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Montana Airbnb & Short-Term Rental Laws 2026

LawfulStay tracks short-term rental (STR / Airbnb / Vrbo / holiday let / vacation rental) regulations for 8 jurisdictions across Montana. Select a city below for current permit requirements, tax rates, and compliance details.

5 Active 1 Restricted 2 Pending

Montana Airbnb & Vacation Rental Regulation Overview

The short-term rental regulatory landscape in Montana encompasses 8 tracked jurisdictions: 5 with active regulations, 1 with restrictions, 2 with pending legislation. Hosts operating on platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com should verify local requirements before listing, as rules vary significantly between cities and regions.

Approximately 62% of tracked jurisdictions in Montana require some form of permit, license, or registration for short-term rental operations. Requirements range from simple online registration to comprehensive permit applications with inspections.

Tax obligations apply in 6 of 8 jurisdictions. Common taxes include occupancy taxes, tourist levies, and sales taxes. Many jurisdictions require hosts to register for tax collection, and some platforms like Airbnb collect and remit taxes automatically in select locations.

LawfulStay monitors Montana STR regulations daily and updates this page as rules change. Each city page includes detailed permit requirements, fee schedules, tax rates, zoning rules, and penalty information sourced from official government websites.

Whitefish
Whitefish City Code § 11-3-35 governs STR standards. Requirements include: (1) valid STR registration and business license; (2) zoning conformance; (3) density …
Restricted
Big Sky
Resort tax (4%) created in 1992 and stable since. Montana requires local health department review via the Public Accommodations License process; safety document…
Active
Gallatin County
Gallatin County enforces zoning regulations that prohibit short-term rental use in certain areas. The county is actively pursuing legal action against property …
Active
Kalispell
Operators must: (1) obtain Administrative Conditional Use Permit from Kalispell Planning Dept.; (2) pass Building Department safety inspection; (3) obtain Publi…
Active
Missoula
Required registrations: (1) City of Missoula Short-Term Rental Registration (annual, via Accela Portal); (2) Public Accommodations License from Missoula City-Co…
Active
Montana
Gallatin County enforces zoning restrictions prohibiting short-term rentals in residential areas. The county sued three property owners at 45 Mountain Vista Dri…
Active
Bozeman
Bozeman has provisionally adopted a strengthened short-term rental ordinance that expands regulations and enforcement mechanisms. The ordinance underwent provis…
Pending
Glacier County
No Glacier County-specific STR ordinance was identified through searches of official government sources (.gov) as of 2026-07-29. Smaller Montana counties have g…
Pending