How to Access Airbnb Occupancy Rate Data in 2023

Published in

Mashvisor

17 min readJan 30, 2022

One of the most important profitability metrics a short term rental investor should monitor is the rental market’s Airbnb occupancy rate data.

Investing in vacation rentals is a popular way of investing in real estate. When conducting market research, one of the vital pieces of information any property investor should look for is a neighborhood’s Airbnb occupancy rate data.

While Airbnb investment is profitable, you must realize that not all markets and properties are equal. They don’t offer the same things to investors. The rate of return on investment and rental income varies per location. Many factors, such as location and property type, determine the profitability of your short term rental.

One of the most important factors is the Airbnb occupancy rate. Merely listing your property on the Airbnb platform won’t generate profits for you. As the host, you must look at ways to get bookings and maintain a good occupancy rate. It is best to look at the average Airbnb occupancy rate by city when checking out prospective investment properties.

By now, you might be wondering how and where you can access Airbnb occupancy rate data. In today’s article, we first seek to understand what occupancy rate is, how to calculate it, and how to access Airbnb occupancy rate data. We’ll also show you how to maintain a good occupancy rate and how Mashvisor can help you in your real estate investing journey.

What Is Airbnb Occupancy Rate?

Airbnb occupancy rate is the ratio of booked nights to the total number of nights the property is available for bookings. It is used to measure how often guests occupy your Airbnb income property for a given duration.

In simpler terms, the Airbnb occupancy rate is the percentage of days/nights your short-term rental is booked by guests.

The Airbnb occupancy rate is a factor you should consider regardless of the rental strategy you choose to follow. Remember, real estate investment is all about maximizing profits and generating a positive cash flow . More than just getting back a return on investment, your goal as an investor is to come up with an additional steady income stream with your rental property.

As a short-term rental investor, you don’t want your property to stay vacant. Primarily, this is because your business is missing out on potential Airbnb income for every night it stays unoccupied.

Based on this information, one can assume that the Airbnb occupancy rate formula calculates the number of nights you can expect to rent your property out annually. However, this alone can’t give us the entire picture of the actual performance of the rental property.

Only the Airbnb occupancy rate formula can help you understand what we mean.

Airbnb Occupancy Rate Formula

Here’s the Airbnb occupancy rate formula to help get a more accurate representation of the occupancy rate:

Airbnb Occupancy Rate = Number of Booked Nights / Number of Available Nights

What do the values represent? They are pretty much straightforward. The number of booked nights is simply the total number of days your Airbnb rental property was rented out in a year.

On the other hand, the number of available nights is the number of days your Airbnb property is free to book for that year. In short, it’s the sum of occupied days and unoccupied but free days.

This is where we want to make one thing perfectly clear. The number of available days doesn’t necessarily mean all days of the year. It may confuse many people. It simply indicates the number of nights you’ve made your rental property available for guests’ bookings.

If you’re starting a short term rental business, why not make it available for all days of the year?

It can be due to a few factors. For vacation rentals on beaches and warm climates, they’ll experience higher demand in the summer. However, they will generally remain dormant in the colder winter season.

Another factor that can affect the total number of available nights is Airbnb regulations. Some cities impose a few ordinances that place a cap on the number of days/nights a host can rent their property as a vacation rental. As such, always do your due diligence and understand the Airbnb regulations in your city before investing.

What Is a Good Airbnb Occupancy Rate?

A good Airbnb occupancy rate is, in general, 65% or higher. While many people may think that a high Airbnb occupancy rate will always mean high profitability, it isn’t always the case. In fact, a high Airbnb occupancy rate isn’t always the best for real estate investors. It doesn’t mean more profits.

Airbnb occupancy rates and rental rates share an inverse relationship. A 100% occupancy rate may seem like a good thing but in reality, it is not.

It is important to note that in some locations, you may see a high occupancy rate but may be compelled to set lower nightly rates. The opposite may also happen. Also, if the occupancy rate is really high, it may mean that you’re leaving some money on the table.

That said, if you are the type of Airbnb host who gives discounted rates on early-bird bookings, then you can miss out on full-rate payments from last-minute bookings. Plenty of travelers tend to decide at the last minute. And while they are looking for bargain deals, they are more than likely to pay a bit more than what they’re looking for to close the deal.

A hundred percent occupancy rate may also make you miss out on potential profit on special events as they can sometimes get you twice or thrice as much per night. Ideally, you should be fully booked two to three weeks out and at least 50% booked from four to eight weeks in advance.

Leave some days on your calendar to accommodate last-minute bookings. But do your best to also work on getting enough bookings that you don’t worry about filling in odd gaps at the last minute. You simply need to strike the right balance between the two.

Ideal vs Actual Numbers

As mentioned above, Airbnb and vacation rental properties, in general, should achieve an occupancy rate of at least 65%. There are a number of exceptional Airbnbs that hit 75%, but they are more a rarity than the norm. As of November 2022, the average Airbnb occupancy rate in the US is 48%.

So, what’s a good Airbnb occupancy rate?

A good Airbnb occupancy rate is one that allows you to charge an average rental rate that generates the highest possible Airbnb rental income.

Also, don’t forget that your ideal occupancy rate is determined by a number of factors, such as:

The real estate housing market you’re in
Season of the year
The position of your listing in the overall rental market

Neighborhoods located in tourism hubs can have both high occupancy rates and rental rates and be desirable for investors since they provide a good income.

Some neighborhoods have a lower Airbnb occupancy rate but a high rental rate. Buying an Airbnb investment property in such an area can be profitable. The rental income must be adequate enough to compensate for the vacancy rate.

Of course, neighborhoods with both low occupancy rates and low rental rates will be undesirable for real estate investors and ones that you would want to avoid.

What Factors Affect Airbnb Occupancy Rates?

We’ve mentioned that the Airbnb occupancy rate is mainly affected by location. As such, occupancy rates differ from location to location and from property to property. By looking at such factors, a real estate investor can determine what occupancy rate is best for their investment.

Location isn’t the only factor that influences occupancy rates, though. Other factors to consider are:

Pricing Strategy

Speaking of pricing, your nightly rate determines how often your vacation rental is occupied. As such, a well-planned pricing strategy is important for any short term rental business.

How do you come up with a well-planned pricing strategy?

Regardless of the rental strategy you choose to follow or the housing market you’re located in, research helps you set a good foundation for building a pricing strategy that will work for you. Always look at Airbnb comps data to understand what the typical market rates for your type of property are in your area.

However, sometimes, it won’t be the only data you should consider to set a competitive price. You might offer a few amenities or special features standing out that could justify you setting a higher-than-average nightly rate.

You could also choose to go in the opposite direction and lower your nightly rate to attract more bookings. However, be careful with such an approach, since a lower-than-average nightly rate may raise guests’ suspicions.

Also, ensure your pricing strategy is dynamic and optimized. An optimized pricing strategy means one that adapts to various seasons. Never make the common mistake of setting one nightly rate to use all year long.

During the peak season, when tourists are traveling and Airbnb demand is high, you can set a higher nightly rate. Inversely, switch to a lower rate to attract more guests when the market is dormant.

An optimized, dynamic, and transparent pricing strategy will not only help you generate Airbnb income throughout the year but also help improve your Airbnb rankings.

Marketing Strategy

Any prudent real estate investor knows that solely relying on the Airbnb platform to market your vacation rental isn’t wise. If you want to increase your occupancy rate in 2023, you need to go out of your way and implement other marketing strategies.

Remember, you want your listing to reach as many potential guests as possible. Your marketing strategy can be extremely helpful, especially during the dormant season.

A majority of the world’s population today barely goes a day without logging onto a social media platform. You can capitalize on the free platforms and implement a digital marketing and social media strategy to reach out to users around the world.

Here’s how you can do it:

Open an Instagram account and upload high-quality pictures of your short term rental. You can also work with influencers to reach a wider audience. Working with an influencer might entail giving them a limited number of free stays on your rental property, but it might be worth the shot.
Upload high-quality pictures and a comprehensive description on your Facebook page. Join Facebook groups and communities to share content.
Post your property’s pictures on Twitter and use the relevant hashtags to reach more Twitter users.

When marketing your property on social media, don’t forget to include the link to the actual Airbnb listing. Your goal should be to lead people to the Airbnb platform for them to book. It is one great way to boost your occupancy rate.

Guests’ Experience

The kind of guest experience you can offer greatly influences your occupancy rate. Your guests will feel more attracted to your rental if you offer more than just a place to stay over the night.

How do you offer more guest experience?

Share your knowledge about a specific place or thing. Simply ensure you’re offering more value to the guests.

For example, if you’re hosting history students, you can show them around the local museums, cultural centers, or archeological sites. If they love local cuisine, show them some of the best restaurants and beverage outlets in your city. If your guests are staying for a longer period, you can simply provide a guide around the city.

How to Improve Your Airbnb Occupancy Rate

Now, as an existing or prospective vacation rental owner and host, you would want to get the best possible occupancy rates on your short term rental. The good thing is that it is something you can work on regardless of the time of year.

Here are a few tips for improving your Airbnb occupancy rate:

1. Offer Discounts

Discounted rates are a great way to stand out from all the other rental properties in the area. People’s brains are somehow wired to immediately detect discounts, which will encourage them to check out properties that will make them save money.

There are several ways to do it. You can offer discounts for earlier bookings. It is one of the most common ways to get those bookings. It is because the nearer you get to the actual booking date, the more expensive the rates get. Organized travelers know well enough to scout for early-bird discounts to save them more money for their upcoming trips.

You may also offer discounts for multiple bookings. If a guest is looking to book several rooms or properties, you can give them lower rates for bulk bookings.

You may also offer discounted rates for those who wish to avail of other services you may offer, such as the ones on Airbnb Experiences. Really, your ingenuity is the only limit.

2. Offer Benefits for Longer Stays

Some Airbnb hosts offer added benefits to guests who stay for longer periods, such as a slightly lower nightly rate. Others may offer a one-time cleaning service fee for stays beyond a month or so. Again, it will depend on your creativity and capability as a host.

3. Have a Target Market in Mind

One of the things that most successful Airbnb owners and hosts do is they know their target market and go after them. If you notice, several Airbnb properties are going for particular demographics.

Some provide facilities and amenities suitable for families with young children. Others allow pets on-site, which is very attractive to traveling pet owners. Some are located in areas that are suitable for outdoor activities. Such locations are popular among nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts. Others are located near colleges and universities, which attract student guests.

Knowing your target market will help you spruce up your rental property and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.

4. Take Advantage of Social Media

As we already mentioned, social media gives you a free avenue to promote your business online. All you need to do is come up with an effective marketing strategy that will lead to clicks on your link and guest bookings.

How to Access Airbnb Occupancy Rate Data

If you want to find a profitable short term rental property to invest in, you must study the area’s short term rental data and figure out the occupancy rate. As you can already tell, compiling and analyzing all the rental data isn’t that easy. This is where the Mashvisor Airbnb occupancy rate calculator comes in.

If you’re looking for an Airbnb occupancy calculator, Mashvisor is the quickest and fastest method how to find Airbnb occupancy rates.

Basically, you can find Airbnb occupancy rate data in the US real estate market on Mashvisor’s blog. In addition, you can get accurate Airbnb data for different neighborhoods and rental properties in the US by using our real estate investment tools, which utilize Airbnb analytics.

For example, you can find the following data on the Mashvisor heatmap:

Airbnb rental income
Airbnb occupancy rate
Listing price
Airbnb cash on cash return

The heatmap uses colors to represent various values, ranges, or percentages. The color-coded visual makes it easier to find a neighborhood that strikes a good balance between your preferred metrics.

Mashvisor’s Airbnb Calculator includes the Airbnb occupancy data of a listing based on verified Airbnbs in the area.

Mashvisor tools also include the best Airbnb calculator. Finding a short term property that will be profitable requires you to also carry out individual property analysis. This is where our Airbnb profit calculator comes in handy.

Mashvisor’s Airbnb profit calculator allows you to calculate individual occupancy rates for each property that you’re interested in within a matter of minutes. It is a vital tool if you want to find a property with a good Airbnb return on investment.

How Do We Find Airbnb Occupancy Rate Data?

We don’t just get all our occupancy rate data on the Airbnb site and other short term rental platforms. We use a unique set of criteria that each property goes through before including them in our Airbnb occupancy rate calculations. They are:

The listing must be active on the Airbnb platform. If it’s not, we check to see whether it has been for the past three months before we can include it.
Shared or private room listings aren’t included in the Airbnb occupancy rate calculations, even though their data is collected.
Each listing must have at least three reviews to qualify.

Airbnb listings in every neighborhood whose information is included in our database are filtered. It then allows us to calculate the Airbnb occupancy rate for every individual listing. It also lets us calculate the rental rate for every neighborhood.

Get started on your 7-day free trial with Mashvisor today on your way to a thriving real estate investing career.

Top 20 Cities With the Highest Average Airbnb Occupancy Rate

As an investor, you may be wondering which locations offer the best Airbnb occupancy rates that will give you a good return on your investment. We went through Mashvisor’s most recent location report and came up with the following list for you.

We filtered the list using the following criteria for optimum ROI:

Each location must have a median property price of no more than $1,000,000
Each location must have at least 100 active listings on the short term rental market
Each location must have a minimum monthly rental income average of $2,000
Each location must have no less than 2% cash on cash return
Each location must have a 50% Airbnb occupancy rate or more

The locations below are ranked specifically from those with the highest Airbnb occupancy rate down to the lowest. Based on Mashvisor’s January 2023 short term rental data, here are the 20 cities with the best Airbnb occupancy rates that will give you the most optimum returns:

1. San Pedro, CA

Median Property Price: $953,242
Average Price per Square Foot: $566
Days on Market: 69
Number of Airbnb Listings: 103
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $4,975
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 3.45%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 3.47%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $166
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 71%
Walk Score: 91

2. Madison, WI

Median Property Price: $486,984
Average Price per Square Foot: $260
Days on Market: 28
Number of Airbnb Listings: 270
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $4,747
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 5.91%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 5.99%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $242
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 70%
Walk Score: 45

Start searching for profitable Airbnb properties for sale in Madison, WI.

3. Bellingham, WA

Median Property Price: $707,940
Average Price per Square Foot: $426
Days on Market: 86
Number of Airbnb Listings: 172
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $3,860
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 3.62%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 3.65%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $153
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 70%
Walk Score: 48

Mashvisor’s Investment Property Search Engine & Heatmap showing Bellingham WA’s Airbnb Occupancy Data and other metrics.

4. Waltham, MA

Median Property Price: $624,508
Average Price per Square Foot: $1,690
Days on Market: 54
Number of Airbnb Listings: 256
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $3,430
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 2.54%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 2.56%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $191
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 69%
Walk Score: 91

5. Tigard, OR

Median Property Price: $666,416
Average Price per Square Foot: $302
Days on Market: 80
Number of Airbnb Listings: 155
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $4,589
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 4.06%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 4.09%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $180
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 67%
Walk Score: 42

6. Union City, NJ

Median Property Price: $666,727
Average Price per Square Foot: $383
Days on Market: 117
Number of Airbnb Listings: 168
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $3,171
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 3.41%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 3.46%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $149
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 67%
Walk Score: 97

7. Olympia, WA

Median Property Price: $691,983
Average Price per Square Foot: $395
Days on Market: 54
Number of Airbnb Listings: 133
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $3,174
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 2.44%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 2.47%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $121
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 67%
Walk Score: 34

8. Somerville, MA

Median Property Price: $872,566
Average Price per Square Foot: $1,792
Days on Market: 203
Number of Airbnb Listings: 136
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $4,354
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 2.19%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 2.20%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $223
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 66%
Walk Score: 82

9. Burlington, VT

Median Property Price: $646,013
Average Price per Square Foot: $3,289
Days on Market: 104
Number of Airbnb Listings: 276
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $4,601
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 3.45%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 3.48%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $219
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 66%
Walk Score: 96

10. San Fernando, CA

Median Property Price: $628,333
Average Price per Square Foot: $583
Days on Market: 80
Number of Airbnb Listings: 101
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $4,219
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 4.16%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 4.19%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $170
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 65%
Walk Score: 96

11. Corvallis, OR

Median Property Price: $671,905
Average Price per Square Foot: $341
Days on Market: 87
Number of Airbnb Listings: 104
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $3,305
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 2.98%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 3.01%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $151
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 64%
Walk Score: 60

12. East Rutherford, NJ

Median Property Price: $539,620
Average Price per Square Foot: $3,263
Days on Market: 59
Number of Airbnb Listings: 318
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $3,614
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 2.77%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 2.80%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $151
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 64%
Walk Score: 90

13. Salem, OR

Median Property Price: $518,192
Average Price per Square Foot: $272
Days on Market: 88
Number of Airbnb Listings: 160
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $3,126
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 3.57%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 3.62%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $148
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 64%
Walk Score: 46

14. Santa Fe, NM

Median Property Price: $785,235
Average Price per Square Foot: $392
Days on Market: 96
Number of Airbnb Listings: 261
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $4,354
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 3.90%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 3.94%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $222
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 64%
Walk Score: 5

15. Hawaiian Gardens, CA

Median Property Price: $668,403
Average Price per Square Foot: $536
Days on Market: 55
Number of Airbnb Listings: 206
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $4,375
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 4.80%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 4.84%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $197
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 64%
Walk Score: 88

16. Peoria, IL

Median Property Price: $221,645
Average Price per Square Foot: $99
Days on Market: 89
Number of Airbnb Listings: 124
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $2,277
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 6.06%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 6.26%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $93
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 63%
Walk Score: 55

17. Joplin, MO

Median Property Price: $381,035
Average Price per Square Foot: $142
Days on Market: 50
Number of Airbnb Listings: 105
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $2,297
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 5.66%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 5.80%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $103
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 63%
Walk Score: 76

18. Saint Louis Park, MN

Median Property Price: $352,657
Average Price per Square Foot: $217
Days on Market: 69
Number of Airbnb Listings: 232
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $3,421
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 5.12%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 5.20%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $189
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 63%
Walk Score: 43

19. Waianae, HI

Median Property Price: $720,868
Average Price per Square Foot: $490
Days on Market: 93
Number of Airbnb Listings: 127
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $4,787
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 5.81%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 5.87%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $220
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 63%
Walk Score: 19

20. Rosemead, CA

Median Property Price: $844,350
Average Price per Square Foot: $614
Days on Market: 94
Number of Airbnb Listings: 101
Monthly Airbnb Rental Income: $4,701
Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 3.29%
Airbnb Cap Rate: 3.31%
Airbnb Daily Rate: $182
Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 62%
Walk Score: 91

Go to Mashvisor now to start looking for and analyzing the most profitable short term rental properties in any location of your choice in the US.

Key Takeaways

Airbnb occupancy rate is a good indicator of a short term rental’s profitability. It’s important to look for short term rental data, such as Airbnb occupancy data, to analyze before investing.

We cannot emphasize enough how important due diligence is in real estate investing, especially if you’re starting a rental property business and listing on a platform like Airbnb. You need to do your homework and study the data thoroughly to come up with a highly accurate and realistic ROI calculation .

Ideally, the investment property you’re looking at should give you good cash on cash return, a positive cash flow, and a high enough Airbnb occupancy rate to keep your business going.

However, you need also to realize that a high occupancy rate doesn’t always represent a high-income potential. An extremely high occupancy rate may mean that you’re leaving a lot of money at stake. Always look for property that will give you the right balance between occupancy rate and monthly rental income.

Mashvisor’s tools allow you to conduct an in-depth analysis of the market, neighborhood, and the property you’re interested in. It’s the best way to check the occupancy rate on Airbnb. Even better, you can do all of the analysis in just a matter of minutes.

Learn more about how Mashvisor can help you find the best deals in the most profitable markets by scheduling a demo now.

Originally published at https://www.mashvisor.com on January 30, 2022.