United States · Short-term rental
Rental arbitrage break-even occupancy calculator.
Solve for the share of nights you must book, or the nightly rate you must charge, before the unit stops losing money, and see a grid of monthly profit across rates and occupancy.
Your assumptions
The starting figures are illustrative placeholders, not market averages. Replace every one with your own. Nothing is looked up by address and nothing leaves your browser.
Result
What break-even occupancy means here
Break-even occupancy is the share of nights booked at which net monthly profit is exactly zero. Below it you are paying to operate; above it each extra booked night adds its contribution. Because the rent is fixed, the figure is high for expensive leases and low for cheap ones.
Formula. With k = 1 − platform fee − management fee (and minus the absorbed share of lodging tax, if any), the contribution of one booked night is c = rate × k − (cleaning cost + supplies − cleaning fee charged × k) ÷ average stay. Break-even occupancy = fixed monthly costs ÷ (30.4375 × c). If c is zero or negative, or the result exceeds 100%, the tool says “not reachable” rather than inventing a number. Break-even nightly rate solves the same equation for the rate at the occupancy you enter.
Worked example (illustrative inputs)
Rent $2,000, utilities $200, internet $60, insurance $50 gives fixed costs of $2,310 a month. At a $150 rate, 3-night average stay, $75 cleaning fee charged, $90 combined cleaning cost and supplies per stay and a 15.5% fee, k = 0.845 and one booked night contributes 117.88 dollars. Break-even occupancy is therefore 64.4%. At 60% occupancy the rate needed to break even is 160.19 dollars a night, against the $150 entered.
Reading the grid
The grid fixes every input except nightly rate (rows, from 30% below to 30% above your rate) and occupancy (columns, 30% to 80%). Negative cells are months where fixed costs are not covered. The grid is a sensitivity table, not a forecast: the occupancy that goes with a given rate is not independent, since raising the price usually lowers bookings, and this tool deliberately does not guess that relationship.
For a floor price when you own the unit, see Airbnb minimum nightly rate. For the full monthly picture, use the rental arbitrage calculator.
Sources
Airbnb Help Center, "Airbnb service fees" (article 1857). Retrieved 2026-10.
What this does not cover
- Whether your lease allows subletting or short stays, which only your lease, your landlord and local law can settle.
- Market data: there is no address lookup, no comparable listings and no occupancy or rate forecast.
- Platform ranking, seasonality, guest reviews or demand shifts, which you would need to put into your occupancy assumptions yourself.
- Income tax: the model stops at profit before income tax. See the tax explainer for how the IRS describes reporting.
- The link between price and demand: lowering the rate to reach an occupancy may not be possible.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good break-even occupancy for rental arbitrage?
There is no universal benchmark. What matters is how far your break-even sits below the occupancy you can realistically defend. The closer it is to what you expect, the thinner the margin and the less a slow month can be absorbed.
How do I calculate break-even occupancy for an Airbnb?
Divide fixed monthly costs by the profit one booked night leaves after the platform fee, management fee, cleaning and supplies, then by 30.4375 days. The calculator does this and flags cases where it is not reachable.
Why does it say break-even is not reachable?
Either each booked night earns nothing after variable costs (rate too low for the fees and cleaning), or you would need more than 100% of nights to cover the fixed costs.
Does the Airbnb fee apply to the cleaning fee?
Airbnb's service-fee article says fees are a percentage of the nightly price and any fees the host charges, excluding taxes. The model applies your fee percentage to nightly revenue and to the cleaning fee you charge. Check the fee on your own payout statement.
Is 15.5% my platform fee?
It is a starting input. Airbnb's help article states that most hosts on the single-fee structure pay 15.5% and most on the split-fee structure pay 3%, with some paying more. The fee box is editable, so enter the figure on your own account.
Should I raise my rate or chase occupancy?
The grid shows what each is worth on paper. Which one your market allows is something only your own booking data can answer.
Disclaimer
This is an educational model that runs on assumptions you enter. Results vary, nothing here is a prediction or a promise of income, and it is not tax, legal or financial advice. Confirm every figure with the official source, your lease and a qualified professional. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.