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

Bottom line

Rome edges ahead of Milan on stronger RevPAR (£25 vs £20).

Head-to-head metrics

	Milan	Rome
Median occupancy	30%	30%
Median daily rate	£103	£110
Median RevPAR	£20	£25
Active listings	16,143	27,668
YoY occupancy	+13.6 pts	+5.3 pts
YoY daily rate	-2.4%	-7.9%
Regulation risk	—	medium
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Milan vs Rome

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Rome finishes clearly ahead of Milan. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 30% higher in Rome: £25 against £20. Across a full year the median Rome listing grosses £9,282 against £7,140 in Milan. Those gaps are wide enough to survive a normal year's variance.

On the mechanics of the yield the two are hard to separate. Milan runs 30% occupancy at £103 a night; Rome runs 30% at £110. That leaves RevPAR almost level too — £25 against £20 — so operating quality, not market selection, is what will decide your return between these two.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Milan is not simply the weaker market of the two. The twelve-month direction favours Milan too: occupancy there moved +13.6 points while Rome moved +5.3 points. Nightly rates are also climbing faster in Milan, −2.4% over the last year against −7.9% in Rome. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

We hold a verified regulation record for only one side of this pairing. Rome applies no annual night cap and requires registration but no licence, on a medium risk rating. Milan should be read as unverified rather than unregulated: check the local authority's own register before you underwrite anything there.

The two calendars also behave differently. Milan peaks in September at 69.5% and bottoms in December at 33.5%; Rome runs from 62.9% in September down to 28.2% 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. Milan suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry and whose economics survive high turnover — more bookings, more cleans, more guest contact per pound of revenue. It is also the momentum side of this pair. Rome answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal: it is the market for an owner who can hold rate through the shoulder season rather than discounting to fill the calendar. 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 9,889 active Milan listings and 15,125 in Rome.

Frequently asked questions

Is Milan or Rome better for Airbnb investment?

Rome, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£25 vs £20), higher median annual revenue (£9,282 vs £7,140), and a deeper market (27,668 vs 16,143 active listings). Milan is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on the better occupancy trend (+13.6 points vs +5.3 points year over year).

Which has higher occupancy, Milan or Rome?

Effectively neither — they are level. Milan sits at 30% and Rome at 30%, a 0-point difference that is inside the noise of a median drawn from a listings snapshot. Over the last twelve months Milan gained 13.6 points and Rome gained 5.3 points, so the gap is widening.

Which has higher nightly rates, Milan or Rome?

Rome, at £110 a night against £103 in Milan — roughly 6.6% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £25 in Rome against £20, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Is Milan or Rome riskier for Airbnb regulation?

We hold a verified regulation record for Rome only, so we will not rank the two. Rome applies no annual night cap and requires registration but no licence, and it is rated medium risk. Treat Milan as unverified rather than unregulated, and check the local authority directly before committing.

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

Milan, on occupancy: +13.6 points over the last twelve months against +5.3 points in Rome. Nightly rates fell 2.4% in Milan and fell 7.9% in Rome 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, Milan or Rome?

Rome, with 27,668 active listings against 16,143 in Milan. 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.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Milan →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Rome →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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