2.21%, netting a 0.57% revenue decline. StaySTRA’s revenue-growth score of 54.11 is the lowest of the six tracked market-score components, consistent with that softness.
Revenue Trend (5 yr)
ADR & Occupancy Trends (5 yr)
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Booking Insights
Tarpon Springs guests book an average of 59.91 days in advance, giving operators roughly two months of runway to adjust pricing ahead of arrival. This lead time supports dynamic pricing that raises rates as popular weeks fill in, particularly around the February-March peak season and the January Epiphany celebration.
Average length of stay is 5.24 nights, positioning Tarpon Springs as a mid-length leisure market rather than a weekend getaway destination. This stay length supports 4 to 5-night minimum-stay policies without meaningfully restricting bookable inventory, and reduces turnover costs relative to markets with sub-3-night average stays.
Combined, the booking window and stay length suggest operators should prioritize calendar-based pricing tools that adjust rates 30 to 60 days out, and should weight marketing toward guests planning multi-night stays around the Sponge Docks, Greek heritage sites, and boat tours rather than one-night city-break travelers.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Short-term rentals are legal in Tarpon Springs but tightly zoned. A permit is required: operators need a Florida DBPR transient public lodging license, a City of Tarpon Springs Business Tax Receipt, and, depending on the zoning district, a Tourist Home/Seasonal Rental permit or Conditional Use approval, per StaySTRA’s area profile (last updated July 15, 2026).
Zoning is the key local constraint: rentals of six weeks or less (‘tourist homes’) are permitted by right only in the Resort Residential district, and require Conditional Use approval through a public hearing in the RM, RO, WDI-B, and WDI districts; under the city’s SmartCode, they are allowed by right in T4c and by Conditional Use in several other T4/T5/SD transect zones. Tourist homes must be single-family detached dwellings and cannot sit within 1,200 feet of another approved tourist home, which deliberately limits density. Occupancy is capped at roughly two persons per bedroom plus two more in a common area, not to exceed ten guests total.
There is no owner-occupancy requirement and no primary-residence requirement, and no annual night cap at the city level. Guests pay a combined 13% transient tax on stays of six months or less: 6% Florida state sales tax, a 1% Pinellas discretionary surtax, and the 6% Pinellas County Tourist Development Tax. Enforcement is characterized as moderate. Note that Pinellas County’s newer, stricter unincorporated-area STR ordinance (Certificate of Use, inspections, $500/day fines) does not directly apply to the incorporated City of Tarpon Springs, though it reflects a countywide enforcement-tightening trend. Investors should verify a specific address’s zoning eligibility with Planning & Zoning before purchasing.
Market Comparison
Tarpon Springs’ 68.30% occupancy runs well above the roughly 55% national STR median, and its $294.60 ADR is about 34% higher than the national median of approximately $220. This combination points to strong demand relative to supply, consistent with the city’s identity as an established heritage-tourism destination in the Tampa Bay area.
The market is served by several established property managers. Resort Rentals leads with 403 listings and 16,580 reviews (4.579 rating), followed by ITrip Vacations (342 listings, 30,185 reviews, 4.646 rating), Travel Resort Services (330 listings, 9,076 reviews, 4.651 rating), Vacasa (302 listings, 15,079 reviews, 4.593 rating), and Evolve (299 listings, 12,477 reviews, 4.694 rating, the highest-rated of the top five). Together these five operators manage 1,676 listings, roughly 8.7% of the market’s 19,312 total active listings, indicating independent hosts still control the large majority of supply.
Frequently Asked Questions About Tarpon Springs, Florida
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