Airbnb vs. Long-Term Rental in Colorado Springs

The regulatory path is different from day one

Short-term rental in Colorado Springs requires an annual city STR permit ($124.95 per unit) and, for non-owner-occupied properties, meeting zoning eligibility rules that bar them from single-family zones for applications submitted after December 26, 2019. Traditional long-term rental (30+ day leases) does not currently require an equivalent city permit or registration. That doesn't mean long-term renting is unregulated, Colorado's statewide landlord-tenant law still governs habitability, security deposits, and eviction procedure, it just means the city-level licensing hurdle only applies to the short-term path.

The tax treatment is structurally different

This is the clearest, most verifiable difference between the two paths. Under Colorado Springs' tax code, lodging for a period of at least 30 consecutive days with a written contract is exempt from the city's sales and lodgers tax. Stays under 30 days are not exempt, they're subject to the city's combined sales tax and its separate Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax (LART).

• ›Short-term (under 30 days): taxable. Colorado Springs' combined general sales tax is 8.2% (2.9% state, 1.23% El Paso County, 1% PPRTA, 3.07% city), and the city's LART adds an additional lodging tax on top, Airbnb's own tax collection page shows it collecting a 3.07% sales tax and a 2% lodging tax on Colorado Springs listings booked for 29 nights or fewer. Confirm the current combined rate at coloradosprings.gov/LART, the rate isn't published on the city's general LART overview page.
• ›Long-term (30+ consecutive days, written contract): exempt from the city's sales and lodgers tax on the rental itself.
• ›This tax gap is real money on every booking, not a rounding error, and it's one reason STR pricing has to clear a higher bar than the equivalent long-term rent to come out ahead.

Income shape: ceiling vs. stability

Long-term rental produces a fixed, predictable monthly number for the length of the lease. Short-term rental produces variable nightly income shaped by season, local demand, and how well the listing is priced and managed, with a materially higher gross ceiling but real vacancy and pricing risk. We won't print a specific revenue comparison here because it depends entirely on your property, neighborhood, and management quality, not a citywide average. Pull comps from AirDNA or Rabbu for the STR side (see our Colorado Springs Airbnb revenue guide) and comparable long-term rent listings for your area, then compare the two using your property's actual numbers.

Management intensity: weekly turnover vs. annual turnover

Short-term rental means guest turnover every few days: cleaning, restocking, guest messaging, dynamic pricing, and review management. Long-term rental means tenant turnover once a year or less, with the bulk of the work concentrated in tenant screening, move-in/move-out inspections, and occasional maintenance requests. STR is closer to running a small hospitality business, LTR is closer to being an asset owner with periodic obligations.

The landlord obligations you take on with a long-term tenant

Colorado's security deposit law (C.R.S. § 38-12-103) sets real, enforceable deadlines on a long-term landlord. As of the update effective January 1, 2026, a landlord must return the security deposit, or provide an itemized written statement of deductions, within 30 days of lease termination or the tenant surrendering the unit, unless the lease specifies a longer period, up to a maximum of 60 days. Miss the deadline without sending the statement and you forfeit the right to keep any of the deposit; a landlord who willfully and wrongfully withholds a deposit can be liable for up to three times the amount withheld, plus the tenant's attorney fees and court costs. This is a real compliance obligation, not boilerplate, and it applies regardless of whether you self-manage or use a property manager.

Exit flexibility differs sharply

With a short-term rental, you can block your own calendar and use the property personally on short notice, subject to your own booking calendar. With a long-term tenant in place, you're bound by the lease term and Colorado's eviction procedures for any early exit, you can't simply decide to use the home for a weekend. If personal use of the property matters to you, that's a real factor in the comparison, not a minor one.

Which path fits your specific property

Start with zoning. If your property is a non-owner-occupied investment in a single-family zone, Colorado Springs' current STR rules mean the short-term path isn't available to you at all, see our feasibility guide for the zoning test. If it is eligible for both paths, the honest comparison comes down to how you weigh a higher income ceiling with more active management against a lower, steadier income with a fixed lease and less week-to-week involvement.