Vacation Rental Calculator for Vrbo and Airbnb Income
A free short-term rental (STR) calculator for vacation homes: a year of booking revenue for any address, month by month, and what Airbnb's or Vrbo's fees leave you.
Next: pick Airbnb's 15.5% or Vrbo's 8% fee and add your own nights
Free, no signup · 20M+ listings · 15+ years of rental data
What a vacation rental earns: a 3-bedroom in Nashville and in Gatlinburg
At the median, the Nashville example (3 bedrooms, 2 baths, sleeps 8, near downtown) grosses $74,321 a year in booking revenue, cleaning fees included, before any platform's fee. The same home in Gatlinburg, in the Smoky Mountains, grosses $54,292.
- 25th percentile
- $51,394
- Median: the year to plan on
- $74,321
- 75th percentile
- $102,283
- 90th percentile
- $135,832
Plan around the median; the 75th and 90th percentiles show what a well-run, well-reviewed listing reaches. The Nashville example's range runs from $51,394 at the 25th percentile to $135,832 at the 90th, each figure gross booking revenue: nightly rates plus the cleaning fees guests pay. At the median the home is booked on 51% of all nights, about 185 a year, and earns $385 per booked night. The typical active US entire home on Airbnb is booked on 34% of all nights (the 12 months to August 2026, among homes with a full year of calendar data booked at least a tenth of the time), so the Nashville example sits well above it. Each figure is its own percentile, so the three don't multiply to the year (the methodology shows why).
Gatlinburg, the gateway town to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is the leisure-market case: the same home earns $307 per booked night on 49% of nights, and its busiest month is July, where the Nashville example's are May and October. Its market page has the whole market's occupancy, rates and revenue.
| The same home | Nashville | Gatlinburg |
|---|---|---|
| Median year: the one to plan on | $74,321 | $54,292 |
| 75th percentile year | $102,283 | $71,585 |
| Per booked night, at the median | $385 | $307 |
| Nights booked, at the median | 51%, about 185 nights | 49%, about 178 nights |
| Busiest month, share of the year | October, 11.7% | July, 11.9% |
| Quietest month | January, 5.0% | February, 3.9% |
These are sample addresses, not your area: enter yours above for your own range. The Airbnb calculator shows the Nashville example in full, with its 50 comparable properties and costs. The rest of this page works through both homes: what Airbnb's and Vrbo's fees take, which months carry the year, and what your own weeks there cost, in revenue and in tax.
Vrbo vs Airbnb fees on the same year
Airbnb takes a 15.5% single fee from most hosts; Vrbo's pay-per-booking model takes a 5% commission plus 3% for payment processing. On the Nashville example's $74,321 median year, that leaves $62,801 on Airbnb and $68,375 on Vrbo.
| Booked on | What the host pays | What the guest pays on top | Fee on $74,321 | Your payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbnb, single fee | 15.5% of the nightly price and any fees you add, such as cleaning (16% for listings in Brazil and Mexico) | No service fee: Airbnb's single fee is paid by the host | $11,520 | $62,801 |
| Vrbo, pay-per-booking | A 5% commission on the rental and any fees you charge, plus 3% payment processing on the total payment, taxes and refundable deposits included | Vrbo's service fee, a percentage of the reservation that varies with its amount | $5,946 | $68,375 |
| Half the bookings on each | 11.75% blended | As on each platform | $8,733 | $65,588 |
The fees land on different people. Under Airbnb's single fee the guest pays your listed total and the fee comes out of your payout; on Vrbo you keep more of your price, and the guest pays Vrbo's service fee on top at checkout. So at the same listed price a Vrbo guest pays more, and the $5,574 gap is the most Vrbo can leave you on this year, not a forecast. Vrbo's annual subscription no longer takes new opt-ins, so a new listing pays per booking.
The 15.5% is the single host-only fee Airbnb hosts outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland pay from September 2026, and hosts there from October. A host still on the older split fee pays about 3%, below Vrbo's 8%, so on the host's side Airbnb leaves them more, while their guests pay Airbnb's service fee on top. The worksheet's fee line takes any rate.
What you keep: the Nashville example's median year leaves $36,621 of operating income on Airbnb, and up to $42,195 on Vrbo, after cleaning at $227 a stay (about 60 stays, $13,546) and $12,634 of running costs (supplies 3%, utilities 6%, repairs 5%, insurance 2%, software 1% of gross). That is before property tax, any mortgage and a manager: the worksheet's manager switch adds one at 20% of revenue, $14,864 on this year.
In the worksheet, the Channel fee under Financials starts at Airbnb's 15.5%, and one tap switches it to Vrbo's 8%. For a home on both, type a blend weighted by where your bookings come from, such as 11.75% for half on each; annual profit, cap rate and cash-on-cash update with it. For one Airbnb booking's fee and payout, cleaning fee included, use the Airbnb host fee calculator.
What the vacation rental estimate covers
A year of gross booking revenue for your address and home size, learned from what Airbnb listings around it earned. It counts nightly rates and the cleaning fees guests pay, before any platform's fee, tax or cost.
Because the range stops before fees, the platform's cut is a line you set: the worksheet takes it off at your rate, then your costs and, if you enter a purchase price, the mortgage, cap rate, cash-on-cash and debt service coverage. What each figure counts is set out with the sources at the foot of this page, and how the calculator works has every step and definition.
Which months carry a vacation rental's year
October brings 11.7% of the Nashville example's median year and January 5.0%; in Gatlinburg, July brings 11.9% and February 3.9%. The busy months carry the year, and the quiet ones are where your own weeks cost least.
- Near downtown Nashville: peak October 11.7%, low January 5.0%
- Gatlinburg: peak July 11.9%, low February 3.9%
Show the numbers
| Month | Nashville: share of the year | Nashville: a week at the median | Gatlinburg: share of the year | Gatlinburg: a week at the median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.0% | $842 | 5.0% | $611 |
| February | 5.1% | $948 | 3.9% | $527 |
| March | 8.8% | $1,476 | 8.2% | $1,002 |
| April | 9.3% | $1,604 | 6.4% | $805 |
| May | 11.3% | $1,901 | 7.2% | $885 |
| June | 9.2% | $1,601 | 11.1% | $1,400 |
| July | 8.2% | $1,371 | 11.9% | $1,462 |
| August | 7.5% | $1,251 | 7.6% | $928 |
| September | 8.1% | $1,403 | 6.6% | $841 |
| October | 11.7% | $1,963 | 11.1% | $1,360 |
| November | 8.9% | $1,538 | 9.7% | $1,227 |
| December | 7.0% | $1,175 | 11.4% | $1,400 |
The two years peak apart. Near downtown Nashville, October brings about $8,690 and January about $3,730, a 2.3× swing; in Gatlinburg, July brings about $6,480 and February about $2,110, a 3.1× swing, with June, October and December close behind July. How far the seasons swing depends on the market (how seasonality differs by market), and the worksheet charts your own address's months.
What do the weeks you stay there cost?
About $840 of revenue for a week in January and about $1,960 for a week in October, at the Nashville example's median. Each night you stay comes off the calendar at that month's rate, so the quiet months cost least.
- A week in January, its quietest month
- $842
- A week in October, its busiest
- $1,963
- Own use that keeps it a rental
- 18 days
| 7 nights of your own stays | Revenue it would bring | Your payout on Airbnb (15.5% fee) | Your payout on Vrbo (8% in fees) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville: a week in January | $842 | $711 | $775 |
| Nashville: a week in October | $1,963 | $1,659 | $1,806 |
| Gatlinburg: a week in February | $527 | $446 | $485 |
| Gatlinburg: a week in July | $1,462 | $1,235 | $1,345 |
Two weeks in January take about $1,680 of revenue off the Nashville example's year; two in October, about $3,930. In Gatlinburg the cheapest week falls in February, about $530, and the dearest in July, about $1,460. Each month's revenue is spread evenly across its nights.
Net of what those bookings would have cost, a week gives up less: Airbnb's fee, cleaning and supplies move with bookings and take 37% of the Nashville example's gross, so a January week there gives up about $530 and an October week about $1,240. Utilities, repairs, insurance and software run whether you or a guest stays. If you hire a cleaner after your own stay, add $227, the comps' median cleaning fee.
For your own address, the worksheet charts which months carry your year. Enter your stays as Your Own Nights under Revenue: the worksheet takes them off at the year's average night, so weeks in the quiet months cost you less than it shows. Annual profit, cap rate and cash-on-cash follow, with where the year lands under the IRS test below.
How personal use changes the taxes: the 14-day rule
The IRS treats a vacation home you rent out as your home for the year once your own use tops 14 days, or 10% of the days it's rented at a fair price if greater. Rent it out for fewer than 15 days and you don't report the rental income at all.
| Your year | How the IRS treats it |
|---|---|
| Used as a home, rented out fewer than 15 days | Don't report the rental income, and don't deduct rental expenses. |
| Personal use of 14 days or fewer, or up to 10% of the days rented if that's more | Report all the rental income and split expenses by days of use. Deductible rental expenses can exceed rental income, within the rental-loss limits. |
| Personal use above that | It counts as your home: report the income and split expenses the same way, but some or all of the rental expenses beyond rental income can't offset other income. That part carries forward to the next year. |
Under Publication 527, a personal day is any day the home is used by you or a co-owner, by your family or theirs (spouses, siblings, ancestors and descendants, unless one lives there as their main home and pays a fair rent), by someone in a home swap, or by anyone paying below a fair rent. Days you spend working substantially full time on repairs and maintenance aren't personal days, and nights the home sits open but unbooked count on neither side of the split.
At the Nashville example's median, about 185 nights booked by guests, 10% is 18.5 days, so up to 18 days of your own stays keep it a rental rather than a home; in Gatlinburg, about 178 guest nights allow up to 17. Two weeks near downtown Nashville would split its expenses 185 ÷ 199: about 93% rental and 7% personal.
Short stays raise one more question: when the average stay is 7 days or less, the IRS doesn't treat the property as a rental activity under the passive activity rules (Publication 925). The short-term rental tax loophole guide covers what follows from that. These are the IRS's general rules; how they apply to your return depends on your own facts.
Vacation rental calculator FAQ
On pay-per-booking, the model open to new listings, Vrbo charges a 5% commission on the rental amount and any fees you charge, such as cleaning, plus a 3% payment processing fee on the total payment, including taxes and refundable deposits. Guests pay Vrbo's own service fee at checkout. Airbnb instead takes 15.5% from most hosts.
Yes: pick Vrbo as the worksheet's channel fee. On a 3-bedroom near downtown Nashville's $74,321 median year, Vrbo's 8% leaves $68,375 against $62,801 on Airbnb's 15.5%. The range is learned from Airbnb listings nearby, so where a market books more through Vrbo, read it as a guide to the home's earning power.
Two IRS limits go by that name. Rent out a home you also use for fewer than 15 days a year, and that income isn't reported and its rental expenses aren't deducted. Use it yourself for over 14 days (or over 10% of its rented days, if higher) and it counts as your home, which limits rental losses.
In its quietest months, when a week off the calendar gives up the least. For a 3-bedroom near downtown Nashville, a week in January brings about $840 at the median, against about $1,960 in October: the January week costs 43% as much. The worksheet shows your own address's months.
Across active US entire homes on Airbnb (12 months of calendar data and at least 10% occupancy), median occupancy was 34% of all nights over the 12 months to August 2026, and a quarter of homes reached 51% or more. A 3-bedroom near downtown Nashville runs 51% at its median, about 185 nights a year.
Any day you or another owner stays there, a relative of either (unless they rent it at a fair price as their main home), someone in a home swap, or anyone paying less than a fair rent. Days of substantially full-time repair and maintenance work don't count, even if family members relax there.
What would your vacation home earn?
Address and bedrooms. No signup. The worksheet takes it from there, with your platform's fee.