Columbus vs Fort Worth: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Columbus edges ahead of Fort Worth on higher occupancy (32.9% vs 26.8%), stronger RevPAR (£46 vs £39).

Head-to-head metrics

	Columbus	Fort Worth
Median occupancy	32.9%	26.8%
Median daily rate	£138	£142
Median RevPAR	£46	£39
Active listings	2,357	1,704
YoY occupancy	+0 pts	-3.9 pts
YoY daily rate	+57.7%	+53.4%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Columbus vs Fort Worth

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Columbus finishes clearly ahead of Fort Worth. Columbus turns its rate and occupancy into £46 per available night against £39 in Fort Worth, a 18.9% edge on the only yield figure that nets the empty nights out. Columbus's listings run at 32.9% occupancy against 26.8% in Fort Worth, worth 6.1 extra points of booked calendar every year. Those gaps are wide enough to survive a normal year's variance.

On the mechanics of the yield the two are hard to separate. Columbus runs 32.9% occupancy at £138 a night; Fort Worth runs 26.8% at £142. That leaves RevPAR almost level too — £46 against £39 — so operating quality, not market selection, is what will decide your return between these two.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Fort Worth is not simply the weaker market of the two. Fort Worth's calendar is the flatter of the two — 21.9 points between its best and worst month against 28.7 in Columbus — which makes debt service easier to underwrite. Fort Worth is the less crowded of the two — 1,704 active listings to 2,357 — so a well-run property has fewer near-identical rivals to out-rank. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Columbus nor Fort Worth 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. Columbus peaks in October at 51.5% and bottoms in February at 22.8%; Fort Worth runs from 46% in September down to 24.1% in December. Fort Worth is the steadier of the two at 21.9 points peak-to-trough against 28.7 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Columbus 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. Columbus suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. Fort Worth 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 2,357 active Columbus listings and 1,704 in Fort Worth.

Frequently asked questions

Is Columbus or Fort Worth better for Airbnb investment?

Columbus, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£46 vs £39), higher occupancy (32.9% vs 26.8%), and a deeper market (2,357 vs 1,704 active listings). Fort Worth is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a flatter season (21.9-point swing vs 28.7).

Which has higher occupancy, Columbus or Fort Worth?

Columbus, at 32.9% median occupancy against 26.8% in Fort Worth — a gap of 6.1 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Fort Worth can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Columbus was flat and Fort Worth shed 3.9 points, so the gap is widening.

Which has higher nightly rates, Columbus or Fort Worth?

Fort Worth, at £142 a night against £138 in Columbus — roughly 2.6% more. The nightly rate is not the whole story, though. On revenue per available night — rate multiplied by how often the room actually sells — Columbus comes out ahead at £46 against £39, so Columbus's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Columbus or Fort Worth?

Columbus, on occupancy: +0 points over the last twelve months against −3.9 points in Fort Worth. Nightly rates rose 57.7% in Columbus and rose 53.4% in Fort Worth 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, Columbus or Fort Worth?

Columbus, with 2,357 active listings against 1,704 in Fort Worth. 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 Columbus vs Fort Worth?

Columbus earns more: roughly £16,723 a year for a median listing against £14,081 in Fort Worth. 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 Columbus →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Fort Worth →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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