Stroudsburg vs Scranton: Two Confirmations, Not One Shared Checklist

Sep 2

10 min read

Updated: Sep 2

Delaware Water Gap ridgeline and Delaware River valley near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Wikimedia: Delaware Water Gap aerial view.jpg

Stroudsburg and Scranton show up together on the same Air ROI regional extract, and it is tempting for a host or investor scanning the Pocono-to-Northeast-Pennsylvania corridor to treat them as variations of one market with one set of rules. They are not. Each town has its own registration desk, its own ordinance, and its own fee schedule, and confirming compliance in one tells you nothing about the other. This post keeps the two towns on separate lines throughout, because that separation is the actual point.

It is easy to see why the two towns get lumped together in casual conversation. Both sit within the same general Northeast Pennsylvania and Pocono-adjacent corridor, both appear on the same regional data extract, and both attract a similar kind of drive-market guest looking for a weekend away from a nearby metro area. None of that geographic and demand-side overlap changes the fact that each town's municipal file is its own document, requiring its own separate confirmation before you list, price, or close on a property in either one.

Typical Stroudsburg listings earned about $35,590 last year from 34 active rentals, while Scranton listings earned about $14,656 last year from 85 active rentals, both on the same August 2025 through July 2026 extract window. Those two figures alone should be enough to establish that this is not one blended market — it is two markets that happen to share a regional data file, each requiring its own separate confirmation at its own separate desk before you list a property in either one. This is not legal advice.

This Desk Holds This Address

The Borough of Stroudsburg's registration desk — reachable at stroudsburgboro.com or 570-421-5444 — governs Ordinance 1087, the short-term home rental license requirement, the zoning restrictions barring R-1, R-2, and R-3 districts, and the 2025 fee schedule of $300 per unit initial and $200 per unit renewal, pending confirmation those figures still apply in 2026. None of that authority extends to Scranton, and a call placed to the Stroudsburg desk about a Scranton property will not get you an accurate answer, because that desk simply does not hold Scranton's file.

Scranton operates under its own separate municipal registration process, with its own fee schedule and its own zoning rules, none of which are detailed in this post. A host evaluating a Scranton property needs to identify and contact Scranton's own registration desk directly, the same way a Stroudsburg host confirms directly with the Borough of Stroudsburg. Treating either town's confirmation as covering both is the single most common mistake this post is written to head off.

A Listing Scrape Is Not a Permit Shop

Market data extracts like the one behind the revenue figures in this post can report a licensed-share percentage for a town's active listings, but that figure comes from what a listing platform can detect or what a host has self-reported, not from either municipality's actual registration records. It is not a permit shop, and it should never be read as confirmation that a specific property, in either Stroudsburg or Scranton, is actually licensed and compliant. The only reliable confirmation comes directly from the relevant town's own desk.

This distinction matters more, not less, when comparing two towns side by side, because it is easy to look at a licensed-share statistic for Stroudsburg next to a similar statistic for Scranton and draw a conclusion about which town's registration process is easier or harder to navigate. That comparison is not supported by this kind of data. Processing time, approval rates, and enforcement patterns are questions for each town's own registration desk, not for a scrape of public listing pages.

Stroudsburg's File: Ordinance, Zoning, and Fees

Stroudsburg requires a short-term home rental license under Ordinance 1087, in addition to a separate zoning permit, before a property can legally operate. Short-term rentals are prohibited outright in the R-1, R-2, and R-3 residential zoning districts. Under the 2025 fee schedule, registration runs $300 per unit for the initial application and $200 per unit for renewal, and it is prohibited to operate without a valid, unexpired license under the borough's published rules. Confirm current 2026 fees and any zoning updates directly at stroudsburgboro.com before proceeding.

On top of licensing and zoning, Stroudsburg-area short-term rentals sit under a Monroe County hotel room rental excise tax of 3 percent and a Pennsylvania state hotel occupancy tax of 6 percent. Display license proof on the listing once the license is actually issued, not before, and keep the parcel address, zoning district, and current registration status on hand any time you contact the borough with a specific question about a specific property.

Scranton's File: A Separate Set of Numbers, Not a Separate Set of Facts Here

This post does not have primary-sourced Scranton ordinance details to report, and it will not guess at them. What this post can confirm from the Air ROI extract is Scranton's revenue performance: about $14,656 in typical annual revenue last year from 85 active listings on the same August 2025 through July 2026 window used for Stroudsburg's figures. That revenue context is useful for comparison purposes, but it is not a substitute for Scranton's own municipal registration information, which needs to come from Scranton's own desk, not from a revenue extract.

If you are weighing a purchase in Scranton alongside one in Stroudsburg, do the same due diligence in both directions: confirm Stroudsburg's Ordinance 1087 requirements at stroudsburgboro.com, and separately track down Scranton's equivalent registration office to confirm that town's own licensing, zoning, and fee structure before assuming either set of rules applies across both properties.

A reasonable next step for a Scranton property is contacting the city's clerk or code enforcement office directly and asking specifically what short-term rental registration, zoning, and tax requirements apply, in the same detail this post has laid out for Stroudsburg. Until that confirmation is in hand, treat Scranton's compliance picture as unconfirmed rather than assuming it mirrors Stroudsburg's Ordinance 1087 structure simply because the two towns sit on the same regional revenue extract.

Occupancy, Rate, and RevPAR Side by Side

Stroudsburg's occupancy ran about 34.0 percent last year at an average nightly rate of $383, producing a RevPAR of about $125. This post does not have an equivalent primary-sourced occupancy or ADR breakout for Scranton beyond the $14,656 typical-revenue figure and the 85-listing supply count already cited, and it will not back into an implied rate or occupancy figure for Scranton that was not actually reported in the source extract. If you need Scranton's rate and occupancy specifics, pull them from a Scranton-focused source rather than estimating them from this post's Stroudsburg-anchored figures.

The instinct to divide Scranton's $14,656 typical revenue by an assumed occupancy or rate, just to have a complete-looking comparison table, is exactly the kind of number this post is arguing against guessing. A gap in the data is more useful, and more honest, than a filled-in guess that looks precise but is not actually sourced from anything.

A Note on Supply Growth Before You Compare Density

Stroudsburg's revenue grew about 72.1 percent year over year in this sample, while active supply grew about 112.5 percent over the same period — supply outpacing revenue growth, which is worth knowing before assuming a smaller listing count automatically means less competition going forward. A market adding new listings faster than it is adding revenue can still be a reasonable place to operate, but it changes the competitive picture a new host should expect walking in, compared with a market where supply and revenue are growing at roughly the same pace.

This post does not have an equivalent year-over-year growth figure for Scranton to set beside Stroudsburg's 72.1 percent revenue and 112.5 percent supply growth. Rather than estimate one, treat Scranton's growth trajectory as an open question to confirm through a live comp search or a Scranton-specific data source, the same way this post has treated Scranton's registration requirements as a question for that town's own desk rather than a guess filled in here.

Seasonal Patterns Belong to Each Town Separately Too

Stroudsburg's peak revenue months in this sample are June, July, and December, with March standing out as the clearest revenue hole and January flagged as a slower stretch as well. Typical stays run about 3.1 nights, with most guests arriving from New York and then Philadelphia and booking roughly 60 days ahead. None of that seasonal shape should be assumed to apply unchanged to Scranton simply because the two towns sit on the same regional extract — Scranton's guest base, drive-time catchment, and calendar of local events can produce a meaningfully different seasonal pattern even within the same broader Northeast Pennsylvania region.

A host or manager setting a shared marketing calendar across properties in both towns should build two separate seasonal pricing plans rather than one combined calendar, at least until Scranton-specific seasonal data confirms whether its peaks and holes actually line up with Stroudsburg's. Assuming a shared calendar without that confirmation risks pricing a Scranton property too high in a month that is actually slow there, or too low in a month that Stroudsburg treats as a hole but Scranton does not.

Two Columns, Not One Blended Number

The cleanest way to hold both towns in mind at once is two columns, not one merged summary. Column one: Stroudsburg, $35,590 typical revenue on 34 listings, Ordinance 1087 license plus zoning permit required, $300 initial and $200 renewal fees under the 2025 schedule, 3 percent county excise tax and 6 percent state hotel occupancy tax, confirm current 2026 details at stroudsburgboro.com. Column two: Scranton, $14,656 typical revenue on 85 listings, registration requirements to be confirmed directly with Scranton's own municipal desk, no ordinance specifics claimed in this post.

A listing that still describes itself with Scranton-oriented copy while sitting on a Stroudsburg parcel — or the reverse — is not just a marketing inconsistency. If the underlying licensing and zoning language in the listing implies the wrong municipality's rules, that mismatch can create real confusion for a prospective buyer or a guest trying to understand what they are actually booking. Keep the columns separate all the way through, from the ordinance citation to the revenue figure to the listing copy itself.

What to Bring to Either Desk

Whichever town's desk you are calling, arrive with the same basic information ready: the property's exact address, its zoning district if you already know it, whether you are applying fresh or renewing an existing registration, and any prior compliance history if you are buying an existing short-term rental rather than starting a new one. That preparation applies equally whether the parcel sits in Stroudsburg, under Ordinance 1087's jurisdiction, or in Scranton, under whatever separate process governs that town.

What should never travel between the two calls is an assumption. Confirming Stroudsburg's rules for one property does not tell you anything reliable about a second property across the town line in Scranton, and no amount of familiarity with one municipality's process should be treated as a shortcut for confirming the other's independently.

If you work with a marketing team or manage listings across both towns, build your internal documentation the same way this post is structured: one file for Stroudsburg with its Ordinance 1087 citation, zoning restrictions, and 2025 fee schedule, and a second, separate file for Scranton once you have confirmed its own requirements directly. Resist the urge to merge the two into a single shared compliance checklist, since a merged document is exactly the format most likely to let a Stroudsburg-specific fact quietly get applied to a Scranton property, or the reverse.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Stroudsburg's registration desk also handle Scranton short-term rental questions?

No. The Borough of Stroudsburg's registration desk, reachable at stroudsburgboro.com or 570-421-5444, governs Ordinance 1087 and Stroudsburg's own zoning and fee rules only. Scranton has its own separate municipal registration process that is not covered by this desk. A property owner with listings in both towns needs to contact each municipality's own office independently rather than assuming one confirmation covers both.

What does Stroudsburg's short-term rental license cost compared with Scranton's?

Stroudsburg's 2025 fee schedule lists $300 per unit for initial registration and $200 per unit for renewal, pending confirmation those figures still apply for 2026. This post does not have a primary-sourced Scranton fee figure to report and will not estimate one. Confirm Scranton's fee schedule directly with that town's own registration office rather than assuming it mirrors Stroudsburg's structure.

How do Stroudsburg and Scranton compare on typical short-term rental revenue?

Stroudsburg's typical listing earned about $35,590 last year from 34 active rentals, while Scranton's typical listing earned about $14,656 from 85 active rentals, both on the same August 2025 through July 2026 Air ROI extract. Stroudsburg's per-listing revenue runs well above Scranton's on this data, though the two towns differ in supply scale as well, with Scranton carrying more active listings against a lower typical figure.

Can I use a listing platform's licensed-share percentage to compare how strict each town's registration process is?

No. A licensed-share figure from a market data extract reflects what a listing platform can detect or what hosts self-report, not either municipality's actual registration records or enforcement patterns. It does not tell you approval rates, processing time, or how strictly either town enforces its rules. Those questions need to go directly to each town's own registration desk.

What zoning restrictions apply to Stroudsburg short-term rentals?

Short-term rentals are prohibited outright in the R-1, R-2, and R-3 residential zoning districts under Stroudsburg's published ordinance, in addition to the Ordinance 1087 licensing requirement. This post does not have equivalent primary-sourced zoning detail for Scranton. Confirm any Scranton zoning restrictions directly with that town's own planning or registration office before assuming a property there is eligible.

What taxes apply on top of Stroudsburg's licensing requirements?

A Monroe County hotel room rental excise tax of 3 percent and a Pennsylvania state hotel occupancy tax of 6 percent both apply to compliant Stroudsburg short-term rentals, independent of the Ordinance 1087 license and zoning permit requirements. These figures should be confirmed as current for 2026 with the borough and county before being built into a pricing model.

If a listing's copy mentions Scranton but the property is actually in Stroudsburg, does that matter?

Yes. Beyond being a marketing inconsistency, a listing that implies the wrong municipality's rules or identity can create real confusion for a prospective guest or buyer trying to understand what they are booking, and it raises the risk of mismatched licensing claims. Keep listing copy, ordinance references, and revenue figures tied to whichever town the parcel actually sits in, without blending details from the neighboring market.

What information should I have ready when I call a town's registration desk?

The property's exact address, its zoning district if already known, whether you are filing a new application or a renewal, and any prior compliance history if you're buying an existing short-term rental. That preparation applies whether you're calling Stroudsburg's desk about Ordinance 1087 or Scranton's separate registration office, and arriving prepared tends to produce a faster, more specific answer than a general inquiry.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

A description that still blends Scranton and Stroudsburg desks sends the wrong guest to the wrong town. Two registration files need two listing stories.

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