Short-Term Rental permits across Tennessee
Where each city draws the line on short-term rental work. Sort any column — useful if you build across several towns and need to know where the rules change.
The statewide starting point is International Residential Code, принятый Теннесси, 2018. Cities that changed the rule are the interesting rows below.
| Where the line falls | Fee | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville | 704,963 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Memphis | 610,919 | Yes | You need a short term rental permit from the city, and yo… | — |
| Knoxville | 198,722 | Yes | Operating a short-term rental needs a permit under Knoxvi… | — |
| Chattanooga | 191,496 | Yes | No one may operate a short-term or vacation rental withou… | A short-term vacation rental certificate must be renewed ea… |
| Clarksville | 185,690 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| Murfreesboro | 168,387 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Franklin | 89,142 | Yes | Residential dwelling used as a short-term vacation rental… | Short-Term Vacation Rentals Permitting Fee (amount in Appen… |
| Johnson City | 73,635 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Jackson | 69,303 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Hendersonville | 63,947 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Smyrna | 60,302 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Kingsport | 57,109 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Gallatin | 52,489 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Brentwood | 45,525 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Mount Juliet | 44,066 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| La Vergne | 41,430 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Germantown | 40,128 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Morristown | 32,994 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Bristol | 27,867 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Farragut | 25,242 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Springfield | 19,842 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Goodlettsville | 17,433 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Nolensville | 15,809 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
“Unconfirmed” means the city's code doesn't state the rule plainly enough to publish. Those city pages link straight to the ordinance section instead.
Why neighboring cities disagree
Every city starts from a model code and then edits it. One town raises the shed cutoff, the next lowers the fence height, a third exempts the structure where its neighbor only exempts repairs to it. None of that is visible from a national article — you have to read each ordinance, which is what these pages do.