Florence vs Milan: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Florence edges ahead of Milan on higher occupancy (26.3% vs 17%), stronger RevPAR (£45 vs £25).

Head-to-head metrics

	Florence	Milan
Median occupancy	26.3%	17%
Median daily rate	£166	£138
Median RevPAR	£45	£25
Active listings	10,534	17,669
YoY occupancy	+0 pts	+0 pts
YoY daily rate	+42.3%	+33.9%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Florence vs Milan

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Florence finishes clearly ahead of Milan. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 83% higher in Florence: £45 against £25. Florence's listings run at 26.3% occupancy against 17% in Milan, worth 9.3 extra points of booked calendar every year. Those gaps are wide enough to survive a normal year's variance.

Florence takes both halves of the yield equation, which is less common than it sounds. It charges more per night — £166 against £138 — and still fills more of the year, 26.3% against 17%. 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 £45 against £25.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Milan is not simply the weaker market of the two. Milan is the deeper market at 17,669 active listings against 10,534, which usually means better comparables going in and a wider buyer pool coming out. Milan sits at the cheaper end at £138 a night against £166, 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 Florence nor Milan 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. Florence peaks in October at 64.8% and bottoms in December at 30.5%; Milan runs from 68.5% in September down to 35.1% in December. Both swing by a similar amount across the year, so neither offers meaningfully steadier cash flow than the other.

Who each suits, then. Florence suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. Milan 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 10,534 active Florence listings and 17,669 in Milan.

Frequently asked questions

Is Florence or Milan better for Airbnb investment?

Florence, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£45 vs £25), higher occupancy (26.3% vs 17%), and a higher nightly rate (£166 vs £138). Milan is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a deeper market (17,669 vs 10,534 active listings).

Which has higher occupancy, Florence or Milan?

Florence, at 26.3% median occupancy against 17% in Milan — a gap of 9.3 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Milan can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Florence was flat and Milan was flat, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Florence or Milan?

Florence, at £166 a night against £138 in Milan — roughly 20.4% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £45 in Florence against £25, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Florence or Milan?

Florence, on occupancy: +0 points over the last twelve months against +0 points in Milan. Nightly rates rose 42.3% in Florence and rose 33.9% in Milan 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, Florence or Milan?

Milan, with 17,669 active listings against 10,534 in Florence. 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 Florence vs Milan?

Florence earns more: roughly £16,422 a year for a median listing against £8,973 in Milan. 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 Florence →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Milan →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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