What nightly rate do I need to break even on my Airbnb?
Break-even nightly rate is the listed price that, at your expected occupancy, covers both your fixed monthly costs and your variable cost per booked night after Airbnb's 15.5% host-only fee comes out. The formula: divide your fixed monthly costs by your expected booked nights per month, add your variable cost per booked night, then divide the result by 0.845 to back out the fee. A listing with $1,400 in fixed monthly costs, $28 in variable cost per booked night, and 65% expected occupancy needs to list roughly $116.98 a night to break even. The numbers in this guide are illustrative. Run your own fixed costs, variable costs, and occupancy through the free StaySums profit calculator to see the same math with your listing's figures.
The break-even nightly rate formula
| Step | Formula |
|---|---|
| 1. Booked nights per month | Booked nights = Occupancy rate × 30.4 |
| 2. Fixed cost per booked night | Fixed cost per night = Fixed monthly costs ÷ Booked nights |
| 3. Break-even payout per night | Payout per night = Fixed cost per night + Variable cost per night |
| 4. Break-even listed nightly rate | Listed rate = Payout per night ÷ 0.845 |
30.4 is the average number of nights in a month, the same figure the StaySums profit calculator uses to turn an occupancy percentage into booked nights. Steps 1 through 3 land on the payout you need per booked night, the amount that actually has to reach your bank account. Step 4 converts that payout into the price you need to list, because Airbnb's 15.5% host-only fee is deducted from whatever price a guest pays rather than added on top of your costs. Our guide on how much to raise your Airbnb rate for the 15.5% host fee covers the same ÷0.845 relationship in more detail.
A worked example
Take a listing with $1,400 in fixed monthly costs (mortgage or rent, insurance, subscriptions and software, and a baseline utility bill), a variable cost of $28 per booked night (an amortized cleaning cost plus supplies), and an expected occupancy of 65%. All numbers here are illustrative rather than pulled from a real listing.
- Booked nights per month. 65% × 30.4 = 19.8 nights.
- Fixed cost per booked night. $1,400 ÷ 19.8 = $70.85.
- Break-even payout per night. $70.85 + $28 = $98.85.
- Break-even listed nightly rate. $98.85 ÷ 0.845 = $116.98.
List below $116.98 a night at that occupancy and the listing runs at a loss for the month before income tax is even considered. List above it and the difference is what the listing actually earns. The StaySums profit calculator runs this same relationship from the other direction: hold your nightly rate steady and it solves for the occupancy you need instead of the rate.
Break-even nightly rate at different occupancy levels
Occupancy has an outsized effect on the break-even rate, because fixed costs get spread across fewer or more nights while the variable cost per night stays flat. Using the same $1,400 fixed and $28 variable example above, here is the break-even listed rate at a few occupancy levels.
| Occupancy | Booked nights per month | Break-even listed rate |
|---|---|---|
| 40% | 12.2 | $169.39 |
| 50% | 15.2 | $142.14 |
| 65% | 19.8 | $116.98 |
| 80% | 24.3 | $101.26 |
| 95% | 28.9 | $90.50 |
All figures are illustrative, calculated from the formula above rather than pulled from a real listing. A host running at 40% occupancy needs to list nearly double the rate of a host at 95% occupancy just to clear the same fixed costs. That gap comes from fixed-cost math, and it is a large part of why two similar listings a few blocks apart can carry very different break-even rates depending on how full their calendars run.
Why the fee has to come out at the end
Airbnb's help center confirms the fee is automatically deducted from the total price to calculate the host payout, with most hosts on the host-only fee structure paying 15.5% and some falling between 14% and 16%. That deduction is calculated on whatever price you list rather than on your costs. So the break-even formula above adds your costs together first, in steps 1 through 3, landing on the payout you need. Only the last step converts that payout into a listed price. Adding 15.5% directly onto your costs instead produces a number that falls short once the fee actually comes out, for the same reason covered in our guide on how much to raise your Airbnb rate for the host fee.
Quick definitions
- Fixed cost: a monthly cost that stays the same regardless of how many nights you book, such as mortgage or rent, insurance, subscriptions and software, and a baseline utility bill.
- Variable cost: a cost that scales with bookings, such as an amortized cleaning cost per turnover, supplies, and the extra utility use guests bring. This guide's formula expresses it per booked night.
- Break-even: the point where your payout after platform fees equals your fixed and variable costs for the period, so the listing neither made nor lost money.
- Break-even nightly rate: the listed price, at a given occupancy, that reaches break-even once Airbnb's host fee is deducted from it.
FAQ
What nightly rate do I need to charge to break even on my Airbnb?
Divide your fixed monthly costs by your expected booked nights, add your variable cost per booked night, then divide the result by 0.845 to account for Airbnb's 15.5% host-only fee. For a listing with $1,400 in fixed monthly costs, $28 in variable cost per booked night, and 65% expected occupancy, that works out to about $116.98 a night listed.
Does the 15.5% Airbnb host fee change my break-even rate?
Yes. Airbnb deducts the fee from whatever price you list rather than adding it to your costs, so your break-even rate has to cover your costs after the fee comes out. Adding your fixed and variable costs first and dividing by 0.845 at the end accounts for that. Adding 15.5% straight onto your costs under-corrects, for the same reason covered in the guide on raising your nightly rate for the host fee.
How is break-even nightly rate different from break-even occupancy?
They solve the same equation from opposite ends. The StaySums profit calculator holds your nightly rate steady and finds the occupancy where a listing covers its own fixed costs. This guide holds occupancy steady and finds the nightly rate you would need to list. Use whichever number you already have as your starting point.