South Carolina Airbnb & short-term-rental permit leads

South Carolina permit records in numbers

None of the 2,896 South Carolina records carry a phone or email, because the registers behind them do not publish one. 1,180 records have the property address and 1,716 name the owner or business.

Permit types as published for South Carolina: Short Term Rental - Renewal (777, 27%), Primary Dwelling (137, 5%) and Short Term Rental (130, 4%).

Filing dates run from January 31, 2025 to October 1, 2026. 2026 is already the busiest year, with 637 records so far against 270 for all of 2025. 769 South Carolina records were filed in the last 12 months, 27% of the file. Newest arrival: October 21, 2026. Past 30 days: 21 new South Carolina records.

No owner or business name in the South Carolina file appears on more than one property address. 3 towns hold 10 or more records; the largest are Isle of Palms (1,716), Charleston (907) and Beaufort (273). 1,716 of the 12-ZIP spread sit in 29451.

South Carolina short-term rental rules

Charleston issues residential short-term rental permits in three categories based on location. The business license and the STR permit each have to be renewed every year.

Source: City of Charleston, read on October 22, 2026.

South Carolina filings by month

The last twelve full months (Oct 2025 to Sep 2026) carry 798 dated South Carolina filings. The same months a year earlier carried 105, so the pace is up 660%.

In South Carolina, the busiest month in the window was March 2026 with 115, the twelve-month average is 66.5 a month and the slowest was June 2026 with 44.

Filings bunch up in spring (March to May): 279 of the last twelve months' 798 (35%).

October 2026 so far: 4 dated filings, a partial month.

For South Carolina, the new records are the ones that appeared after PermitPulse made its first full copy of the main register on June 15, 2026: 21 so far, 21 in October 2026.

The most recent South Carolina addition reached the database on October 21, 2026.

South Carolina permit status

By the status the register prints, the 2,896 South Carolina records split this way: 1,059 (37%) read as active or issued, 77 (3%) as pending or still in application and 44 carry labels that describe something other than standing, such as "Invoiced" and "Needs Correction".

What a South Carolina list contains

Partly filled: owner name on 1,716 (59%), property address on 1,180 (41%), ZIP code on 2,784 (96%), permit or licence number on 1,180 (41%), permit type on 1,180 (41%), status on 1,180 (41%) and filing date on 907 (31%). Not published for South Carolina: business name, separate mailing address, phone and email. By channel: 1,180 mailed.

One ZIP code, 29451, holds 1,716 of the 2,784 South Carolina records with a ZIP; 2 of the 12 ZIP codes cover four in five.

Short-term rental rules across South Carolina

Under Charleston's 2018 ordinance, a residential short-term rental must be the owner's full-time primary residence, verified by the county's 4% legal residence property tax rate. [1] Whoever is liable for South Carolina's accommodations tax (owner, agent, listing service or online travel company) must hold a retail license and remit monthly. [2] Rentals to the same person for 90 continuous days or more are excluded from South Carolina's sales tax on accommodations. [2] In Charleston's Old and Historic District (Category I), a property must be individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places to be eligible for short-term renting. [1]

Charleston allows up to four adults to stay overnight in a short-term rental. [1] Isle of Palms requires a short-term rental business license for any residential rental, priced at $450 for the first $2,000 of gross income plus $4.60 per additional thousand. [3] South Carolina imposes a 7% sales tax on accommodations, which covers rentals of sleeping accommodations such as vacation homes. [2] On top of the state tax, South Carolina local governments may add a local accommodations tax of up to 3% and some municipalities a beach preservation fee of up to 1%. [2]

Owners renting a unit on Isle of Palms need a city short-term rental business license. [3] License fees are based on the rental's gross income in the previous year. [3] Fees are due by April 30 to avoid late fees. [3] Units must be rented whole; rooms in single-family homes cannot be rented separately. [3]

Folly Beach issues separate owner-occupied and investor short-term rental licenses, tied to the property tax rate. [4] Voters approved a cap on short-term rental licenses in a February 2023 referendum. [5] The city does not expect new investor licenses to open up next license year. [4] Investor licenses start at $245 for the first $2,000 of income. [4] License renewals are due every year by April 30. [4]