Lake townsNew York2026

New York Lake Towns

Lake Placid, Lake George and Hector were the most booked of the 16 lake towns in New York on Airbnb in the 12 months to October 2026, with an estimated 9,687, 7,590 and 6,725 stays. July is the busiest month across them, and the typical stay is 4.3 nights.

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

Figures are AirROI estimates. How they are made

Among the 5 towns with 200+ homes

Most booked of these 5: Lake Placid 9,687 stays
Highest revenue per home of these 5: Lake Placid $50,701 a year
Highest rated of these 5: Hector 4.90 out of 5
Lowest nightly rate of these 5: Hector $343 a night
Longest typical stay of these 5: Lake Placid 4.7 nights

Ranking

New York Lake Towns Ranked by Airbnb Stays

Every one of the lake towns in New York with 100 or more Airbnb homes and recent stays, most booked first.

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

1	Lake Placid	9,687	399	4.7 nights	July	$464	38%	$50,701	4.85
2	Lake George. Includes Lake George Village.	7,590	417	3.6 nights	August	$372	32%	$30,158	4.76
3	Hector. Includes Burdett.	6,725	215	3.8 nights	August	$343	45%	$42,779	4.90
4	North Elba. Includes Ray Brook.	5,856	231	4.4 nights	July	$477	39%	$47,939	4.87
5	Webb. Includes Old Forge.	4,207	214	4.3 nights	July	$382	38%	$33,782	4.88
6	Bethel. Includes Kauneonga Lake and Smallwood.	3,389	140	3.8 nights	August	$361	34%	$37,648	4.87
7	Saranac Lake	3,274	143	5.0 nights	July	$377	40%	$35,172	4.83
8	Ithaca	3,104	136	5.8 nights	October	$373	42%	$35,475	4.86
9	Canandaigua	3,009	120	4.5 nights	July	$434	41%	$49,931	4.87
10	Chester. Includes Chestertown.	2,773	124	3.8 nights	August	$389	33%	$37,434	4.87
11	Geneva	2,734	108	3.4 nights	July	$318	35%	$30,112	4.88
12	Bolton. Includes Bolton Landing.	2,304	129	4.4 nights	August	$756	36%	$62,347	4.89
13	Schroon. Includes Schroon Lake.	2,000	109	4.6 nights	July	$293	35%	$28,052	4.83
14	Indian Lake. Includes Blue Mountain Lake.	1,876	115	4.1 nights	July	$303	32%	$23,136	4.84
15	Queensbury	1,746	106	4.5 nights	July	$511	36%	$39,289	4.83
16	Lake Luzerne	1,554	101	4.8 nights	July	$348	34%	$25,091	4.81

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. Airbnb data files some places as one district or township, so Lake George and rows like it cover several towns.

Town by town

Where the Top Towns Stand Out

4 of 8 are busiest in July. Lake George, Hector and Bethel peak in August, and Ithaca in October. Among guests who left a review, New York is the top home city in 7 of the 8. Houses are the largest home type in 7 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.

Lake Placid
Of the 5 lake towns in New York with 200 or more homes, Lake Placid had the biggest share of homes that sleep 8 or more, at 44%, and had the longest typical stay, at 4.7 nights, in the 12 months to October 2026. Apartments and condos were the largest home type in Lake Placid, at 48% of homes.
Lake George
Of the 5 lake towns in New York with 200 or more homes, Lake George had the most Airbnb homes, at 417, in the 12 months to October 2026.
Hector
Of the 5 lake towns in New York with 200 or more homes, Hector had the highest guest rating, at 4.90, and had the highest occupancy, at 45%, in the 12 months to October 2026.
4
North Elba
Of the 5 lake towns in New York with 200 or more homes, North Elba had the highest nightly rate, at $477, in the 12 months to October 2026.
5
Webb
Of the 5 lake towns in New York with 200 or more homes, Webb was booked furthest ahead, about 87 days before arrival, and had the biggest share of houses, at 61%, in the 12 months to October 2026. Among guests who left a review, Rochester was the top home city for Webb, at 9.1%.

When to go

Busiest and Quietest Months

July, August and September rank as the busiest months for Airbnb nights across the lake towns in New York, and March and April as the quietest. July is the busiest month in 10 of the 16, while Lake George, Hector and Bethel peak in August. Across the 16 towns, nightly rates run lowest in April, at about $387, and highest in July, at about $472. Across the 16 towns, stays run longest in April, at 5.0 nights, and shortest in September, at 3.2 nights.

July ranks first, April 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 New York by rank
Rank	Month	Typical stay	Nightly rate
1	July	4.9 nights	$472
2	August	4.2 nights	$459
3	September	3.2 nights	$412
4	June	4.4 nights	$434
5	October	3.3 nights	$402
6	February	3.6 nights	$403
7	May	4.0 nights	$406
8	December	4.2 nights	$403
9	January	3.6 nights	$402
10	November	3.7 nights	$388
11	March	3.5 nights	$391
12	April	5.0 nights	$387

Who comes

Where Guests Come From

Among guests who left a review, 95.4% come from within the United States. Among those guests, the largest group from abroad comes from Canada. The top home cities among those guests are New York, Rochester and Buffalo. Lake Placid draws the most from abroad, at 6.1%, among towns with 200 or more homes.

Top home cities

Among guests who left a review

95.4% from within the United States

New York 12%
Rochester 2.8%
Buffalo 1.7%
Philadelphia 1.4%

The money view

Revenue, Occupancy and Nightly Rate

Among the 5 towns with 200 or more Airbnb homes, Lake Placid has the highest estimated revenue per home, at $50,701 a year. Of those 5, Hector has the highest occupancy, at 45%, and the lowest nightly rate on Airbnb, at $343. Lake Placid is also the most booked of the 16.

Highest revenue per home of these 5

A year, AirROI estimate

Lake Placid $50,701
North Elba $47,939
Hector $42,779
Webb $33,782
Lake George $30,158

Highest occupancy of these 5

Nights booked, AirROI estimate

Lowest nightly rate of these 5

On Airbnb, AirROI estimate

Hector $343
Lake George $372
Webb $382
Lake Placid $464
North Elba $477

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most popular lake town in New York?

By AirROI's estimates, Lake Placid is the most booked of the 16 lake towns in New York, with 9,687 Airbnb stays in the 12 months to October 2026. Lake George is second, with 7,590. This counts Airbnb bookings only.

What is the most affordable lake town in New York?

By AirROI's estimated nightly rate on Airbnb in the 12 months to October 2026, among lake towns in New York with 200 or more homes, the lowest are Hector ($343), Lake George ($372) and Webb ($382). That is the average asking price on booked nights, not what it costs to live or buy there.

What are some small lake towns in New York?

By AirROI's count of active Airbnb homes as of October 2026, the smallest of the 16 lake towns it lists in New York are Lake Luzerne (101), Queensbury (106) and Geneva (108). AirROI's list starts at 100 homes, so smaller places are not on it.

What lake towns in New York 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 lake towns in New York with 200 or more homes, the highest are Lake Placid ($50,701), North Elba ($47,939) and Hector ($42,779). Among the same towns, Hector has the highest occupancy, at 45%.

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 the shore of a lake or large reservoir, and the lake has to be a main reason to come. The town's own listings can back that up, with 35% of its homes listing lake access, or 25% of its titles naming the lake with 10% of homes listing it. 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 208,488 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.