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

Bottom line

New Orleans edges ahead of Hawaii on higher occupancy (49.3% vs 15.9%), stronger RevPAR (£76 vs £46).

Head-to-head metrics

	Hawaii	New Orleans
Median occupancy	15.9%	49.3%
Median daily rate	£284	£175
Median RevPAR	£46	£76
Active listings	23,915	4,619
YoY occupancy	-0.5 pts	-5.5 pts
YoY daily rate	+72.6%	+68.8%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Hawaii 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 Hawaii. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 66.5% higher in New Orleans: £76 against £46. New Orleans sells 33.4 more points of its calendar — 49.3% median occupancy against 15.9% in Hawaii. That is not a rounding difference, and it compounds over a hold period.

The two markets reach their revenue by different routes, which is what makes this pairing worth reading rather than just tabulating. Hawaii is the rate market: £284 a night against £175, some 62.4% more, but it converts fewer of those nights at 15.9% occupancy. New Orleans is the volume market, filling 49.3% of its calendar at a lower headline price. Revenue per available night settles it: £76 in New Orleans against £46. Rate is what you advertise; RevPAR is what you bank.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Hawaii is not simply the weaker market of the two. Hawaii commands 62.4% more per night, £284 against £175. The twelve-month direction favours Hawaii too: occupancy there moved −0.5 points while New Orleans moved −5.5 points. If your model leans on nightly rate rather than volume, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Hawaii 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. Hawaii peaks in October at 49.4% and bottoms in May at 28.6%; New Orleans runs from 49.2% in September down to 30.6% 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. Hawaii suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry and who can hold rate through the shoulder season rather than discounting to fill the calendar. New Orleans answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal: it is the market for an owner whose economics survive high turnover — more bookings, more cleans, more guest contact per pound of revenue. 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 23,915 active Hawaii listings and 4,619 in New Orleans.

Frequently asked questions

Is Hawaii or New Orleans better for Airbnb investment?

New Orleans, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£76 vs £46), higher occupancy (49.3% vs 15.9%), and higher median annual revenue (£27,865 vs £16,727). Hawaii is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a higher nightly rate (£284 vs £175).

Which has higher occupancy, Hawaii or New Orleans?

New Orleans, at 49.3% median occupancy against 15.9% in Hawaii — a gap of 33.4 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 Hawaii shed 0.5 points and New Orleans shed 5.5 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Hawaii or New Orleans?

Hawaii, at £284 a night against £175 in New Orleans — roughly 62.4% more. The nightly rate is not the whole story, though. On revenue per available night — rate multiplied by how often the room actually sells — New Orleans comes out ahead at £76 against £46, so New Orleans's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.

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

Neither is growing on occupancy — both cooled over the last year. Hawaii gave up 0.5 points and New Orleans 5.5, so Hawaii is the shallower decline rather than the winner. Nightly rates rose 72.6% in Hawaii and rose 68.8% in New Orleans over the same window.

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

Hawaii, with 23,915 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 Hawaii vs New Orleans?

New Orleans earns more: roughly £27,865 a year for a median listing against £16,727 in Hawaii. 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 Hawaii →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in New Orleans →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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