Beach townsCalifornia2026

California Beach Towns

Oceanside, Newport Beach and Santa Barbara were the most booked of the 47 beach towns in California on Airbnb in the 12 months to October 2026, with an estimated 38,505, 37,639 and 32,915 stays. July is the busiest month across them, and the typical stay is 5.7 nights.

Source: AirROI Reviewed by Jun Zhou, Founder @ AirROI Updated November 4, 2026

Figures are AirROI estimates. How they are made

Among the 29 towns with 200+ homes

Most booked of these 29: Oceanside 38,505 stays
Highest revenue per home of these 29: Malibu $135,588 a year
Highest rated of these 29: Encinitas 4.89 out of 5
Lowest nightly rate of these 29: Torrance $222 a night
Longest typical stay of these 29: Dana Point 10.4 nights

Ranking

California Beach Towns Ranked by Airbnb Stays

Every one of the beach and coastal towns in California with 100 or more Airbnb homes and recent stays, most booked first.

California Beach Towns ranked by Airbnb stays, with homes, typical stay, busiest month, nightly rate, occupancy, revenue per home and guest rating

1	Oceanside	38,505	1,251	6.6 nights	July	$423	50%	$66,955	4.84
2	Newport Beach	37,639	1,316	5.9 nights	July	$809	48%	$117,889	4.79
3	Santa Barbara	32,915	1,028	5.2 nights	August	$489	49%	$74,973	4.86
4	Santa Monica	22,618	791	6.3 nights	August	$320	51%	$46,888	4.78
5	Carlsbad	16,743	649	8.1 nights	July	$473	49%	$68,583	4.87
6	Encinitas	12,572	533	9.0 nights	July	$600	50%	$79,054	4.89
7	Huntington Beach	12,225	531	6.8 nights	July	$389	47%	$53,325	4.87
8	Santa Cruz	11,233	339	4.8 nights	August	$453	46%	$66,273	4.83
9	Crescent City	11,075	270	3.9 nights	July	$265	54%	$45,891	4.85
10	Carmel-by-the-Sea	10,458	310	4.3 nights	July	$715	48%	$106,830	4.87
11	San Clemente	9,949	364	7.0 nights	July	$430	48%	$60,973	4.86
12	Ventura	9,303	318	5.4 nights	August	$389	49%	$57,991	4.82
13	Manhattan Beach	9,005	281	6.1 nights	August	$654	52%	$106,938	4.85
14	Avalon	9,003	246	2.9 nights	July	$741	39%	$88,669	4.72
15	Malibu	7,716	274	4.4 nights	August	$1,357	41%	$135,588	4.86
16	Bodega Bay	7,419	228	3.8 nights	July	$577	43%	$79,397	4.82
17	Trinidad	7,011	147	3.4 nights	June	$370	56%	$71,469	4.90
18	Fort Bragg	6,937	226	3.3 nights	July	$394	39%	$46,363	4.86
19	Marina del Rey	6,906	343	5.3 nights	August	$393	43%	$39,274	4.67
20	Seaside	6,699	165	3.4 nights	July	$344	50%	$55,830	4.83
21	Morro Bay	6,699	226	5.1 nights	August	$321	44%	$49,098	4.82
22	Oxnard	6,686	303	5.5 nights	July	$512	42%	$64,414	4.84
23	Pacific Grove	6,656	209	5.6 nights	July	$484	50%	$82,005	4.87
24	Cambria	6,564	224	5.0 nights	July	$404	43%	$49,452	4.86
25	Laguna Beach	6,239	312	5.6 nights	August	$464	40%	$56,336	4.77
26	Sea Ranch	6,203	209	3.9 nights	August	$528	42%	$71,169	4.81
27	Pacifica	6,028	179	4.5 nights	August	$428	54%	$67,143	4.81
28	Oceano	5,763	169	4.1 nights	July	$407	43%	$57,567	4.80
29	Redondo Beach	5,675	253	7.3 nights	July	$288	47%	$38,234	4.83
30	Pismo Beach	5,645	248	4.2 nights	July	$456	36%	$49,747	4.79
31	Solana Beach	5,440	309	8.0 nights	July	$505	44%	$62,814	4.87
32	Torrance	5,305	252	6.9 nights	August	$222	45%	$26,775	4.80
33	Cayucos	5,266	196	5.3 nights	July	$469	43%	$63,490	4.82
34	Dana Point	5,232	280	10.4 nights	July	$445	48%	$62,534	4.86
35	Rio del Mar	5,049	175	4.7 nights	July	$507	40%	$60,740	4.82
36	Mendocino	4,937	124	3.0 nights	July	$363	45%	$51,453	4.87
37	Montecito	4,556	139	5.8 nights	August	$1,008	51%	$138,392	4.90
38	Carpinteria	4,440	162	6.1 nights	July	$517	44%	$71,043	4.87
39	Capitola	4,302	114	4.4 nights	July	$486	48%	$69,997	4.87
40	Gualala	4,086	108	3.3 nights	July	$381	44%	$52,818	4.88
41	Hermosa Beach	4,012	197	7.0 nights	August	$447	46%	$55,324	4.83
42	McKinleyville	3,930	105	3.7 nights	August	$246	49%	$39,305	4.91
43	Stinson Beach	3,676	113	3.9 nights	July	$893	42%	$104,992	4.90
44	Imperial Beach	3,216	156	6.6 nights	July	$307	43%	$35,728	4.77
45	Del Mar	2,961	134	7.9 nights	July	$772	46%	$99,291	4.88
46	Monterey	2,757	154	7.0 nights	July	$287	40%	$33,546	4.77
47	Coronado	1,997	139	10.7 nights	August	$488	43%	$47,856	4.86

Figures are AirROI estimates for the 12 months to October 2026, and stays count Airbnb bookings only. Typical stay is a booking's length, occupancy the share of available nights booked, and revenue the yearly average per home, before costs. Guest rating is out of 5.

Town by town

Where the Top Towns Stand Out

5 of 8 are busiest in July. Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and Santa Cruz peak in August. Among guests who left a review, Los Angeles is the top home city in 3 of the 8. Houses are the largest home type in 6 of the 8. The lines below add what the table can't show, where one of the 8 most booked towns leads its peers or differs from the rest.

Oceanside
In the 12 months to October 2026, apartments and condos were the largest home type in Oceanside, California, at 47% of homes.
Newport Beach
Of the 29 beach towns in California with 200 or more homes, Newport Beach had the most Airbnb homes, at 1,316, in the 12 months to October 2026.
4
Santa Monica
In the 12 months to October 2026, apartments and condos were the largest home type in Santa Monica, California, at 70% of homes. Among guests who left a review, New York was the top home city for Santa Monica, at 6%.
6
Encinitas
Of the 29 beach towns in California with 200 or more homes, Encinitas had the highest guest rating, at 4.89, in the 12 months to October 2026.
8
Santa Cruz
In the 12 months to October 2026, among guests who left a review, San Francisco was the top home city for Santa Cruz, California, at 7.4%.

When to go

Busiest and Quietest Months

July, August and June rank as the busiest months for Airbnb nights across the beach towns in California, and February and January as the quietest. July is the busiest month in 30 of the 47, while Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and Santa Cruz peak in August. Across the 47 towns, nightly rates run lowest in February, at about $446, and highest in July, at about $591. Across the 47 towns, stays run longest in January, at 6.7 nights, and shortest in September, at 4.2 nights.

July ranks first, January last

Airbnb months in calendar order. The number is the month's rank, and 1 is the busiest. The bar shows its part of Airbnb nights.

Three busiest months
Other months

Month by month: rank, typical stay and nightly rate

Months in California by rank
Rank	Month	Typical stay	Nightly rate
1	July	6.5 nights	$591
2	August	5.3 nights	$543
3	June	5.7 nights	$566
4	September	4.2 nights	$477
5	March	5.6 nights	$465
6	October	5.1 nights	$461
7	May	5.2 nights	$482
8	April	5.3 nights	$467
9	November	4.8 nights	$459
10	December	5.5 nights	$474
11	February	6.2 nights	$446
12	January	6.7 nights	$449

Who comes

Where Guests Come From

Among guests who left a review, 91.8% come from within the United States. Among those guests, the largest groups from abroad come from the United Kingdom and Canada. The top home cities among those guests are Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. Marina del Rey draws the most from abroad, at 32%, among towns with 200 or more homes.

Top countries abroad

Among guests who left a review

United Kingdom 1.3%
Canada 1.1%

Top home cities

Among guests who left a review

91.8% from within the United States

Los Angeles 5.1%
San Francisco 3.7%
San Diego 1.8%
New York 1.6%
Phoenix 1.2%

The money view

Revenue, Occupancy and Nightly Rate

Among the 29 towns with 200 or more Airbnb homes, Malibu has the highest estimated revenue per home, at $135,588 a year. Of those 29, Crescent City has the highest occupancy, at 54%, and Torrance has the lowest nightly rate on Airbnb, at $222. The most booked of the 47, Oceanside, earns about $66,955 per home.

Highest revenue per home of these 29

A year, AirROI estimate

Malibu $135,588
Newport Beach $117,889
Manhattan Beach $106,938
Carmel-by-the-Sea $106,830
Avalon $88,669

Highest occupancy of these 29

Nights booked, AirROI estimate

Lowest nightly rate of these 29

On Airbnb, AirROI estimate

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most popular beach town in California?

By AirROI's estimates, Oceanside is the most booked of the 47 beach towns in California, with 38,505 Airbnb stays in the 12 months to October 2026. Newport Beach is second, with 37,639. This counts Airbnb bookings only.

What is the most affordable beach town in California?

By AirROI's estimated nightly rate on Airbnb in the 12 months to October 2026, among beach towns in California with 200 or more homes, the lowest are Torrance ($222), Crescent City ($265) and Redondo Beach ($288). That is the average asking price on booked nights, not what it costs to live or buy there.

What are some small beach towns in California?

By AirROI's count of active Airbnb homes as of October 2026, the smallest of the 47 beach towns it lists in California are McKinleyville (105), Gualala (108) and Stinson Beach (113). AirROI's list starts at 100 homes, so smaller places are not on it.

What beach towns in California offer the strongest Airbnb returns?

Returns depend on what a home costs to buy and run, which AirROI's figures do not cover. On AirROI's estimated revenue per home in the 12 months to October 2026, among beach towns in California with 200 or more homes, the highest are Malibu ($135,588), Newport Beach ($117,889) and Manhattan Beach ($106,938). Among the same towns, Crescent City has the highest occupancy, at 54%.

Method

How These Lists and Numbers Are Made

How a town gets on this list. A town needs 100 or more Airbnb homes with recent stays. A language model then judges the place from its name, state, country and coordinates, not from words in its name: it has to be on an ocean or sea coast with its own beach, seafront or harbour, or on a Great Lake with a public beach, and within about 10 km of the shore. The town's own listings can back that up, with 30% of its homes listing beach access, or 10% with ocean views, waterfront homes or beach in their titles besides. A town whose listings do not gets a second, stricter check, which asks whether people go there for that or mainly for something else. Big cities stay off. Corrections come last: places the checks got wrong are added or taken off, and rows that name one place are joined.

How the figures are made. Stays, occupancy, nightly rate and revenue are AirROI estimates built from Airbnb listing data, and cover Airbnb only. A town's stays are its bookings in the period, and the typical stay and busiest month come from the same data. Guest ratings, home sizes and how far ahead guests book are the latest figures in each town's AirROI data. Month ranks compare each month's part of Airbnb nights. Origin rests on 1,324,640 reviews and describes guests who left a review, not everyone who stayed. A town needs 1,000 reviews before this page gives its share from abroad.