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Short-term rental break-even calculator

How many booked nights does your rental need each month to cover the mortgage, bills and fees? Get your break-even occupancy, monthly profit and the minimum nightly rate.

✅ Last updated Oct 1, 2026 (fee rules checked against the sources below) · By Joshua Gold · Free · No signup · Runs in your browser

Quick answer: break-even occupancy is your fixed monthly costs divided by what a month of booked nights (30.4) earns after platform fees, management and turnover costs. With the example inputs above ($2,870 of fixed costs a month, a $180 nightly rate and Airbnb's 15.5% fee), that's about 64% occupancy, or roughly 19 to 20 booked nights a month.

Monthly fixed costs

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$
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Per-stay numbers

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$
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Net profit
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Break-even occupancy
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Profit at different occupancy

OccupancyNet / month

How break-even occupancy is calculated

Each booked night earns its nightly rate plus a share of the cleaning fee, minus the platform and management percentages and a share of the turnover cost. Break-even occupancy is your fixed monthly costs divided by what one average month of nights (30.4) would earn per night:

break-even = fixed ÷ (30.4 × ((rate + cleaning ÷ stay) × (1 − fee − mgmt) − turnover ÷ stay))

The fee change moved everyone's break-even

Going from a 3% to a 15.5% host fee cuts what each night earns by about 13%. If you haven't repriced, your break-even occupancy rose by about 15% or more (turnover costs don't shrink) — use the Airbnb fee repricer to fix it.

Estimates only. Doesn't include income tax, depreciation, capital costs or furnishing.

Questions hosts ask

What is a good occupancy rate for an Airbnb?

It varies widely by market and season. What matters for your property is whether your expected occupancy sits comfortably above your break-even occupancy, with room for slow months.

How many nights do I need to book to break even?

Divide your fixed monthly costs by what one booked night earns after fees and turnover costs. The calculator does this and shows the answer as nights per month.

Does this include taxes?

No. It includes platform, management and turnover costs, but not income tax or occupancy taxes (which guests pay and you remit).

Sources (checked Oct 1, 2026)

  1. Airbnb: Simplifying service fees on Airbnb (airbnb.com)
  2. Skift (Sep 29, 2026): Vrbo to double commissions as it plays catch-up to Airbnb (skift.com)

Read the fee rules behind this calculator

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