Is a short-term rental legal in Jersey City, NJ?
Jersey City defines a short-term rental (STR) as a rental of a residential dwelling for 28 or fewer consecutive days, regulated under Chapter 255 of the Municipal Code (adopted as Ordinance 19-077 on 6/25/2019, upheld by voter referendum 11/5/2019, and substantially amended by Ordinance 25-059 on 6/11/2025).
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STR permits are issued only to an owner (or a designated Responsible Party) who is the 'principal resident' of the short-term rental property itself or of another dwelling unit on the same lot/building -- defined since Ordinance 25-059 (6/11/2025) as residing there at least 275 days/year, evidenced by 2 of: vehicle registration, state ID, tax documents, or a utility bill. A pure absentee investor with no on-site residence cannot obtain a new permit (narrow exceptions in Ord. 19-077 for owners/tenants already operating non-owner-occupied STRs before 6/6/2019 were time-limited to 1/1/2021 and are closed to new entrants). Where the owner does live on the lot, the OTHER unit(s) may be rented whole-unit while the owner is away, capped at 60 nights/calendar year, and only in buildings of 4 units or fewer where at least one other unit is owner-occupied; that path is also capped at 2 total STR permits per owner/entity citywide (new in Ord. 25-059). Single-family homes and condos/co-ops (where the HOA/Master Deed permits STRs) may operate as STRs while owner-occupied; a bed-and-breakfast-style partial-home rental is capped at 1-3 rooms depending on bedroom count, each room capped at 2 adults + 2 minor children. Tenants/renters can never hold an STR permit or sublease short-term -- this supersedes any conflicting private lease clause. STR definition covers stays of 28 or fewer consecutive days; stays of 29+ consecutive days fall outside Chapter 255 entirely. No single citywide numeric max-guest figure was found for whole-unit rentals (only per-room caps for partial-home rentals); see needs_review.
What you need to operate
The full picture
Jersey City defines a short-term rental (STR) as a rental of a residential dwelling for 28 or fewer consecutive days, regulated under Chapter 255 of the Municipal Code (adopted as Ordinance 19-077 on 6/25/2019, upheld by voter referendum 11/5/2019, and substantially amended by Ordinance 25-059 on 6/11/2025). A pure absentee investor who does not live in the building generally cannot legally operate: a permit is issued only to an owner who is a 'principal resident' of the STRP or of another unit on the same lot (residing there at least 275 days/year, per the 2025 amendment), and no owner or entity may hold more than 2 STR permits citywide. Where an owner does live on-site, whole-unit rentals of the unit they do NOT occupy are capped at 60 nights/year when the owner isn't present (each excess night is a separate violation), and are barred entirely in buildings of more than 4 units. Tenants (renters) can never operate an STR or sublease short-term. Every STR needs an annual permit from the Division of Housing Preservation ($250 initial, $200/year renewal), $500,000 minimum general liability insurance, a fire-safety/property-maintenance inspection (valid 3 years), a zoning determination letter, and proof of no outstanding city taxes, water/sewer charges, or municipal court fines. Guests must be 21+ to be the primary renter, and violations of Chapter 255 carry Municipal Court fines of $100-$2,000 per violation (minimum $100/violation/day the violation continues). On top of city rules, guests booking through a marketplace like Airbnb/Vrbo (or renting a 'professionally managed' unit) pay a combined 13.625% in state and local taxes: 6.625% NJ Sales Tax, 1% NJ State Occupancy Fee (reduced from the standard 5% because Jersey City has its own local tax), and 6% Jersey City Hotel and Transient Accommodation Occupancy Tax (Ordinance 20-027, effective 12/1/2021) -- all collected and remitted by the marketplace under NJ law. A federal court upheld Chapter 255's constitutionality against a regulatory-takings challenge (D.N.J., cited in legal commentary through 2024).
Taxes on guests & hosts
| Tax | Rate | Applies to | Platform collects | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey Sales Tax | 6.625% | Rentals of transient accommodations (28 days or fewer) obtained through a transient space marketplace (e.g. Airbnb, Vrbo) or that are a 'professionally managed unit' (owner offers 2+ other units for rent); direct owner-to-renter rentals outside a marketplace, and rentals executed entirely by a licensed NJ real estate broker, are exempt | Yes | source |
| New Jersey State Occupancy Fee | 1% (reduced from the standard statewide 5% because Jersey City imposes its own local hotel/transient-accommodation occupancy tax) | Same transient accommodations subject to NJ Sales Tax (marketplace-booked or professionally-managed-unit rentals) | Yes | source |
| Jersey City Hotel and Transient Accommodation Occupancy Tax | 6% | Charges for use/occupancy of transient accommodations and hotel rooms in Jersey City (Municipal Code Ch. 304, Art. V, adopted by Ordinance 20-027, effective for transient accommodations 12/1/2021) | Yes | source |
Enforcement
What we could not verify (5)
- Chapter 255 as amended by Ordinance 25-059 is provided as a legislative redline (struck-through old text / underlined new text) rather than a clean codified version, and the city's own Municode-hosted Chapter 255 page (library.municode.com) returned a JavaScript/CAPTCHA bot-wall on every attempt this session and could not be used to cross-check the fully consolidated text. The interplay between the single-family-home room-rental cap (added by Ord. 25-059: 'no more than two rooms... provided the residence contains four or more bedrooms') and the pre-existing 60-night/year whole-unit-while-owner-away rule is not fully unambiguous in the redline text -- specifically whether a single-family homeowner can still rent the ENTIRE home for up to 60 nights/year while away, or whether Ord. 25-059 restricted single-family STRs to room-only rentals. This profile assumes both provisions coexist (room rental while resident, OR whole-home rental capped at 60 nights/year while away) based on the plain text of both sections, but this could not be independently confirmed against a clean consolidated code.
- No official source found stating a single citywide maximum-guest-count number for whole-unit STR rentals (only per-room caps of 2 adults + 2 minor children apply, and only to partial-home/bed-and-breakfast-style rentals). `legality.max_guests` is set to null rather than guessed.
- No fee amount was found on an official source for the Fire Safety/Property Maintenance Code inspection or the Zoning Determination Letter (both may be bundled into general city inspection/certificate fee schedules not located this session); `requirements[].cost` for both is set to null rather than guessed.
- The federal district court decision upholding Chapter 255 against a regulatory-takings challenge is referenced only through secondary legal-commentary sources (TAPinto news article and MROD Law firm blog); the primary court opinion (case name, docket number, exact holding date) was not independently located and fetched this session, so the case citation in `enforcement.notes` is not sourced to a primary judicial record.
- NJ Treasury's own 'Municipal Occupancy Tax List' spreadsheet (munitaxlist.pdf) shows a conflicting figure for Jersey City -- it lists a 'Transient Accommodations tax rate' of 3% effective 12/1/2021 in a column distinct from the (blank) 'Hotel/Motel tax rate' column. This conflicts with the explicit, detailed 6% figure stated in NJ Treasury's own TB-81R2 technical bulletin (with a worked calculation example naming Jersey City specifically) and with the City of Jersey City's own Ordinance 20-027 text (which sets the rate at 6% and was fetched and read directly from the city's CDN). This profile uses the 6% figure as primary because it is corroborated by two independent official sources including the taxing authority's own ordinance text, but the discrepant 3% entry in the state's spreadsheet was not resolved and should be checked with NJ Division of Taxation or Jersey City's Division of Collections before high-stakes use.
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Sources
- Ordinance 25-059 -- An Ordinance Amending and Supplementing Chapter 255 (Short-Term Rentals), adopted 6/11/2025 (full text, hosted on City of Jersey City's own CDN)
- Ordinance 20-027 -- An Ordinance Amending Chapter 304 (Taxation), Article V (Hotel Occupancy Tax) to Include Transient Accommodations (6% tax; full text, City of Jersey City CDN)
- Short-term Rentals Frequently Asked Questions -- City of Jersey City, Division of Housing Preservation (dated 12/4/2019, City of Jersey City CDN)
- Housing Preservation -- City of Jersey City (STR permit program page: application process, Tyler portal, contact info)
- TB-81R2: Taxes Imposed on the Rental of Transient Accommodations -- NJ Division of Taxation (Sales Tax, State Occupancy Fee, Jersey City's 6% local tax, marketplace collection duty, worked example: 13.625% total for Jersey City)
- New Jersey Hotel/Motel and State Occupancy Fee Information -- NJ Division of Taxation (1% reduced rate for Jersey City)
- Hotels and Motels Occupancy Fee and Municipal Occupancy Tax -- NJ Division of Taxation
- Municipal Occupancy Tax / Transient Accommodations Tax List by Municipality -- NJ Division of Taxation (spreadsheet, updated 5/14/2026)
- New Jersey Hotel and Motel Occupancy Fee Information - Municipal Occupancy Tax -- NJ Division of Taxation (confirms Jersey City is barred from the standard Municipal Occupancy Tax because it has its own local hotel/transient tax)
- NJ Division of Taxation - Transient Accommodations FAQ (marketplace collection duty, host registration thresholds)
- Ballotpedia -- Jersey City, New Jersey, Municipal Question 1, Short-Term Rental Property Regulations and Permit Requirements Measure (November 2019)
- Court Upholds Jersey City Ordinance Aimed at AirBNB, Short Term Rentals -- TAPinto Jersey City
- Jersey City Short Term Rental Regulation Not a Regulatory Taking -- MROD Law
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STRWatch publishes educational information about short-term rental regulation, verified against the official sources linked above as of the date shown. It is not legal advice, and rules change — a city can move between our verification passes. For decisions with money at stake, confirm with the authority linked above or a local attorney.