Short-Term Rental Laws in Oxford, Mississippi

Oxford operates a tiered STR registration system with distinctions between Owner-Occupied (broadly permitted across residential zones) and Non-Owner-Occupied (more restricted, requires zoning verification + conditional-use review in many single-family residential zones). The Ole Miss football season is the dominant demand driver and most Oxford STR inventory is concentrated in The Grove-adjacent neighborhoods (Old Taylor Road, North Lamar) where conditional-use approval is required for non-owner-occupied operation. Confirm zoning + applicable special-use requirements via Oxford Planning before any offer.

Owner-occupied STR permitted in essentially all residential zones with permit. Non-owner-occupied STR permitted by right in: C-1 General Commercial, C-2 Highway Commercial, MU Mixed-Use, and select Office District zones. In R-1, R-1A, R-2, R-3 single-family + low-density residential zones, non-owner-occupied STR may require Board of Adjustment special-use approval. The Square + Lamar corridor are STR-dense submarkets where commercial-zone STR is straightforward. Football-game-weekend STR is the dominant revenue model — most Oxford investor STRs target 6–7 high-demand weekends per year.

Operators must hold a short-term rental permit before listing. See the official permit portal.

Oxford Planning + Code Enforcement administer. Annual STR Permit renewal. Application requires zoning verification, life-safety inspection, designated 24/7 local contact, and (for non-owner-occupied in residential zones) BOA approval. Operating without permit: civil penalties + back-tax assessment. Enforcement intensifies during Ole Miss home-game weekends (peak STR demand). Code Enforcement cross-references Airbnb/Vrbo listings against permit registry, particularly for The Grove-adjacent submarkets.

Combined short-term lodging tax in Oxford is approximately 13.000% of gross nightly revenue (state sales + state TRT + local TRT + applicable resort/city options).

MS State sales tax 7% + Lafayette County local option 1% + Oxford Tourism Tax 3% + city option 2% — combined ~13.0% on transient lodging

Verify the current combined rate via the Utah State Tax Commission before remitting — rates drift quarterly.