Chicago vs New Orleans: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

New Orleans edges ahead of Chicago on higher occupancy (49.3% vs 35.1%), stronger RevPAR (£76 vs £59).

Head-to-head metrics

	Chicago	New Orleans
Median occupancy	35.1%	49.3%
Median daily rate	£171	£175
Median RevPAR	£59	£76
Active listings	6,325	4,619
YoY occupancy	+2.2 pts	-5.5 pts
YoY daily rate	+53.9%	+68.8%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Chicago vs New Orleans

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — New Orleans finishes decisively ahead of Chicago. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 28.8% higher in New Orleans: £76 against £59. New Orleans sells 14.2 more points of its calendar — 49.3% median occupancy against 35.1% in Chicago. That is not a rounding difference, and it compounds over a hold period.

New Orleans takes both halves of the yield equation, which is less common than it sounds. It charges more per night — £175 against £171 — and still fills more of the year, 49.3% against 35.1%. 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 £76 against £59.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Chicago is not simply the weaker market of the two. The twelve-month direction favours Chicago too: occupancy there moved +2.2 points while New Orleans moved −5.5 points. Chicago is the deeper market at 6,325 active listings against 4,619, which usually means better comparables going in and a wider buyer pool coming out. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Chicago nor New Orleans 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. Chicago peaks in September at 54% and bottoms in February at 24.1%; New Orleans runs from 49.2% in September down to 30.6% in December. New Orleans is the steadier of the two at 18.6 points peak-to-trough against 29.9 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Chicago concentrates its return into a shorter window and rewards operators who price the peak aggressively instead of holding a flat rate all year.

Who each suits, then. Chicago suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. It is also the momentum side of this pair. New Orleans answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal. It is the contrarian side: buying it means buying a market that has cooled. 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 6,325 active Chicago listings and 4,619 in New Orleans.

Frequently asked questions

Is Chicago or New Orleans better for Airbnb investment?

New Orleans, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£76 vs £59), higher occupancy (49.3% vs 35.1%), and higher median annual revenue (£27,865 vs £21,629). Chicago is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on the better occupancy trend (+2.2 points vs −5.5 points year over year).

Which has higher occupancy, Chicago or New Orleans?

New Orleans, at 49.3% median occupancy against 35.1% in Chicago — a gap of 14.2 points. That is a wide spread by short-term rental standards and usually reflects a structural demand difference rather than better hosting. Over the last twelve months Chicago gained 2.2 points and New Orleans shed 5.5 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Chicago or New Orleans?

New Orleans, at £175 a night against £171 in Chicago — roughly 1.9% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £76 in New Orleans against £59, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Chicago or New Orleans?

Chicago, on occupancy: +2.2 points over the last twelve months against −5.5 points in New Orleans. Nightly rates rose 53.9% in Chicago and rose 68.8% in New Orleans over the same window. One year of movement is a direction, not a trend — weigh it against the regulation picture before treating it as momentum.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Chicago or New Orleans?

Chicago, with 6,325 active listings against 4,619 in New Orleans. 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 Chicago vs New Orleans?

New Orleans earns more: roughly £27,865 a year for a median listing against £21,629 in Chicago. 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 Chicago →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in New Orleans →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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