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Sun Mountain Stays
Alpenglow on the snow-dusted summit of Pikes Peak over the open grassland of El Paso County, Colorado at dusk

El Paso County, CO

Short-Term Rental Management Across El Paso County, CO

El Paso County runs on several sets of rules, and knowing which one applies to your exact address is the difference between a smooth launch and a shutdown notice. The unincorporated county is the region's most open short-term rental market: no county permit, no cap, and no owner-occupancy requirement for your primary home. Step inside a city line and everything changes. Colorado Springs requires a permit. Manitou Springs runs a hard 2% cap. Fountain, Monument, and Woodland Park each have their own rules. We manage full-service short-term rentals across the county, and we confirm which jurisdiction you are in before you list or buy.

See common questions

How we serve owners across the county

Full-service management, wherever your property sits.

From the open unincorporated county to the permitted city markets, we run the guest experience, the property, the revenue strategy, and the compliance detail for owners across the whole region. The first thing we do is confirm your jurisdiction. Everything else follows from that.

Guest

  • Guest screening
  • 24/7 guest communication
  • Review management
  • Emergency response

Property

  • Cleaning & turnovers by our property care team
  • Vendor coordination
  • Restocking oversight
  • Quality control inspections

Revenue

  • Dynamic pricing (market data-driven)
  • Listing optimization
  • Channel strategy
  • Platform management

Compliance & owner

  • Links to the county's official rules
  • Permit renewal reminders where required
  • Owner reporting & full transparency

Where we operate

The unincorporated communities we serve.

Outside the city lines, El Paso County is a patchwork of communities with real STR demand and the county's lighter rules. We manage short-term rentals across these unincorporated areas.

  • Black ForestWooded acreage retreats north of the Springs; strong privacy-and-nature appeal
  • FalconFast-growing eastern community, value-priced inventory near Highway 24
  • PeytonRural eastern-plains properties with space and quiet
  • Cimarron HillsEstablished area east of the Springs, close to Peterson SFB
  • WidefieldSouthern corridor near Fort Carson and Peterson SFB
  • SecurityMilitary-adjacent community south of Colorado Springs
  • GleneagleUpscale north-end community near Monument and the Air Force Academy

If your property is inside a city, the city's rules apply instead of the county's. See our Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs pages for those markets, and reach out and we will check your specific address.

The regional jurisdiction map

Which rules apply depends entirely on your address.

This is the single most valuable thing we do: tell owners which rules apply to their exact property before they list or buy. Across this region the rules change sharply at every city line, and a home that is fully legal on one side of a boundary can be capped, permitted, or prohibited on the other. Here is the one-line summary for each jurisdiction, and if you are not sure which one you are in, that is the conversation to have with us first.

  • Unincorporated El Paso County: the most open market. No county STR permit and no cap for a primary structure, with only accessory-unit zoning approval and no-event-venue as the real limits.
  • City of Colorado Springs: a city-issued STR permit is required, with owner-occupancy and spacing (proximity) limits that vary by zone; confirm current rules at the city portal.
  • Manitou Springs: the strictest. A hard 2% cap on total STRs and owner-occupancy required for any new permit, and the permit does not transfer on sale.
  • City of Fountain: runs its own annual short-term rental license; the county rules do not apply inside city limits.
  • Town of Monument: requires a business license to operate an STR, with no cap in place.
  • Woodland Park (Teller County, just west): short-term rentals in residential zones are owner-occupied only, and it is a different county entirely.

STR permits & the county rules

Unincorporated El Paso County: the region's most open STR market.

If you own in the unincorporated county rather than inside a city, the rules are light. Here is the summary, and the two limits that still apply.

Unincorporated El Paso County is notably permissive. The county states it does not have a codified short-term rental ordinance and there are no specific permit requirements for short-term rental of a principal structure, so no STR permit or license is required for your primary home. Two real limits apply: renting an accessory structure (a guest house, ADU, or detached unit) requires county zoning approval, and operating the property as a commercial event venue (weddings, retreats) is prohibited. All rentals must still comply with the county Land Development Code, and Colorado sales tax applies to stays under 30 days.

  • No county STR permit or license is required to rent your principal structure short-term
  • No cap on the number of rentals and no owner-occupancy requirement for the primary structure
  • Renting an accessory structure (ADU, guest house, detached unit) does require county zoning approval
  • Operating as a commercial event venue (weddings, retreats) is prohibited
  • All rentals must comply with the El Paso County Land Development Code (setbacks, building and fire code, septic capacity)
  • Colorado sales tax applies to stays under 30 days; confirm the exact combined rate for your address with the Colorado Department of Revenue
  • Rules inside the cities (Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Fountain, Monument) are different and often stricter; confirm your jurisdiction first

This is a general summary based on publicly available information and is not legal advice. County and city rules, tax rates, and zoning can change. Always verify current requirements with the relevant jurisdiction or the Colorado Department of Revenue before listing or buying with STR intent.

Local market

What can an El Paso County STR actually earn?

Revenue across El Paso County varies widely by jurisdiction, property type, location, seasonality, and how well the listing is run. An open unincorporated market with no cap behaves very differently from a permit-capped city like Manitou Springs, and a Black Forest acreage retreat prices nothing like a downtown condo. Published tools like AirDNA, Rabbu, and AirROI show county and city-level benchmarks for ADR and occupancy, but a benchmark is not your address. The right pricing, listing quality, and operational execution matter as much as the market itself. Send an inquiry and we will pull current data for your specific property.

Data sources:AirDNA (airdna.co)Rabbu (rabbu.com)AirROI (airroi.com)

Common questions

El Paso County short-term rentals, answered.

Do I need a permit to run a short-term rental in unincorporated El Paso County?

For your principal structure, no. The county states it does not have a codified short-term rental ordinance and there are no specific permit requirements for short-term rental of a principal structure, so no county STR permit or license is required. Two real limits still apply: renting an accessory structure such as an ADU or guest house requires county zoning approval, and running the property as a commercial event venue is prohibited. All rentals must still comply with the county Land Development Code, and Colorado sales tax applies to stays under 30 days.

How do I know whether my property is in the unincorporated county or inside a city?

That is the most important question to answer first, and it is easy to get wrong near a city boundary. City limits do not always follow the roads or ZIP codes you would expect. We check your exact parcel against the jurisdiction map before anything else, because the rules for Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Fountain, and Monument are different from the county's and often stricter.

Is there a cap on the number of short-term rentals in El Paso County?

Not in the unincorporated county. There is no cap and no owner-occupancy requirement for a primary structure there. Manitou Springs is the opposite: it caps total STRs at 2% of residential structures and requires owner-occupancy for new permits. Colorado Springs uses a permit system with owner-occupancy and spacing rules that vary by zone. The answer depends entirely on which jurisdiction your property sits in.

Can I rent out a guest house or ADU on my county property?

You can, but it is one of the two real limits in the unincorporated county: renting an accessory structure such as an ADU, guest house, or detached unit requires county zoning approval, unlike your principal structure, which does not. We help owners understand what their zoning allows before they invest in setting up a detached unit for STR use.

How is Colorado Springs different from the unincorporated county for STRs?

They are separate jurisdictions with separate rules. In the unincorporated county there is no STR permit and no cap for a primary home. Inside Colorado Springs city limits you need a city-issued Short-Term Rental permit, and owner-occupancy and spacing (proximity) requirements apply and vary by zone. If your property is just inside a city line, the city rules apply, not the county's.

What about Fountain, Monument, or Woodland Park?

Each has its own rules. The City of Fountain runs its own annual short-term rental license. The Town of Monument requires a business license to operate, with no cap. Woodland Park sits in Teller County, not El Paso County, and allows short-term rentals in residential zones on an owner-occupied basis only. We confirm the current requirement for your specific jurisdiction before you list.

Do you manage properties throughout El Paso County?

Yes. We manage full-service short-term rentals across the unincorporated county, from Black Forest and Gleneagle to Falcon, Peyton, Cimarron Hills, Widefield, and Security, as well as inside the permitted city markets. Wherever your property is, we start by reading its jurisdiction honestly, then run the full operation: guests, turnovers, dynamic pricing, and owner reporting.

How do I get started?

Send an inquiry. We will identify exactly which jurisdiction your property is in, pull current market data for your specific address, and tell you what it can earn under professional management and what the rules require.

Send an Inquiry

Let's see if the property is a fit.

Tell us about the property, even if you already have a manager. Start with a short note through this form or by email.

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