Beach townsSouthern California2026

Southern California Beach Towns

Oceanside, Newport Beach and Santa Barbara were the most booked of the 25 beach towns in Southern 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 6.4 nights.

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

Figures are AirROI estimates. How they are made

Among the 19 towns with 200+ homes

Most booked of these 19: Oceanside 38,505 stays
Highest revenue per home of these 19: Malibu $135,588 a year
Highest rated of these 19: Encinitas 4.89 out of 5
Lowest nightly rate of these 19: Torrance $222 a night
Longest typical stay of these 19: Dana Point 10.4 nights

Ranking

Southern California Beach Towns Ranked by Airbnb Stays

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

Southern 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	San Clemente	9,949	364	7.0 nights	July	$430	48%	$60,973	4.86
9	Ventura	9,303	318	5.4 nights	August	$389	49%	$57,991	4.82
10	Manhattan Beach	9,005	281	6.1 nights	August	$654	52%	$106,938	4.85
11	Avalon	9,003	246	2.9 nights	July	$741	39%	$88,669	4.72
12	Malibu	7,716	274	4.4 nights	August	$1,357	41%	$135,588	4.86
13	Marina del Rey	6,906	343	5.3 nights	August	$393	43%	$39,274	4.67
14	Oxnard	6,686	303	5.5 nights	July	$512	42%	$64,414	4.84
15	Laguna Beach	6,239	312	5.6 nights	August	$464	40%	$56,336	4.77
16	Redondo Beach	5,675	253	7.3 nights	July	$288	47%	$38,234	4.83
17	Solana Beach	5,440	309	8.0 nights	July	$505	44%	$62,814	4.87
18	Torrance	5,305	252	6.9 nights	August	$222	45%	$26,775	4.80
19	Dana Point	5,232	280	10.4 nights	July	$445	48%	$62,534	4.86
20	Montecito	4,556	139	5.8 nights	August	$1,008	51%	$138,392	4.90
21	Carpinteria	4,440	162	6.1 nights	July	$517	44%	$71,043	4.87
22	Hermosa Beach	4,012	197	7.0 nights	August	$447	46%	$55,324	4.83
23	Imperial Beach	3,216	156	6.6 nights	July	$307	43%	$35,728	4.77
24	Del Mar	2,961	134	7.9 nights	July	$772	46%	$99,291	4.88
25	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

6 of 8 are busiest in July. Santa Barbara and Santa Monica peak in August. Among guests who left a review, Los Angeles is the top home city in 4 of the 8. Houses are the largest home type in 5 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, Southern California, at 47% of homes.
Newport Beach
Of the 19 beach towns in Southern 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, Southern 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 19 beach towns in Southern California with 200 or more homes, Encinitas had the highest guest rating, at 4.89, in the 12 months to October 2026.
8
San Clemente
In the 12 months to October 2026, apartments and condos were the largest home type in San Clemente, Southern California, at 48% of homes.

When to go

Busiest and Quietest Months

July, August and June rank as the busiest months for Airbnb nights across the beach towns in Southern California, and February and January as the quietest. July is the busiest month in 14 of the 25, while Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and Ventura peak in August. Across the 25 towns, nightly rates run lowest in February, at about $454, and highest in July, at about $629. Across the 25 towns, stays run longest in January, at 7.4 nights, and shortest in September, at 4.5 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 Southern California by rank
Rank	Month	Typical stay	Nightly rate
1	July	7.1 nights	$629
2	August	5.7 nights	$566
3	June	6.2 nights	$599
4	March	6.0 nights	$479
5	September	4.5 nights	$494
6	October	5.5 nights	$473
7	May	5.6 nights	$496
8	April	5.8 nights	$478
9	December	5.9 nights	$487
10	November	5.2 nights	$469
11	February	6.7 nights	$454
12	January	7.4 nights	$459

Who comes

Where Guests Come From

Among guests who left a review, 90.4% come from within the United States. Among those guests, the largest groups from abroad, each 1.4%, come from the United Kingdom and Canada. The top home cities among those guests are Los Angeles, San Diego and New York. Marina del Rey draws the most from abroad, at 32%, among towns with 200 or more homes.

Top home cities

Among guests who left a review

90.4% from within the United States

Los Angeles 6.2%
San Diego 2.4%
New York 2%
Phoenix 1.9%
San Francisco 1.7%
Las Vegas 1.4%

The money view

Revenue, Occupancy and Nightly Rate

Among the 19 towns with 200 or more Airbnb homes, Malibu has the highest estimated revenue per home, at $135,588 a year. Of those 19, Manhattan Beach has the highest occupancy, at 52%, and Torrance has the lowest nightly rate on Airbnb, at $222. The most booked of the 25, Oceanside, earns about $66,955 per home.

Highest revenue per home of these 19

A year, AirROI estimate

Malibu $135,588
Newport Beach $117,889
Manhattan Beach $106,938
Avalon $88,669
Encinitas $79,054

Highest occupancy of these 19

Nights booked, AirROI estimate

Lowest nightly rate of these 19

On Airbnb, AirROI estimate

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most popular beach town in Southern California?

By AirROI's estimates, Oceanside is the most booked of the 25 beach towns in Southern 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 Southern California?

By AirROI's estimated nightly rate on Airbnb in the 12 months to October 2026, among beach towns in Southern California with 200 or more homes, the lowest are Torrance ($222), Redondo Beach ($288) and Santa Monica ($320). 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 Southern California?

By AirROI's count of active Airbnb homes as of October 2026, the smallest of the 25 beach towns it lists in Southern California are Del Mar (134), Montecito (139) and Coronado (139). AirROI's list starts at 100 homes, so smaller places are not on it.

What beach towns in Southern 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 Southern 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, Manhattan Beach has the highest occupancy, at 52%.

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 806,518 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.