Every "best Airbnb markets" list has the same problem: the data behind it is unreliable.

Most rankings pull from platforms that count every listing, including properties that haven't had a booking in six months, seasonal hobbyists who rent two weekends a year, and listings that were abandoned after one bad review. When you average all of that together, the numbers look nothing like what an actual investor would experience.

We took a different approach. These rankings are based on 1,065,055 reliable listings across 3,864 US markets with at least 20 reliable listings. Every listing in our dataset has a verified booking history of at least 9 months. No dead weight. No inflated counts. Just properties that are actually performing.

Here is what the data says about where to invest in 2026.

STRProfitMap's country profit map lets investors spot high-yield regions fast before drilling into city-level market data.

The Top Revenue Markets

If your primary goal is gross revenue, these markets produce the highest median annual income per listing.

| Rank | Market | Median Revenue | ADR | Occupancy | Reliable Listings |
|------|--------|---------------|-----|-----------|-------------------|
| 1 | Kilauea, HI | $177,372 | $827 | 68% | 25 |
| 2 | Hanalei, HI | $149,368 | $769 | 72% | 111 |
| 3 | Kapolei, HI | $135,722 | $708 | 73% | 173 |
| 4 | Pebble Beach, CA | $122,471 | $790 | 57% | 77 |
| 5 | East Hampton, NY | $110,846 | $922 | 48% | 80 |
| 6 | Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA | $108,244 | $673 | 62% | 173 |
| 7 | Nantucket, MA | $107,751 | $850 | 51% | 73 |
| 8 | Kahuku, HI | $107,288 | $451 | 74% | 295 |
| 9 | Newport Beach, CA | $107,272 | $563 | 65% | 794 |
| 10 | Teton Village, WY | $105,082 | $555 | 63% | 246 |

A few things stand out.

Hawaii dominates. Four of the top ten markets are on the islands, and they combine high nightly rates with strong year-round occupancy. Kilauea on Kaua'i leads with a median revenue of $177,372 per year. That is not a top-earner number. That is the median across all reliable listings in the market.

But revenue alone does not tell the whole story. East Hampton commands $922 per night but only fills 48% of available nights. Newport Beach earns slightly less per night at $563 but makes it up with 65% occupancy and nearly 800 active listings, which means there is a deep, liquid market to operate in.

Teton Village is the sleeper pick at number 10. The Jackson Hole area is pulling $105,000 in median revenue with 63% occupancy and 246 listings. It is a mature market with premium pricing that has not been over-built like some beach destinations.

Markets With the Best Occupancy

Revenue is important, but occupancy tells you how consistently a market performs. High occupancy means less downtime, more predictable cash flow, and lower risk of a bad quarter wiping out your returns.

These markets (with 50+ reliable listings) have the highest year-round occupancy rates:

| Rank | Market | Occupancy | Revenue | ADR | Listings |
|------|--------|-----------|---------|-----|----------|
| 1 | Abilene, TX | 83% | $35,456 | $150 | 328 |
| 2 | New York, NY | 79% | $38,894 | $164 | 3,404 |
| 3 | Brighton, MA | 79% | $56,133 | $233 | 87 |
| 4 | Irvine, CA | 79% | $42,653 | $170 | 129 |
| 5 | Kailua, HI | 78% | $44,622 | $205 | 91 |
| 6 | South San Francisco, CA | 77% | $59,520 | $252 | 63 |

Urban markets and tech-hub adjacent cities dominate the occupancy rankings. Abilene, Texas is the surprise leader at 83% occupancy. It is not a vacation market. It is a workforce housing play driven by Dyess Air Force Base and growing industrial demand.

New York City holds nearly 80% occupancy across 3,400+ listings, but the ADR is lower than you would expect ($164) because the data reflects the full range of NYC listings, not just Manhattan luxury units.

The takeaway: if you want consistent bookings over peak-season spikes, look at markets driven by business travel, military bases, medical centers, and universities. These demand drivers do not take summers off.

The National Picture: What "Average" Really Looks Like

Across 3,864 US markets and over 1 million reliable listings, here is what the national averages look like:

• Weighted average revenue: $37,925 per year
• Weighted average occupancy: 56.2%
• Weighted average ADR: $229 per night

That $38,000 number is important context. It means the median market in the US generates enough to cover a mortgage payment on a $250,000-$350,000 property, but not much more. To actually build wealth with STRs, you need to be in the right market, not just any market.

The Country Explorer makes it easy to compare markets side by side instead of relying on generic national averages.

Revenue Distribution: Most Markets Are Not Six-Figure Earners

Here is how revenue breaks down across all 3,864 markets we track:

• Under $30K/year: 53.7% of markets
• $30K-$50K/year: 39.2% of markets
• $50K-$75K/year: 6.0% of markets
• $75K-$100K/year: 0.7% of markets
• $100K+/year: 0.4% of markets (15 markets)

More than half of US STR markets produce less than $30,000 per year in median revenue. Only 15 markets in the entire country cross the $100,000 mark. When someone tells you Airbnb is a guaranteed money-maker, this is the reality they are glossing over.

The opportunity is real, but it is concentrated. The top 7% of markets (those above $50K in revenue) are where serious investors should focus their search.

How to Use This Data

Rankings are a starting point, not a buying decision. Before committing to any market:

1. Check the saturation score. A high-revenue market that is adding listings faster than demand is growing will not stay high-revenue for long.
2. Look at revenue by bedroom count. A market's median revenue might be $60,000, but that could be driven by 4-bedroom vacation homes. If you are buying a 2-bedroom condo, your expected revenue will be different.
3. Verify the regulations. Some of these top markets have strict STR regulations that limit permits, require owner-occupancy, or cap the number of rental nights per year.
4. Run property-level numbers. Market averages give you a ballpark. The Property Analyzer gives you a specific projection for a specific address, including expenses, financing, and cash-on-cash return.

The saturation score helps investors avoid markets where supply is rising faster than demand.

Revenue by bedroom count helps you understand whether the market favors condos, cabins, or larger group properties.

All of these tools are available on STRProfitMap. The market data and rankings are free to explore. Property-level analysis is available with a Pro account.

Explore Market Data for Any US City

A Note on Data Quality

These rankings only include what we call "reliable listings." Every property in our dataset has at least 9 months of verifiable booking history. We exclude abandoned listings, seasonal hobbyists, and properties with too few data points to draw meaningful conclusions.

This matters because it changes the numbers. When you include every listing on Airbnb, including the ones that never get booked, market averages drop and variance explodes. That is why revenue estimates from other platforms often do not match reality. They are averaging signal with noise.

We filter out the noise so the signal is actually useful.

Methodology: Data based on STRProfitMap's cleaned database of 1,065,055 reliable listings across 3,864 US markets after deduping repeated city keys. "Reliable" means verified booking history of 9+ months. Revenue figures are median annual revenue for the trailing 12 months. Markets with fewer than 20 reliable listings were excluded from rankings. Data as of April 2026.