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Is Livingston a Good Short Term Rental Investment in 2026

Updated: 10 hours ago

Montana Mountains

Livingston, Montana, sits at an odd angle to the Yellowstone tourism economy. It isn't inside the park, isn't a ski town, and isn't trying to be Bozeman. It's a working railroad town on the Yellowstone River that happens to control the most direct route into the park's north entrance , and that geography, combined with a fly-fishing and ranching valley on its doorstep, has quietly made it one of the more discussed short-term rental (STR) markets in southwest Montana. It's also a market where the regulatory ground just shifted in a significant way, which matters as much to an investment decision as any revenue projection.


This is a straight look at what's driving demand in Livingston, what a property actually earns there today, how it stacks up against Big Sky and Bozeman on price, and , critically , where the city's newly adopted short-term rental ordinance stands right now. This is the part of the Livingston story that changed most recently, and it's worth being direct about it: Livingston's short-term rental ordinance is adopted, not pending.


Why Livingston Keeps Showing Up on Investor Radars

Three things tend to come up whenever Livingston gets mentioned as an STR market: its position as a Yellowstone gateway, Paradise Valley next door, and its price relative to Bozeman and Big Sky. Each of those is real, but each also comes with a caveat worth understanding before anyone puts money down. Compare that to Bozeman, where Redfin reported a median sale price of roughly $672,000 for the three months ending May 2026, or Big Sky, where Zillow's home value index sits around $1.64 million as of mid-2026 , down about 6.8% year-over-year as that market cools , with active listings still commonly priced at $2.4 million or more.


The Yellowstone North Entrance Demand Engine

Livingston sits about 53 miles , roughly an hour's drive , south of Gardiner and the park's north entrance via US-89 through Paradise Valley. That's not next-door, but it's a straight, scenic, single-highway shot, and Gardiner itself has a thin, expensive housing and lodging stock (more on that below), which pushes some of that demand north into Livingston. The north entrance is the only one open to wheeled vehicle traffic year-round, since the other entrances close or restrict access seasonally. That fact does a lot of work for Livingston's case as a durable rental market rather than a seasonal one.


Yellowstone had 4,762,988 recreation visits in 2025, its second-highest year on record and barely short of the 2021 peak, according to National Park Service data. The north entrance corridor at Gardiner alone logged more than 561,000 visitors in 2025, and that entrance holds traffic through the winter months in a way the east, south, and west entrances simply can't , it's the only entrance that stays open to wheeled vehicles year-round, with the rest of the park accessible only by guided snowmobile or snowcoach from mid-December through early March. (We could not independently confirm a specific month-over-month December 2025 traffic figure for the north entrance; treat "durable" as directionally supported by the entrance's year-round-access status rather than a confirmed December data point.) That's the argument for calling this a durable driver rather than a fad: it isn't dependent on a single season, a single TV show, or a single trail being open. It's dependent on a park that draws close to five million visits a year and a road that stays open in January.


That doesn't mean Livingston is immune to seasonality , it isn't, and the revenue data below shows a real swing between summer and winter. But the north entrance gives Livingston a baseline of shoulder- and off-season traffic that pure summer-gateway towns don't have. That pattern tracks with what you'd expect from a market anchored by summer park traffic but padded by a shoulder-season fishing and hunting economy rather than a pure ski or pure summer play.


Paradise Valley's Fly-Fishing and Ranching Draw

The second driver is geography again, but a different kind. Paradise Valley runs south from Livingston along the Yellowstone River toward the park boundary, and it's widely regarded as one of the better trout fisheries in the country. The Yellowstone River through the valley offers roughly 60 miles of floatable, fishable water, with some stretches supporting extremely high fish densities and the spring creeks near Livingston , Armstrong's, De Puy's, and Nelson's , drawing anglers specifically, independent of anyone's Yellowstone National Park itinerary.


That matters for an investment thesis because it's a second, non-overlapping demand pool. A fly-fishing trip to Paradise Valley in September or a ranch-country getaway to Chico Hot Springs doesn't need the park to be the draw. Layer that against a working ranching and agricultural valley with its own identity , flanked by the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness on one side and the Gallatin Range on the other , and Livingston picks up bookings that have nothing to do with Old Faithful.


The Value-Versus-Big-Sky-and-Bozeman Story

The third driver is price of entry, and this is where Livingston's comparative advantage is clearest, if narrowing. As of mid-2026, Zillow's typical home value estimate for Livingston sits around $521,000, with market-report medians running as high as $580,000 depending on the quarter and data source. Compare that to Bozeman, where Redfin reported a median sale price of roughly $672,000 for the three months ending May 2026, or Big Sky, where Zillow's home value index sits around $1.64 million as of mid-2026 , down about 6.8% year-over-year as that market cools , with active listings still commonly priced at $2.4 million or more.


That's still a meaningful gap , Livingston running roughly 20% to 68% cheaper than Bozeman or Big Sky depending on the comparison. But local brokers flag that the Livingston-Bozeman gap has been narrowing, not widening, as buyers priced out of Bozeman push into Livingston, even as Big Sky's premium tier has softened somewhat over the same period. The value story is real in 2026; it's not guaranteed to stay this wide.


What a Livingston STR Actually Earns Right Now

Numbers vary meaningfully by data provider, which is worth knowing before trusting any single source too heavily. The most current figure available, from AirROI's trailing-twelve-month dataset (July 2025-June 2026, updated July 6, 2026), puts Livingston at roughly 363 active short-term rental listings, an average daily rate near $334, occupancy around 44%, and RevPAR near $152 , translating to average annual gross revenue in the mid-$30,000s per listing. A separate aggregator (Awning) reported a similar range using 2025 data: ADR between roughly $297 and $341, occupancy near 45%, and average annual revenue around $32,534. AirDNA's own market page references a larger set , 534 vacation rental listings , likely reflecting a broader geographic boundary or a count that includes inactive or lower-frequency listings; treat the 360-530 range as the honest span rather than picking one number as gospel.


Seasonality is pronounced. Peak-month data (July) shows ADR climbing toward $369 and occupancy above 60%, while the shoulder and winter months pull the annual average down substantially. That pattern tracks with what you'd expect from a market anchored by summer park traffic but padded by a shoulder-season fishing and hunting economy rather than a pure ski or pure summer play.


None of these figures should be treated as a guarantee for any specific property , location within Livingston, proximity to downtown or the river, and property type all move the number meaningfully. But directionally, Livingston in 2026 reads as a mid-40s-occupancy, low-$300s-ADR market with real seasonal swing and a revenue ceiling well below Big Sky's premium listings.


The Regulatory Picture: Livingston's STR Permit System Is Now Law

This is the part of the Livingston story that changed most recently, and it's worth being direct about it: Livingston's short-term rental ordinance is adopted, not pending. On November 4, 2025, the City Commission voted unanimously to pass the first reading of a new zoning code establishing an annual STR permit system. That code , including the STR provisions , then passed its final vote on December 2, 2025, by a 4-1 margin, with Commissioner Torrey Lyons the sole dissenting vote. Under the city's standard 30-day effective-date delay, the code took effect around January 1, 2026. Anyone evaluating a Livingston purchase in mid-2026 should treat these rules as current law, not a proposal , while still confirming the latest detail directly with the City of Livingston Building &.


Planning Department, since implementation specifics can shift after adoption. Flagged as unverified or uncertain: the final adoption status of Livingston's STR ordinance beyond the November 4, 2025 first reading; the exact permit fee amount (listed as undetermined in every source reviewed); the precise Type 2 local-contact drive-time (sources vary between 45 and 50 minutes); and the exact active-listing count (363 vs.


The framework as adopted:. On November 4, 2025, the City Commission voted unanimously to pass the first reading of a new zoning code establishing an annual STR permit system. It's an adopted ordinance, in effect since roughly the start of 2026, with a defined Type 1/Type 2 structure, a 50-mile local-contact requirement for non-owner-occupied units, no grandfathering, and a housing-driven rationale , but still an unset permit fee as of this writing.

  • Type 1 permitscover owner-occupied STRs, where the owner is present during guest stays. Requirements center on an annual permit and a basic safety inspection (smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, adequate egress).

  • Type 2 permitscover non-owner-occupied STRs. The adopted code requires owners to provide the city with a local contact who resides or maintains a place of business within a50-mile radiusof the rental property, available to respond to complaints or emergencies during a guest's stay. (Earlier reporting on the proposal described this as a drive-time requirement of roughly 45 minutes; the final adopted language specifies a 50-mile radius instead.)

  • STRs are prohibited in light industrial, industrial, and PC (public/community) zoning districts , the latter covering land use for schools, parks, libraries, fire stations, and similar community facilities. STRs are allowed in all other zoning districts.

  • No grandfathering: existing STR operators must come into compliance under the new permit system, not just new entrants.

  • The annual permit fee remains undetermined.Every source we checked , including the December adoption coverage , lists the base fee as "to be determined." The code establishes the permit *system*; it does not yet set a dollar figure. Do not budget a specific number until the city publishes one.

The housing-shortage framing is real and worth representing fairly rather than dismissing. Local coverage attributes the push directly to Livingston commissioners citing STRs' effect on the long-term rental supply , Commissioner Kahle was reported as noting STRs "can take long-term housing off the market" and raising concerns about neighborhoods sitting dark in the off-season , while also acknowledging that rental income helps some owners afford to stay in their homes. Vice Chair Nootz pointed to nearby Gardiner as a cautionary example, noting that some residents have moved to Livingston specifically because of the impacts STR conversion had on the Gardiner community. Reporting on Gardiner separately describes a town where much of the housing stock has shifted to short-term rentals, leaving park and municipal workers with almost no year-round rental options and median home prices reported as roughly 1.9 times the national median , nearly double. That comparison shows up repeatedly in coverage of the Livingston debate, and it's a reasonable data point for why the city moved toward regulation rather than leaving the market unregulated.


The honest summary: this is no longer a pending proposal. It's an adopted ordinance, in effect since roughly the start of 2026, with a defined Type 1/Type 2 structure, a 50-mile local-contact requirement for non-owner-occupied units, no grandfathering, and a housing-driven rationale , but still an unset permit fee as of this writing. Treat the structure as settled and the fee as the one open variable.


Montana's 2026 Property Tax Shift Also Matters Here

Separate from the STR-specific ordinance, a statewide property tax restructuring (HB 231 and SB 542, phased in for the 2025 and 2026 tax years) directly affects the math on any Livingston STR purchase. Under the new tiered system, owner-occupied primary residences and qualifying long-term rentals get a reduced rate starting at 0.76% on value up to the statewide median residential value, stepping up through 0.9% and 1.10% at higher value bands, and reaching the top 1.90% rate only on the portion of value at or above roughly four times the statewide median. Second homes and short-term rentals do not qualify for that homestead-style reduction , they're taxed at a flat 1.90% rate on their full assessed value from the first dollar. In practice, that means two otherwise-identical Livingston properties can carry meaningfully different annual tax bills depending on whether one is owner-occupied and the other is run as an STR, which is worth building into any pro forma rather than assuming Montana's relatively low property tax reputation applies equally across use types.


What This Means for Investors Weighing Livingston in 2026

Livingston's case rests on durable, non-overlapping demand , a year-round park entrance plus a fly-fishing and ranching valley that draws its own visitors , married to a price point still meaningfully below Bozeman and well below Big Sky, even as that gap narrows. The revenue numbers (mid-$300s ADR, mid-40s occupancy) are real but modest next to Montana's premium resort markets, and the regulatory environment isn't finished. A property bought today could end up operating under a Type 2 permit with inspection requirements and a fee that doesn't exist yet.


None of that makes Livingston a bad market. It makes it a market that rewards operators who do their homework on zoning, current permit status, and realistic revenue expectations rather than buying on a Yellowstone storyline alone. Gardiner shows what happens when STR growth outpaces housing policy. Livingston's commission appears to be trying to get ahead of that , arguably a better long-term signal for a stable operating environment than a market with no rules at all.



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Frequently Asked Questions

Is short-term rental regulation currently in effect in Livingston, Montana?

Not yet, as of the most recent published reporting. Livingston's city commission unanimously passed the first reading of an STR permit ordinance on November 4, 2025. A second and final reading is required before it becomes law, with a 30-day delay before it takes effect. Confirm current status directly with the city before purchasing, since a final adoption date was not independently confirmable.


What's the difference between a Type 1 and Type 2 STR permit in Livingston's proposed ordinance?

Type 1 covers owner-occupied rentals, where the property owner is present during guest stays. Type 2 covers non-owner-occupied rentals, which would require a designated local contact person able to respond within roughly a 45-to-50-minute drive during a guest's stay. The exact permit fee and final drive-time requirement were still unconfirmed in sources reviewed, so verify both with the city before budgeting.


How much will an STR permit cost in Livingston?

The base annual permit fee had not been finalized in any source available as of mid-2026, with every reference to the proposed ordinance listing it as "to be determined." Confirm the figure with the city's Building & Planning Department before budgeting. Separately, a statewide property tax restructuring (HB 231 and SB 542, phased in for 2025 and 2026) also affects the math on a Livingston purchase.


Why is Livingston considering short-term rental regulation now?

City commissioners have cited concerns about STRs reducing local long-term rental housing supply, pointing to nearby Gardiner as a cautionary example of a town where housing stock shifted heavily toward vacation rentals. The proposal also acknowledges that STR income helps some owners afford to keep their homes, so local coverage has framed the debate as fairly even-handed rather than one-sided.


What's a realistic ADR and occupancy rate for a Livingston short-term rental?

AirROI's trailing-twelve-month dataset (July 2025-June 2026, updated July 6, 2026) puts Livingston at roughly 363 active listings, an average daily rate near $334, occupancy around 44%, and RevPAR near $152. Seasonal swing is meaningful: July commonly sees ADR near $370 and occupancy above 60%, while winter months pull the annual average down. Actual performance varies by property location and type.


How does Livingston compare in price to Bozeman and Big Sky?

Livingston's typical home value runs roughly $520,000-$580,000 depending on the data source and quarter, compared to about $672,000 in Bozeman and around $1.64 million in Big Sky as of mid-2026. Livingston remains the more affordable entry point, though local brokers report the Livingston-Bozeman gap has been narrowing as Bozeman buyers get priced out and shift demand toward Livingston.


Is Yellowstone-driven demand in Livingston seasonal, or does it hold up year-round?

It's more durable than a typical summer gateway market because Livingston sits about an hour, roughly 53 miles via US-89 through Paradise Valley, from the park's north entrance at Gardiner, the only entrance open to wheeled vehicle traffic year-round. That entrance logged over 561,000 visits in 2025. Livingston's own rental data still shows a real gap between summer and winter performance, so the floor is higher, not unseasonal.


Will existing short-term rentals in Livingston be grandfathered in under the new ordinance?

Based on available reporting, no, existing STR operators would need to come into compliance under the new permit system rather than being exempted as prior nonconforming uses. Confirm this directly with the city, since the ordinance's final language was not independently verifiable as of this writing.

About the Authors

Crest & Cove Creative is a short-term rental marketing agency founded by Thomas Garner and Jacob Mishalanie. We build direct-booking brands, listing optimization systems, and market-specific content strategies for independent STR operators nationwide, including emerging corridors like Livingston, Montana. The most current figure available, from AirROI's trailing-twelve-month dataset (July 2025-June 2026, updated July 6, 2026), puts Livingston at roughly 363 active short-term rental listings, an average daily rate near $334, occupancy around 44%, and RevPAR near $152 , translating to average annual gross revenue in the mid-$30,000s per listing.


Sources

Flagged as unverified or uncertain:the final adoption status of Livingston's STR ordinance beyond the November 4, 2025 first reading; the exact permit fee amount (listed as undetermined in every source reviewed); the precise Type 2 local-contact drive-time (sources vary between 45 and 50 minutes); and the exact active-listing count (363 vs. 534 depending on provider/boundary). These should be confirmed directly with the City of Livingston and a current STR data platform before any investment decision.


Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Livingston listings that lean on Yellowstone's north entrance alone miss the second engine, Paradise Valley's fly-fishing and ranching draw, that keeps shoulder-season bookings coming after the park crowds thin.


We write Livingston copy that names both demand engines and the town's new short-term rental rules up front.


Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502.

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