Kentucky Airbnb & short-term-rental permit leads

Kentucky permit records in numbers

In Kentucky, 2,501 records carry a phone (62%), 2,502 an email and 2,472 both. The national file stands at 44%, 18 points lower.

Filing dates run from June 10, 2025 to October 22, 2026. 2026 is already the busiest year, with 2,485 records so far against 548 for all of 2025. 2,686 Kentucky records were filed in the last 12 months, 67% of the file. October 22, 2026 brought the latest Kentucky addition, one of 93 in the past 30 days.

150 owner or business names sit on two or more Kentucky addresses, 509 records between them, with 18 addresses under the biggest one.

Kentucky short-term rental rules

Program page: Louisville Metro Office of Planning. Its site blocks automated reads, so the rules are linked here rather than restated.

Lexington requires every short-term rental operator to get a zoning compliance permit from the planning division and a business license from the revenue division, if one is not already held. A special fees license from the revenue division is also required and renews every year.

Source: City of Lexington, Kentucky, read on October 22, 2026.

Kentucky filings by month

The last twelve full months (Oct 2025 to Sep 2026) carry 2,668 dated Kentucky filings. The same months a year earlier carried 296, so the pace is up 801%.

In Kentucky, the busiest month in the window was June 2026 with 837, the twelve-month average is 222.3 a month and the slowest was October 2025 with 75.

Filings bunch up in summer (June to August): 1,019 of the last twelve months' 2,668 (38%).

October 2026 so far: 69 dated filings, a partial month.

Since Louisville Metro STR registrations was first copied on July 6, 2026, 1,075 records have been added for Kentucky: 99 in July 2026, 81 in August 2026, 823 in September 2026 and 72 in October 2026.

The most recent Kentucky addition reached the database on October 22, 2026.

Kentucky permit status

Of the 4,029 Kentucky records, 1,561 carry labels that describe something other than standing, such as "OR2" and "(C3)".

What a Kentucky list contains

Partly filled: owner name on 2,553 (63%), business name on 1,566 (39%), property address on 3,033 (75%), phone on 2,501 (62%), email on 2,502 (62%), permit or licence number on 3,304 (82%), permit type on 1,467 (36%), status on 1,565 (39%) and filing date on 3,033 (75%). The register leaves separate mailing address and ZIP code blank for Kentucky. By channel: 2,501 rows can be called, 2,502 emailed and 3,033 mailed.

Short-term rental rules across Kentucky

Lexington classifies a rental as un-hosted when no primary resident occupies the property. [1] Stays of 30 days or more in a row are excluded from Kentucky's transient room tax. [2] Lexington defines a short-term rental as a tenancy of less than 30 consecutive days where no meals are served. [1] Lexington's STR licence is renewed every year at $200 for the first unit and $100 for each additional unit. [3]

Kentucky charges a statewide transient room tax of 1 percent of the rent (KRS 142.400). [2] The state transient room tax is charged on top of Kentucky's 6 percent sales tax. [2] Airbnb and VRBO collect and remit the 1% state transient room tax for participating Kentucky hosts. [2] Since January 1, 2023, online platforms must also report and pay local transient room taxes in Kentucky. [2]

Operators must get a special fees license to run a short-term rental in Lexington. [3] Lexington defines a hosted STR as one where the unit, or another unit on the property, is a primary residence. [1]