Hotel occupancy tax rates by city in the United States generally run from about 14% to 17% of the room rate in major destinations, with some smaller markets sitting closer to 6% and a handful of cities pushing higher once every layer is counted. The spread exists because the tax you see at checkout is not one charge but several: a state lodging or sales tax, a city occupancy tax, often a county tax, and sometimes a special-district assessment for a stadium, convention center, or tourism district. On a multi-night stay, the difference between cities can easily add $30 or more per night to an otherwise identical room.
Why the Rate on Your Bill Is Never Just One Number
A hotel bill almost never carries a single tax line. At the base sits a state-level lodging or sales tax. The city and county where the hotel sits typically add their own occupancy taxes earmarked for local priorities like convention centers, transit, or tourism marketing. Some areas tack on a further assessment from a special taxing district created specifically to pay for a sports stadium, an expo hall, or a regional transportation project. Each layer has its own legal authority, its own rate, and sometimes its own exemption rules.
None of these jurisdictions coordinate to produce a tidy total, which is why the rate on a hotel’s website rarely matches the final charge. To know what you’ll actually pay, you have to add the layers together for the specific city where the hotel sits.
Current Rates in Major Cities
New York City
New York City imposes a hotel room occupancy tax of 5.875% on the room rate, a figure that has been in effect since December 2013.1NYC.gov. Hotel Room Occupancy Tax The city also charges a flat per-night fee that scales with room cost: $0.50 per day for rooms between $10 and $20, climbing to $2.00 per day for rooms of $40 or more. New York State collects its own sales tax, the city adds a separate city sales tax, and the state layers on a hotel unit fee of $1.50 per room per night.2NYC Department of Finance. Business Hotel Room Occupancy Tax Combined, the percentage-based taxes alone exceed 14%, and the flat per-night fees push the effective burden higher for budget rooms where those fixed charges are a larger share of the bill.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles charges a transient occupancy tax of 14% on the rent charged by the hotel operator, applied to all properties rented to transient guests.3Los Angeles Office of Finance. Transient Occupancy Tax Requirements That rate has been in place since 1993 and represents the city’s share alone.4Los Angeles Office of Finance. Los Angeles Municipal Code Article 1.7 – Transient Occupancy Tax California state and county taxes add further percentage points, but the city’s 14% is by far the largest component on the bill.
Chicago
Chicago’s hotel tax math is the most layered of any major city. The base city hotel accommodations tax is 4.5% of the room charge.5American Legal Publishing. Municipal Code of Chicago – Chicago Hotel Accommodations Tax Vacation rentals and shared housing units face an additional 6% surcharge on top of that base, bringing the city-only rate to 10.5% for those properties.6City of Chicago. Hotel Accommodations Tax Guests also pay an Illinois state tax, a Cook County tax, and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority levy that funds McCormick Place and Navy Pier. The combined total for a traditional hotel room in Chicago commonly reaches the mid-to-high teens as a percentage of the room rate, making it one of the most heavily taxed lodging markets in the country.
Houston
Houston’s combined lodging tax comes to 17% of the room rate, split four ways: 6% to the State of Texas, 7% to the City of Houston, 2% to Harris County, and 2% to the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority.7Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Hotel Occupancy Tax FAQs The Sports Authority portion funds debt service on professional sports venues in the region. Because Texas has no state income tax, the state leans more heavily on consumption-based taxes like this one, and the 6% state share is among the higher state-level lodging rates in the country.
San Francisco
San Francisco imposes a 14% transient occupancy tax on room rentals for stays shorter than 30 days, authorized under Article 7 of the city’s Business and Tax Regulations Code.8Treasurer & Tax Collector. Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) The base code section sets a lower rate, but voter-approved increases have brought the effective rate to 14%.9American Legal Publishing. San Francisco Business and Tax Regulations Code – Imposition and Rate of Tax California state and local sales taxes apply separately, pushing the total tax burden higher. Much of the revenue goes toward arts funding, homelessness services, and tourism promotion.
What Gets Taxed on Your Bill
Occupancy taxes typically apply to the base room rate and any charges the jurisdiction considers part of the accommodation itself. Room cleaning charges, mandatory resort fees, and bundled amenity fees generally fall within the taxable base because they’re treated as part of the price of occupancy rather than a separate optional service. Charges for optional add-ons like pool or spa access may also be taxable unless the hotel makes those amenities available to the general public independently of a room booking.
Incidental charges that are genuinely separate from the room generally escape the occupancy tax. Room service, laundry, valet parking, and minibar tabs are the most common examples. If the hotel rolls any of these into a bundled nightly rate rather than billing them separately, the entire bundled charge usually becomes taxable.
Cancellation fees and forfeited deposits sit in a gray area that varies by jurisdiction. Some localities tax a cancellation charge if it exceeds a certain threshold relative to the nightly rate, treating it as constructive payment for the room. Others exempt cancellation fees entirely because no one actually occupied the room.
Exemptions That Might Apply to You
The most widely available exemption kicks in when a guest stays at the same property for 30 or more consecutive days. At that point, most jurisdictions reclassify the guest as a permanent resident rather than a transient visitor, and the occupancy tax no longer applies going forward. Whether you can recover tax already paid on the first 29 days depends on local rules; some jurisdictions allow a refund once the 30-day mark is reached, others treat those initial days as a completed taxable period with no refund available.
Federal employees traveling on official business can avoid state-level lodging taxes in many states, but the exemption hinges on how the room is paid for, not just who the traveler works for. The traveler must use a Government Travel Charge Card, and in many states must also present a completed tax exemption form at check-in. Personal travel on a personal credit card gets no exemption. Group bookings paid through a centrally billed account are exempt from state sales tax in all states and territories, though local taxes may still apply.10Defense Travel Management Office. Save on Lodging Taxes in Exempt Locations State employee exemptions vary widely and are far less uniform than the federal rules.
Foreign diplomats may be exempt under treaties and international agreements that grant immunity from local taxation, and typically present a tax exemption card issued by the U.S. Department of State at check-in. Some nonprofits qualify for exemptions as well, though rules differ by city and usually require a state-issued exemption certificate.
Estimating What You’ll Actually Pay
To estimate the tax on a stay, apply the combined occupancy tax rate for the city to the base room rate only. A $200 room in Houston picks up $34 in occupancy tax at 17%, bringing the lodging cost to $234 before any separate service charges or resort fees. Incidentals like parking or room service are taxed differently, usually just under regular sales tax, so they don’t factor into the occupancy tax calculation.
Finding the combined rate is the tricky part, because hotels and booking platforms don’t always break it down clearly. A search for the city name plus “hotel occupancy tax rate” will usually turn up either the city’s finance department page or the state tax authority’s FAQ, both of which list the applicable layers. On a longer stay, even a two-percentage-point gap between cities can shift the total trip cost by a meaningful amount, so it pays to check before you book.