Los Angeles vs New York City: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

New York City edges ahead of Los Angeles on higher occupancy (32.9% vs 29.6%), stronger RevPAR (£55 vs £48).

Head-to-head metrics

	Los Angeles	New York City
Median occupancy	29.6%	32.9%
Median daily rate	£182	£152
Median RevPAR	£48	£55
Active listings	24,491	10,670
YoY occupancy	+1.7 pts	-9.3 pts
YoY daily rate	+51.8%	+31.5%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Los Angeles vs New York City

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — New York City finishes narrowly ahead of Los Angeles. New York City turns its rate and occupancy into £55 per available night against £48 in Los Angeles, a 15.4% edge on the only yield figure that nets the empty nights out. New York City edges the utilisation count at 32.9% to 29.6% — 3.3 points, which one good season would erase. The margin is thin enough that a single strong year in Los Angeles would close it, so treat the ordering as a lean rather than a verdict.

The two markets reach their revenue by different routes, which is what makes this pairing worth reading rather than just tabulating. Los Angeles is the rate market: £182 a night against £152, some 20.2% more, but it converts fewer of those nights at 29.6% occupancy. New York City is the volume market, filling 32.9% of its calendar at a lower headline price. Revenue per available night settles it: £55 in New York City against £48. Rate is what you advertise; RevPAR is what you bank.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Los Angeles is not simply the weaker market of the two. The twelve-month direction favours Los Angeles too: occupancy there moved +1.7 points while New York City moved −9.3 points. Nightly rates are also climbing faster in Los Angeles, +51.8% over the last year against +31.5% in New York City. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Los Angeles nor New York City 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. Los Angeles peaks in September at 51% and bottoms in February at 29.1%; New York City runs from 63.7% in September down to 38.9% in February. Both swing by a similar amount across the year, so neither offers meaningfully steadier cash flow than the other.

Who each suits, then. Los Angeles 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. It is also the momentum side of this pair. New York City 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 24,491 active Los Angeles listings and 10,670 in New York City.

Frequently asked questions

Is Los Angeles or New York City better for Airbnb investment?

New York City, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£55 vs £48), higher occupancy (32.9% vs 29.6%), and higher median annual revenue (£20,145 vs £17,472). Los Angeles is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on the better occupancy trend (+1.7 points vs −9.3 points year over year).

Which has higher occupancy, Los Angeles or New York City?

New York City, at 32.9% median occupancy against 29.6% in Los Angeles — a gap of 3.3 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Los Angeles can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Los Angeles gained 1.7 points and New York City shed 9.3 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Los Angeles or New York City?

Los Angeles, at £182 a night against £152 in New York City — roughly 20.2% 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 York City comes out ahead at £55 against £48, so New York City's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Los Angeles or New York City?

Los Angeles, on occupancy: +1.7 points over the last twelve months against −9.3 points in New York City. Nightly rates rose 51.8% in Los Angeles and rose 31.5% in New York City 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, Los Angeles or New York City?

Los Angeles, with 24,491 active listings against 10,670 in New York City. 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 Los Angeles vs New York City?

New York City earns more: roughly £20,145 a year for a median listing against £17,472 in Los Angeles. 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 Los Angeles →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in New York City →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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