Bexar County Hotel Occupancy Tax Rises to 2 Percent on November 1, Pushing San Antonio's Combined Lodging Tax to 17 Percent

Bexar County has increased its hotel occupancy tax from 1.75 percent to 2 percent, bringing the combined state, city and county tax rate for lodging and short-term rentals within San Antonio to 17 percent, according to the Short-Term Rental Association of San Antonio's Oct. 29 guidance to hosts. Voters approved the increase in November 2025, but the county did not formally adopt the change until October 13, 2026. The additional revenue will support improvements to local sports and entertainment facilities, including partial funding for the proposed new Spurs arena.

The math is small per stay: the association calculates the additional tax at 50 cents on a $200 taxable reservation and $2.50 on a $1,000 reservation. Inside San Antonio city limits the combined rate breaks down as 6 percent to the State of Texas, 9 percent to the City of San Antonio and 2 percent to Bexar County.

The pinch point is timing. According to the City of San Antonio Finance Department, as cited by the association, reservations with checkout dates before November 1 can remain at the old rate, while reservations checking out after November 1 are subject to the new rate even if they were booked and paid in full months ago. Airbnb does not collect and remit the Bexar County portion of the tax, the association notes, so hosts must collect and remit it themselves — and the full tax is due whether or not the host collected the difference from the guest.