NAICS code for rental property, short-term rentals and Airbnb

This page is for landlords, short-term rental hosts and property companies who need a code for a form (a loan, an insurance policy, a business license, SAM.gov) and for sellers building lists of rental owners and operators. It covers the codes, how to decide between long-term and short-term, the tax forms and the Census counts.

The NAICS codes for rental property

Two neighbors are often confused with these. 531311, Residential Property Managers, is for managing other people's rentals for a fee. 531210, Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers, is for agents who find tenants for owners. If the property is yours, you're a lessor.

Long-term or short-term: how to choose

The 531110 definition sends "short-term lodging in facilities, such as hotels, motels, casino hotels, and bed-and-breakfast inns" to Industry Group 7211, Traveler Accommodation. The Census index shows how fine the line is: "cottage rental or leasing" is 531110, but "housekeeping cottages" are 721199. The difference is whether you lease a dwelling or provide lodging.

The 30-day row is our reading of the definitions, not a Census rule: NAICS gives no night count. If you do both, the code follows the activity that brings in more revenue.

What the IRS asks for

Most rental owners never enter a NAICS code on a tax return. The IRS Schedule E instructions say rental real estate generally goes on Schedule E, which asks for a type of property code instead: 1 Single Family Residence, 2 Multi-Family Residence, 3 Vacation/Short-Term Rental, 4 Commercial, 5 Land, 6 Royalties, 7 Self-Rental and 8 Other. But "if you provided significant services to the renter, such as maid service," the rental goes on Schedule C, which does need an activity code. The IRS list has 531100, Lessors of real estate, and 721100, Traveler accommodation, so a short-term host with significant services would generally use 721100 there. Heat, light, trash collection and cleaning common areas don't count as significant services.

This is general information, not tax advice: the Schedule C or E decision changes self-employment tax, so ask a tax professional about your own rentals.

SIC codes for rental property and apartments

The SIC code for apartments is 6513, Operators of Apartment Buildings. Houses and other dwellings are 6514, Operators of Dwellings Other Than Apartment Buildings. From the Census concordance:

So both SIC 6513 and 6514 collapse into one NAICS code, while SIC 7011 puts a short-term rental in the same code as a hotel. The NAICS to SIC converter covers the rest.

How many rental businesses there are

County Business Patterns 2023 counts establishments with paid employees:

Of the 74,459 residential lessors, 55,333 (74.3%) have fewer than five employees, and only 202 have 100 or more. New York has the most (11,120), then California (9,686), Texas (6,074), Florida (4,957) and Ohio (2,358).

These counts leave out most landlords. CBP only includes businesses with paid employees, so an owner who rents out a few homes, or hosts on a platform, with no staff isn't counted. Residential property managers employ more people than residential lessors do (536,933 against 348,544). CBP 2023 uses NAICS 2017; these codes didn't change in 2022.

SBA size standards

From the SBA's Table of Size Standards, effective March 17, 2023 (13 CFR 121.201 on the eCFR shows no later change), measured in average annual receipts:

A footnote matters if you lease to the government: for owners leasing building space to the federal government, the standard is $47 million in gross receipts, and it doesn't apply to an agent.

Finding rental companies by code

Public rental companies are spread across several EDGAR codes, so search each one: SIC 6513, 6510 and 6798, Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Airbnb is the marketplace, not a host, so it's a different business from the people who list on it. Most apartment owners file as REITs, and 6798 also holds office, retail and warehouse REITs, so read each filing's business description before you add it to a list.

Private landlords are the bigger market and the harder one to list. County property records show who owns rental parcels, and some cities publish rental registration or short-term rental permit lists. At volume, a Bebop search can describe the owners you want (apartment owners with 50 to 500 units in a metro, say) and return the companies and decision makers with the reason each fits. The selling to real estate agents guide covers the brokerage side of the market.

Worked example: coding a mixed rental business

Illustrative example. The business and figures are invented.

Pine Hollow Properties LLC (pinehollow.example) owns eight long-term apartments ($96,000 rent a year) and two cabins rented by the night with cleaning and fresh linens between guests ($64,000 a year).

1. Primary code. Long-term rent is 60% of revenue ($96,000 of $160,000), so the business is 531110 on loan and insurance forms. The cabins could be listed as 721199 where a form allows a second code.
2. Tax forms. The apartments go on Schedule E with property type 2, Multi-Family Residence. Because the cabins come with maid-type service, the owner asks whether they belong on Schedule C under 721100.
3. SIC. A form asking for SIC gets 6513.
4. If the mix flips. If the cabins grow past the apartments in revenue, the primary code moves to 721199.

Next step: if you run the properties for owners instead of owning them, see the NAICS code for property management.