Albany vs Austin: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Austin edges ahead of Albany on higher occupancy (23% vs 18.1%), stronger RevPAR (£43 vs £19).

Head-to-head metrics

	Albany	Austin
Median occupancy	18.1%	23%
Median daily rate	£120	£181
Median RevPAR	£19	£43
Active listings	391	8,061
YoY occupancy	-2.4 pts	-1.7 pts
YoY daily rate	+66.4%	+81.7%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Albany vs Austin

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Austin finishes clearly ahead of Albany. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 121.6% higher in Austin: £43 against £19. Austin commands 50.4% more per night, £181 against £120. Those gaps are wide enough to survive a normal year's variance.

Austin takes both halves of the yield equation, which is less common than it sounds. It charges more per night — £181 against £120 — and still fills more of the year, 23% against 18.1%. A market that leads on price and utilisation at once is normally one where demand has outrun supply, rather than one where hosts are discounting to keep the calendar busy. RevPAR reflects the double advantage at £43 against £19.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Albany is not simply the weaker market of the two. Albany is the less crowded of the two — 391 active listings to 8,061 — so a well-run property has fewer near-identical rivals to out-rank. Albany sits at the cheaper end at £120 a night against £181, which lowers the bar for filling shoulder-season dates and usually tracks a lower purchase price too. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Albany nor Austin currently has a verified short-term rental regulation record in our register, so the comparison above is a yield comparison only. Regulation is the single largest source of downside in this asset class — an unverified market is an unpriced risk, not an absent one.

The two calendars also behave differently. Albany peaks in September at 44.2% and bottoms in February at 23.2%; Austin runs from 50.1% in October down to 28.5% in February. Both swing by a similar amount across the year, so neither offers meaningfully steadier cash flow than the other.

Who each suits, then. Albany suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. It is the contrarian side: buying it means buying a market that has cooled. Austin answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2026-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 391 active Albany listings and 8,061 in Austin.

Frequently asked questions

Is Albany or Austin better for Airbnb investment?

Austin, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£43 vs £19), a higher nightly rate (£181 vs £120), and higher median annual revenue (£15,720 vs £7,091). Albany is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a thinner competitive field (391 vs 8,061 active listings).

Which has higher occupancy, Albany or Austin?

Austin, at 23% median occupancy against 18.1% in Albany — a gap of 4.9 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Albany can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Albany shed 2.4 points and Austin shed 1.7 points, so the gap is widening.

Which has higher nightly rates, Albany or Austin?

Austin, at £181 a night against £120 in Albany — roughly 50.4% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £43 in Austin against £19, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Albany or Austin?

Neither is growing on occupancy — both cooled over the last year. Albany gave up 2.4 points and Austin 1.7, so Austin is the shallower decline rather than the winner. Nightly rates rose 66.4% in Albany and rose 81.7% in Austin over the same window.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Albany or Austin?

Austin, with 8,061 active listings against 391 in Albany. Size cuts both ways: a deep market gives you comparables, contractors and an exit, while a thinner one means fewer near-identical rivals competing for the same search results.

How much can you earn from an Airbnb in Albany vs Austin?

Austin earns more: roughly £15,720 a year for a median listing against £7,091 in Albany. Those are gross booking revenues before cleaning, management, platform fees, furnishing amortisation and tax — budget for a meaningful share of them, and note that a median listing is a median operator, not a good one.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Albany →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Austin →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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