Master comparison
Everything that determines whether a short-term rental deal works in the Las Vegas valley — in one place, with the source behind each number.
| Factor | Unincorporated Clark County | City of Las Vegas | City of Henderson | City of North Las Vegas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governing framework | Clark County Code 7.100 (per NV AB 363) | City licensing code + CUV process | Development Code § 19.9.4.F | Ordinance 3127 (2022) |
| Owner must occupy? | No | Yes — on-site each day of rental | No | No (per CUP conditions) |
| Approval mechanism | License — window closed | Conditional Use Verification + business license | Registration / permit | Conditional Use Permit, then business license |
| Discretionary hearing? | No | No | No | Yes — public hearing |
| New applications open? | No — closed Aug 21, 2023 | Yes | Yes, subject to caps | Yes |
| Separation from other STRs | 2,500 ft | 660 ft | 1,000 ft radial | 660 ft (incl. proposed) |
| Separation from resort hotels | 2,500 ft | 2,500 ft | Verify with city | 2,500 ft |
| Bedroom cap | — | 3 maximum | Per code | Per CUP |
| Occupancy cap | 2 per bedroom / 10 per unit, whichever is fewer | Per license | Per code | Per CUP |
| Density cap | ~1% of housing stock | Via separation | Neighborhood cap; 25% in multifamily | Via separation + CUP |
| Licenses issued to date | 174 | Ongoing | Ongoing | Ongoing |
| Application fee | $45 | Included in process | Included in registration | $100 (CUP) |
| Inspection fee | $150 | Inspection required | Inspection required | Code enforcement inspection |
| Annual license / registration | $750 (≤3 br) / $1,500 (>3 br) | $500 | ~$848 | $900 |
| Liability insurance minimum | Required | $500,000 | $1,000,000 | Required |
| Local / emergency contact | Required | 24-hour contact, posted outside | Local contact residing in Clark County | Required |
| Noise monitoring equipment | — | — | — | Required (exterior) |
| Neighbor notification | — | — | Good Neighbor Brochure to guests | Brochure to owners within 200 ft |
| HOA consent | Effectively required | Written permission required | Effectively required | Effectively required |
| Transient lodging tax | 13% · 13.38% PGC | 13% · 13.38% PGC | ~13% | ~13% |
| Permit transfers on sale? | Verify — do not assume | No — owner-specific | No — buyer re-applies | Verify — do not assume |
| Active litigation? | Yes — federal injunction, county appealing | No | No | No |
| Enforcement posture | Key provisions enjoined | Active | Active | Active |
| Best suited to | Owners already licensed; buyers with high risk tolerance and a long-term-rental floor | Owner-occupants house-hacking a primary residence | Investors seeking a stable non-owner-occupied STR | Investors who can manage process risk for a lower entry price |
Reduced to the decision each client is really making.
Henderson first. No owner-occupancy requirement, no pending litigation, documented standards, and a permit you can finance and insure around. The binding constraint is the 1,000-foot separation and the density caps, so the work is finding an eligible parcel — not arguing about legality.
North Las Vegas second, if the price advantage justifies carrying CUP hearing risk. Henderson guide →
City of Las Vegas is genuinely good for this. The owner-occupancy requirement that shuts out investors is not a problem for you — and in exchange you get a stable, functioning program with a $500 license, no cap-driven lottery, and no litigation overhang.
Watch the three-bedroom cap and the 660-foot separation when choosing the house. Las Vegas guide →
Most of the valley's inventory sits here, so most deals that cross your desk will be here. The licensing window is closed, only 174 licenses exist, and the enforcement scheme is enjoined pending appeal.
If you buy here, underwrite the long-term rental floor as your downside and treat STR income as upside you might not get. Clark County guide →
Verify the license in writing with the licensing body, and separately verify whether it survives a transfer. Henderson says plainly that permits do not transfer and buyers re-apply under current rules. Assume the same posture everywhere until a government office tells you otherwise in writing.
A seller's permit is evidence it was once possible. It is not an asset conveying to you.
Nevada Assembly Bill 363 (2021) is the reason these programs exist in their current form. It created a statewide framework for short-term rentals and required larger local governments — Clark County and cities within it above 25,000 population, meaning Las Vegas, Henderson, and North Las Vegas — to adopt regulatory pathways rather than maintain outright bans.
AB 363 required local governments to establish permitting requirements for renting residential property as transient lodging, mandated tax collection and remittance processes, and set expectations around occupancy limits, minimum stay parameters, and safety standards. Each jurisdiction then implemented its own version, which is precisely why four adjacent governments produced four materially different rule sets.
Practical takeaway: state law guarantees a pathway must exist. It does not guarantee that pathway is open to you. Clark County satisfied AB 363 with a program capped near 1% of housing stock that issued 174 licenses and then closed. That tension is what the federal litigation is about.
A government license grants permission from the government. It does nothing about a private covenant running with your land. In a valley this saturated with master-planned communities and associations, the HOA question frequently decides the deal before the city ever weighs in.
Nevada courts have consistently upheld HOA authority to restrict or prohibit short-term rentals, and NRS Chapter 116 gives associations substantial power over use restrictions — including prohibiting rentals, imposing minimum rental periods, and requiring approval of tenants.
There is meaningful nuance. NRS 116.335 provides that unless the declaration prohibited renting at the time the owner purchased, the association may not prohibit the owner from renting or leasing the unit. And rules adopted without the notice, meeting, and vote required by the association's own governing documents may not be enforceable. Both of those are real, and both are questions for a Nevada attorney reviewing your specific documents — not for an article.
Get the current CC&Rs and the current rules and regulations — they are different documents, and the restriction is often in the second one. Read them before you write the offer. Note the date the restriction was adopted relative to any purchase date that matters. If it is close, have a lawyer look at it. The City of Las Vegas will require written HOA permission regardless.
Transient lodging tax in Clark County runs approximately 13%, rising to 13.38% inside the Primary Gaming Corridor. It is collected from the guest and remitted by the operator, generally by the 15th of the following month, to the jurisdiction administering it.
Under AB 363, effective July 1, 2022, Accommodations Facilitators — Airbnb, Vrbo, and similar platforms — are required to collect and remit transient lodging tax for Nevada short-term vacation rentals. If you book exclusively through a platform, you generally should not be separately collecting and remitting it.
The trap: collecting and filing are separate obligations. Henderson, for instance, requires registered operators to submit the monthly transient lodging tax form regardless of what the platform remits. Hosts who read "the platform handles the tax" and stop filing are creating a compliance problem that surfaces later. And any direct booking — anything outside a facilitator — puts the collection obligation squarely back on you.
Three more things people get wrong:
Jurisdiction, eligibility, HOA position, license transferability, contingency structure, and the long-term-rental floor if the short-term plan does not survive. That is the analysis we run for every STR client — and you decide how you pay us for it: flat fee, traditional, or hybrid.
Important. You Decide Realty is a licensed Nevada real estate brokerage. This comparison reflects our good-faith reading of publicly available jurisdiction materials and court reporting as of August 16, 2026 and is provided for general informational purposes. It is not legal advice, tax advice, or a substitute for confirming requirements directly with the governing jurisdiction. Requirements change and pending litigation may alter what is enforceable at any time. Consult a qualified Nevada attorney and tax professional before acquiring, financing, or operating a short-term rental.