Airbnb Occupancy Rate by City: The 2026 Picture
Occupancy rate is the single most misunderstood number in short-term rentals. Owners and hosts quote it constantly, yet almost nobody agrees on how it is measured — or how wildly it swings between cities. This guide gives you real, current occupancy benchmarks for major U.S. Airbnb markets in 2026, all computed from live public Airbnb listings via STRmetrics.
First, a definition that matters: the figures below use forward occupancy — the share of the next 90 nights already booked across a sample of active listings. This is the industry-standard, forward-looking proxy, and it is far more useful for pricing and acquisition decisions than a backward-looking "nights sold last year" number.
2026 Occupancy Benchmarks by City
Here is where the live sample sits right now (week of July 2, 2026):
- Miami, FL — 74% forward occupancy, median ADR $176, RevPAR $131. The strongest big-market pairing of demand and rate in the sample.
- Denver, CO — 69% occupancy, median ADR $130, RevPAR $90. High, steady bookings carry a moderate nightly rate.
- Austin, TX — 38% occupancy, median ADR $144, RevPAR $54. Rate holds up but forward bookings are soft.
- Scottsdale, AZ — 34% occupancy, median ADR $256, RevPAR $88. A high-ADR market where occupancy, not rate, is the constraint.
- San Diego, CA — 30% occupancy, median ADR $251, RevPAR $75. Premium rates, thin forward bookings this window.
- Nashville, TN — 21% occupancy, median ADR $153, RevPAR $32. A cautionary example: strong ADR, weak forward demand.
The spread is enormous: Miami's forward occupancy (74%) is more than three times Nashville's (21%). Anyone quoting "the average Airbnb occupancy rate" as a single figure is misleading themselves. Occupancy is a local number, and in seasonal leisure markets it is a this-week number.
Why Occupancy Alone Is a Trap
High occupancy is not the goal — profitable occupancy is. Scottsdale runs just 34% forward occupancy but still posts an $88 RevPAR because its $256 ADR is so high. Nashville runs 21% and only manages a $32 RevPAR. The number that actually predicts your revenue is RevPAR = ADR × Occupancy, not occupancy in isolation.
This is exactly why serious operators track occupancy, ADR and RevPAR together, per market, and refresh them often. A market can look attractive on rate and quietly starve you on bookings.
How to Use These Benchmarks
1. Benchmark your own listing. If your Miami unit is booking 55% of the next 90 nights while the market sits at 74%, you have a pricing or listing-quality gap to close — not a demand problem.
2. Screen acquisitions. Before buying or signing a management contract, pull current occupancy and RevPAR for the exact city. A high-ADR headline can hide weak forward demand.
3. Re-check monthly. STR demand shifts constantly. Last year's occupancy figure is a rear-view mirror; forward occupancy is the windshield.
Get Live Occupancy for Any City
These benchmarks are a snapshot of six markets. STRmetrics returns live forward occupancy, median ADR, RevPAR and revenue estimates for any city on demand — via a simple API or a browser lookup. You can start a free 7-day trial and pull current numbers for your own markets in minutes, then wire the same data into your pricing, underwriting or owner reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good Airbnb occupancy rate in 2026?
There is no universal "good" number — it is entirely market-dependent. In a strong demand market like Miami, anything under ~65% forward occupancy suggests a pricing or listing-quality gap. In a softer forward-booking market like Nashville or San Diego right now, 30% can be the market ceiling for this window, and chasing higher occupancy usually means cutting your rate below profitability. Always benchmark against the specific city, in the current window, not a national average.
How is forward occupancy different from what Airbnb shows me?
Your Airbnb dashboard shows your booked nights after the fact. Forward occupancy estimates the share of the next 90 nights already booked across a sample of competing listings — so it tells you where the market is heading and how you compare, not just where you have already been. That forward view is what lets you re-price before demand softens instead of after.
How often should I refresh these numbers?
Monthly at a minimum for buy-and-hold decisions, and weekly if you are actively revenue-managing in a seasonal leisure market. Because forward occupancy is a leading indicator, a two-week-old reading can already be stale heading into a shoulder season. Pulling live data on a schedule — via start a free 7-day trial — is the difference between reacting to the market and anticipating it.
Key Takeaways
- Airbnb occupancy varies 3–4x between cities — there is no single "average" worth quoting.
- Use forward occupancy (next-90-night booked share), not last year's nights-sold.
- Occupancy only matters paired with ADR: judge markets on RevPAR.
- Pull current, city-level data before you price, buy or quote — then start a free 7-day trial to automate it.