County jurisdiction · checked 2026-09-13
Can you BnB it in unincorporated Merced County?
RestrictedUnincorporated Merced County allows short-term rentals only at the owner's primary residence, one per parcel, with no more than five guest rooms, and renting the whole house unhosted is capped at 180 days a year. The approval does not survive a sale: the county code says the use of a vacation rental automatically expires when the property is sold or transferred, so a buyer must start over.
The rules, with their sources
Permit or licenseA permit or license is required before operating.L1Merced County Code Title 18 Zoning, Chapter 18.60 Standards for Specific Land Uses, section 18.60.270 Short-Term Rentals, Ord. 1976 section 2, 2019; Ord. 1990 section 1, 2020 · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Hosted onlyThe code does not limit rentals to hosted stays.L1Merced County Code Title 18 Zoning, Chapter 18.60 Standards for Specific Land Uses, section 18.60.270 Short-Term Rentals, Ord. 1976 section 2, 2019; Ord. 1990 section 1, 2020 · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Primary residenceThe rental must be the operator's primary residence.L118.60.270(C)(1) · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Night capUnhosted rentals are capped at 180 nights per year.L1Merced County Code Title 18 Zoning, Chapter 18.60 Standards for Specific Land Uses, section 18.60.270 Short-Term Rentals, Ord. 1976 section 2, 2019; Ord. 1990 section 1, 2020 · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Caps and limitsOnly one short-term rental is allowed per parcel, 18.60.270(C)(3). A short-term rental may contain no more than five guest rooms used for transient occupancy, 18.60.270(D)(4). Vacation rental, meaning unhosted, operations are limited to 180 cumulative days in a calendar year, 18.60.270(F)(1). A maximum of three special events per year may be permitted for vacation rentals, 18.60.270(F)(2). No countywide numeric cap on the number of short-term rentals appears.L118.60.270(C)(3) · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Transfer when the home sellsThe county code states expressly that the use ends when the property changes hands: 18.60.270(F)(4) provides that the use of a vacation rental shall automatically expire upon the sale or transfer of a vacation rental property. No exception appears for family members, heirs, spouses, trusts, entity or LLC membership changes or same-owner reorganizations, and no transfer application window or grace period is stated. Nothing in the section says a short-term rental approval runs with the land. The express expiration clause sits in subsection F, which is headed Additional Regulations for Vacation Rentals, so it is written for unhosted rentals; for a hosted rental the section is silent on sale, but the primary residence requirement in 18.60.270(C)(1) means a new owner must qualify in their own right. A buyer should assume the seller's approval does not carry over.L118.60.270(F)(4) · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Read the code text →
In the county's own words
18.60.270(F)(4)“The use of a vacation rental shall automatically expire upon the sale or transfer of a vacation rental property.” source
18.60.270(C)(1)“Short-term rentals are required to be the primary residence of the owner, as defined under this section.” source
18.60.270(C)(3)“Only one short-term rental is allowed per parcel.” source
18.60.270(F)(1)“Vacation rentals operations shall be limited to 180 cumulative days in a calendar year.” source
Citation: Merced County Code Title 18 Zoning, Chapter 18.60 Standards for Specific Land Uses, section 18.60.270 Short-Term Rentals, Ord. 1976 section 2, 2019; Ord. 1990 section 1, 2020
Check a specific address
The checker resolves any California address to its jurisdiction and returns these rules with their verification level. Where a county or city publishes a licensed-rental registry or parcel map (Riverside County, San Diego, Palm Springs, and a growing list), it also runs parcel spacing, permit cap, and registry checks.
How this page was verified
Verified from the municipal code (level 1), checked on 2026-09-13 by the CanIBnB research desk. Research is AI assisted and human reviewed; the method, the level system, and the re-check schedule are on the How we verify page. If anything here is wrong, report it and it goes in the public corrections log.