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Airbnb Break-Even Calculator: occupancy you need

Enter your rate, costs and mortgage or rent. See the occupancy where the door stops losing money and how many nights a month that takes.

No account neededFree PDF report

Examples computed by this calculator on sample inputs. Not market data.

Your door in four numbers

  • No account needed
  • Airbnb fees per Help Center article 1857
  • Every formula shown, sources dated
  • Free PDF report with every chart
How it works

Three steps. About a minute.

  1. Step 1: Enter rate and costs

    Nightly rate, the occupancy you expect, cleaning and the mortgage or rent. Other cost lines start on a sample you can edit.

  2. Step 2: See your break-even

    Break-even occupancy with and without debt, nights needed each month, and the cushion against what you expect.

  3. Step 3: Keep the PDF

    Download the monthly view of which months fall short and the break-even at other nightly rates.

Your report

What you'll get

Break-even occupancyFrom the sample
THE HEADLINE

The occupancy where the door stops losing money

Fixed costs and the loan payment divided by what each booked night contributes. Read it next to your expected occupancy: the gap between them is your margin for a bad month.

  • Break-even occupancy
  • Break-even before debt
  • Occupancy cushion

Showing part 1 of 4: Break-even

  • Break-even occupancy with and without the mortgage
  • Booked nights needed each month
  • What each booked night contributes after its costs
  • Each month's break-even at its own nightly rate
  • The nightly rate that breaks even at each occupancy

How break-even occupancy is worked out

From the sample

Split costs in two. Fixed costs arrive every month whether anyone books: mortgage or rent, property tax, insurance, utilities, software. Booking costs arrive with each stay: Airbnb's fee, the cleaner, supplies, repairs and reserves.

Each booked night contributes its rate and its share of the cleaning fee, minus those booking costs. Divide monthly fixed costs by that contribution to get the nights you need, then divide by 30.4 nights in an average month.

Break-even mistakes this calculator catches

A single annual break-even figure hides most of the risk. These are the ones that turn a fine-looking door into a monthly top-up.

  1. 01Leaving the mortgage out

    The sample door breaks even at 19.9% before debt and 59.9% after it. The operation is fine; the loan is what needs 40 more points of occupancy.

  2. 02Using one break-even for the whole year

    At its own January rate of $208, the sample door needs 73.7% occupancy. At July's $318 it needs 47%. A single annual line misses both.

  3. 03Treating cleaning as a fixed cost

    Cleaning arrives with each booking, so it belongs in the per-night contribution. Put it in fixed costs and break-even looks lower than it is.

  4. 04Letting a pricing tool sell below the floor

    At 60% occupancy the sample door needs about $257 a night to cover costs and debt. Any lower and each extra booking still leaves the month short.

The cushion is the number to watch

Cushion above break-even, in points

Break-even on its own says little. What matters is how far it sits below the occupancy you actually get. A wide cushion survives a slow season. A thin one means one quiet month puts the door under water.

When the gap is small before debt and large after it, the operation is fine and the financing is the problem.

What good looks like

The size of the cushion matters more than the break-even figure on its own.

OutputWeakOkayGood
Occupancy cushion (expected minus break-even)Rule of thumb used by this calculator's verdict.Under 5 points5 to 15 points15 points or more
Months short at their own rateRule of thumb, matching the cash flow calculator's negative-month bands.6 or more3 to 50 to 2

Seasons decide which months fall short

Monthly occupancy vs break-evenFrom the sample

An annual break-even can look fine while half the year runs below it. The results compare each month's occupancy with the line, so you can see the stretch where you will be topping up.

MagicBNB's Listings table colours every property's occupancy green, amber or red, so the door drifting toward its line stands out in a sort rather than at month end.

How operators use it

  1. Host setting winter minimums

    Pricing tool drops January to $160 to fill nights.

    Checks the rate-by-occupancy table, sees $160 cannot break even at any realistic winter occupancy, and raises the floor.

  2. Arbitrage operator reviewing a lease

    Landlord wants a $300 rent increase at renewal.

    Adds it to the monthly payment, reads the new break-even and the cushion, and negotiates from the number.

  3. Buyer stress-testing a deal

    Seller's numbers show 65% occupancy.

    Sees the cushion is under 5 points at that occupancy and walks, or offers a price that widens it.

Break-even occupancy, worked through

What occupancy do I need to cover my Airbnb mortgage?

Fixed costs plus the mortgage, divided by what each booked night contributes, divided by nights in the month. The sample needs 59.9% with its mortgage and 19.9% without it.

That 40-point gap is the mortgage. It is common: on a financed STR the loan is usually the largest fixed cost, larger than tax, insurance, utilities and software together.

It also tells you which conversation to have. A door that breaks even at 20% before debt is a sound operation. If it fails at 60% after debt, the problem is the price paid or the loan, and pricing tweaks will only nibble at it.

Sample property, per booked night
  • Room revenue $257.80 + cleaning fees $50.00 per night
  • Less platform fee $47.71, cleaning $40.62, supplies $7.00, reserves $30.78
  • Contribution per booked night$181.69
  • Fixed costs $1,100 + mortgage $2,207$3,307 a month
  • $3,307 / $181.6918.2 nights of 30.4 = 59.9% break-even

How many nights a month does an Airbnb need to book to break even?

Monthly fixed costs including the loan, divided by contribution per booked night. On the sample that is 18.2 nights of an average 30.4.

Nights are easier to manage than percentages. A cleaner, a co-host and a pricing tool all work in nights. If the month has 12 booked and needs 18, the gap is six nights, which you can fill with gap-night discounts or a shorter minimum stay.

In slower months the count rises, because the rate falls. At its own January rate of $208 the sample needs 22.8 nights and books 11.8.

What nightly rate breaks even at my occupancy?

Read it off the rate-by-occupancy table. The sample breaks even at $305.96 a night at 50% occupancy, $257.29 at 60% and $222.52 at 70%.

This is the number to give a pricing tool as its floor for each season. Use the occupancy you actually expect in that season, not the annual average, because the floor moves fast as occupancy drops.

Before debt, the same table shows how low the rate can go and still cover running costs. At 50% occupancy the sample's pre-debt floor is $111.07.

Break-even ADR on the sample, costs and debt included
  • 40% occupancy$378.97
  • 50% occupancy$305.96
  • 60% occupancy$257.29
  • 70% occupancy$222.52
  • 80% occupancy$196.45

How do I lower my Airbnb's break-even occupancy?

Raise what each night contributes or cut what the month costs. On the sample, a $20 higher rate lowers break-even from 59.9% to 55.3%; a $207 lower monthly payment lowers it to 56.1%.

Contribution levers: nightly rate, cleaning fee, and per-booking costs like the cleaner and supplies. Fixed levers: the loan or rent, insurance, utilities, software.

Rate usually moves break-even most per dollar, because it raises contribution on every booked night at once. Refinancing or renegotiating rent moves it most in total, but those are slower to change.

Sample property, one change at a time (59.9% today)
  • ADR from $257.80 to $277.8055.3%
  • Mortgage from $2,207 to $2,000 a month56.1%
  • Cleaning fee from $160 to $20057.0%

Where it fits in your month

  1. When costs change

    Rerun it whenever rent, insurance or the cleaner's rate moves. A $100 a month rise on the sample door adds about half a booked night a month to break-even.

  2. Before each season

    Set your pricing tool's minimum from the rate-by-occupancy table at the occupancy you expect for that season.

  3. Every week

    Watch the trend. MagicBNB's YoY comparison flags a door whose occupancy is falling against last year before it reaches its line.

Terms on this page

Break-even occupancy
The share of available nights you must book for the month to cost you nothing.
Contribution per night
What one booked night leaves after its own costs, available to pay the fixed bills.
Fixed costs
Costs that arrive every month whether or not anyone books: tax, insurance, utilities, software, the loan.
Variable costs
Costs each booking creates: platform fee, cleaning, supplies, per-booking reserves.
Cushion
Expected occupancy minus break-even occupancy, in points.

Questions

How do you do a break-even analysis for an Airbnb?

Split the costs into fixed ones (mortgage, property tax, insurance, utilities, software) and the ones a booking creates (platform fee, cleaning, supplies, repairs and reserves). Work out what one booked night contributes after the booking costs, divide the monthly fixed costs by it, then divide the nights you get by 30.4. That is the occupancy where the door stops losing money.

What is break-even occupancy?

The share of available nights you have to book before a property covers its costs. Below it every month costs you cash; above it each extra night is profit. It is a threshold, not a forecast of what the property will earn.

What is a good break-even occupancy for a short-term rental?

One that sits well under the occupancy you actually achieve. This calculator reads a cushion of 15 points or more as comfortable and under 5 points as thin, because one slow season can wipe that out. Measure it against your own booking history.

Is cleaning a fixed or variable cost?

Variable. The cleaner is paid per stay, so the cost only arrives with a booking, and the cleaning fee you charge is revenue on that same booking. Airbnb charges its host-only fee on the cleaning fee too (Airbnb Help article 1857), so this calculator takes the fee off both.

What does a break-even above 100% mean?

Each booked night earns money, but a month does not have enough nights to cover the fixed costs. The rate works and the fixed side is too heavy, so the fix is a cheaper loan, lower tax or insurance, or a lower price. A result of Never is different: each night costs more than it brings in, and the fix is the rate.

Why is break-even higher in some months than others?

Fixed costs and the mortgage stay the same every month, but a slow month usually books at a lower rate, so each night contributes less and more nights are needed. The results work out each month's break-even at its own rate and day count, which shows the months where a rate cut makes the gap worse.

Does break-even occupancy include Airbnb's fee?

Yes. The platform fee comes off every booked night, cleaning fee included, before contribution is worked out. On the sample it is $47.71 per booked night.

Should I measure break-even on available or calendar nights?

Available nights, with owner and maintenance blocks removed. That way your break-even and your occupancy use the same denominator.

What is the difference between break-even and the reserve I need?

Break-even is the occupancy where a month costs nothing. The reserve is the cash that carries you through the months that fall below it. A door can break even on the year and still need a reserve.

Can I use this calculator for rental arbitrage?

Yes. Enter your monthly rent as the mortgage or rent. Break-even before debt then shows the operation, and break-even with rent shows the lease.

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Formulas last checked .

YoY comparison

Know if you are drifting toward the line

Break-even is a fixed line; your occupancy moves. MagicBNB's YoY comparison puts a delta against the same period last year on every KPI, so a door sliding toward its line shows up while there is still time to reprice.

Two more places this shows up in MagicBNB

  • Listings tableEvery property's occupancy in a colour-coded pill (green at 80% and above, red under 60%), sortable next to profit and margin.
  • Property Health GridA margin-derived health dot and this week's occupancy on every property card, so the doors near their line stand out on the home screen.
Track occupancy against last year
Go deeper

Know your break-even line every day, in depth

This calculator finds your break-even line once, as a quick look. MagicBNB runs the same numbers in depth and in real time, property by property, in its Property Health Grid.

Run the numbers in depthBack to the calculator