How it works
From a city to a cited answer
Search a city. See whether an STR is allowed, what permit it needs, and the combined lodging tax, each field citing the jurisdiction that set it. Free to save one property; Pro adds unlimited properties, exports and the API.
1. Search a city
Start from the city you are considering. LodgeDeck covers a growing set of US jurisdictions, each with its short-term rental rules and lodging tax on one page.
2. Read the cited rules and tax
See whether a licence or permit is required, whether the property has to be your primary residence, any night cap and zoning limits, then the state rate, the local occupancy tax and the combined rate a guest pays. Every field links the jurisdiction it came from and carries a confidence flag. Anything not confirmed on an official source shows "Verify with jurisdiction" rather than a guess.
3. Run the numbers
Drop the real combined tax rate into the occupancy-tax calculator, then check profit, break-even occupancy and a sensible cleaning fee. Each result shows its own breakdown and runs entirely in your browser, so nothing you type is sent to us.
4. Save a property and merge calendars
Save the property and paste the public iCal export URLs from Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com. LodgeDeck merges them into one turnover schedule and flags same-day changeovers and gap nights. On Pro, it watches the city for rule or tax changes and emails you.
5. Call it from your code or an agent
The same cited dataset is a single-key REST API and a hosted MCP server. A travel, proptech or tax agent can look up a city's STR rules and lodging tax mid-task and get a source it can show its user.
FAQ
Questions about the process
Where do the rules and rates come from?
From publicly available municipal and state pages. Each field cites the source it was read from and carries a confidence flag: verified means it was confirmed on the official page, reported means it was corroborated but not confirmed, and unverified means the value is not established, in which case nothing is shown as a real value.
What happens when a value is not confirmed?
The field renders "Verify with jurisdiction" rather than a number or a Yes/No. The eligibility check also lowers its own confidence and says so when a governing rule is unknown, instead of guessing.
Do the calculators send my numbers anywhere?
No. The calculators run entirely in your browser off the same pure functions the API uses. The figures you type never leave the page.
Does calendar sync log in to Airbnb or Vrbo?
No. It reads the public read-only iCal export URL each platform publishes for a listing. You paste the link; no platform password is stored, and availability is never written back.
Is this legal or tax advice?
LodgeDeck reports publicly available short-term rental rules and lodging tax rates and cites the source of each field. It is not legal or tax advice and it does not replace your own review. Ordinances and tax rates change often and automated collection can lag, so every field shows the source it came from and a confidence flag, and unconfirmed values are marked Unverified. Confirm with the jurisdiction before you rely on a rule or rate.
Check your city now
Free, no account needed to read the rules and tax or run the calculators.