Side-by-side comparison

Florence vs Naples: which is better for Airbnb investment?

We compare the Italy short-term rental markets across occupancy, daily rate, RevPAR, year-over-year trend, and regulation.

Bottom line

Florence edges ahead of Naples on higher occupancy (30% vs 24%), stronger RevPAR (£32 vs £12).

Head-to-head metrics

 FlorenceNaples
Median occupancy30%24%
Median daily rate£116£69
Median RevPAR£32£12
Active listings10,3056,595
YoY occupancy+0.4 pts+9.2 pts
YoY daily rate-8.7%-3.6%
Regulation risk
Annual night capNoneNone
License requiredNoNo

Full analysis: Florence vs Naples

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Florence finishes clearly ahead of Naples. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 166.2% higher in Florence: £32 against £12. Florence commands 69.1% more per night, £116 against £69. 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 — £116 against £69 — and still fills more of the year, 30% against 24%. 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 £32 against £12.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Naples is not simply the weaker market of the two. The twelve-month direction favours Naples too: occupancy there moved +9.2 points while Florence moved +0.4 points. Naples is the less crowded of the two — 6,595 active listings to 10,305 — 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 Florence nor Naples 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 65% and bottoms in December at 31.2%; Naples runs from 53.4% in September down to 22.8% in November. Naples is the steadier of the two at 30.6 points peak-to-trough against 33.8 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Florence 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. Florence suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. Naples answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal. It is also the momentum side of this pair. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2025-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 5,209 active Florence listings and 4,139 in Naples.

Frequently asked questions

Is Florence or Naples better for Airbnb investment?
Florence, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£32 vs £12), a higher nightly rate (£116 vs £69), and higher occupancy (30% vs 24%). Naples is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on the better occupancy trend (+9.2 points vs +0.4 points year over year).
Which has higher occupancy, Florence or Naples?
Florence, at 30% median occupancy against 24% in Naples — a gap of 6 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Naples can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Florence was flat and Naples gained 9.2 points, so the gap is closing.
Which has higher nightly rates, Florence or Naples?
Florence, at £116 a night against £69 in Naples — roughly 69.1% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £32 in Florence against £12, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.
Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Florence or Naples?
Naples, on occupancy: +9.2 points over the last twelve months against +0.4 points in Florence. Nightly rates fell 8.7% in Florence and fell 3.6% in Naples 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 Naples?
Florence, with 10,305 active listings against 6,595 in Naples. 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 Naples?
Florence earns more: roughly £11,735 a year for a median listing against £4,391 in Naples. 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 Naples
Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation
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