Occupancy Rate

Occupancy rate measures demand for your listing: out of the nights you made available, how many were booked. A property available 300 nights and booked 210 of them runs a 70 percent occupancy rate. The figure depends on price, season, reviews, location, and how many nights you block off for yourself or for maintenance.

Occupancy is one of the two levers behind short-term rental revenue, the other being the average daily rate. Raising price usually lowers occupancy and lowering price usually raises it, so the goal is the combination that maximizes revenue per available night, not occupancy by itself. A listing booked solid at a low price can earn less than one booked two-thirds of the time at a higher rate. Our guide to calculating Airbnb income explains how to estimate a realistic occupancy rate from comparable listings instead of assuming a full calendar.