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

Bottom line

New Orleans edges ahead of Seattle on higher occupancy (60% vs 54%), stronger RevPAR (£47 vs £41).

Head-to-head metrics

	New Orleans	Seattle
Median occupancy	60%	54%
Median daily rate	£103	£115
Median RevPAR	£47	£41
Active listings	4,939	5,378
YoY occupancy	—	—
YoY daily rate	—	—
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: New Orleans vs Seattle

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — New Orleans finishes clearly ahead of Seattle. New Orleans turns its rate and occupancy into £47 per available night against £41 in Seattle, a 15.6% edge on the only yield figure that nets the empty nights out. New Orleans's listings run at 60% occupancy against 54% in Seattle, worth 6 extra points of booked calendar every year. Those gaps are wide enough to survive a normal year's variance.

The two markets reach their revenue by different routes, which is what makes this pairing worth reading rather than just tabulating. Seattle is the rate market: £115 a night against £103, some 10.7% more, but it converts fewer of those nights at 54% occupancy. New Orleans is the volume market, filling 60% of its calendar at a lower headline price. Revenue per available night settles it: £47 in New Orleans against £41. Rate is what you advertise; RevPAR is what you bank.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Seattle is not simply the weaker market of the two. Nightly rates favour Seattle: £115 against £103 in New Orleans, a 10.7% premium. Its strongest submarket, Lower Queen Anne, clears £87 RevPAR on its own — city medians hide that kind of spread. If your model leans on nightly rate rather than volume, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither New Orleans nor Seattle 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. New Orleans peaks in August at 52.2% and bottoms in December at 29.9%; Seattle runs from 58.2% in September down to 31.5% in December. New Orleans is the steadier of the two at 22.3 points peak-to-trough against 26.7 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Seattle 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. New Orleans 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. Seattle 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 1,475 active New Orleans listings and 2,083 in Seattle.

Frequently asked questions

Is New Orleans or Seattle better for Airbnb investment?

New Orleans, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£47 vs £41), higher occupancy (60% vs 54%), and higher median annual revenue (£17,123 vs £14,827). Seattle is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a higher nightly rate (£115 vs £103).

Which has higher occupancy, New Orleans or Seattle?

New Orleans, at 60% median occupancy against 54% in Seattle — a gap of 6 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Seattle can close most of it.

Which has higher nightly rates, New Orleans or Seattle?

Seattle, at £115 a night against £103 in New Orleans — roughly 10.7% 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 £47 against £41, so New Orleans's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.

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

Seattle, with 5,378 active listings against 4,939 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 New Orleans vs Seattle?

New Orleans earns more: roughly £17,123 a year for a median listing against £14,827 in Seattle. 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.

What is the best time of year to rent out an Airbnb in New Orleans or Seattle?

New Orleans peaks in August at 52.2% occupancy and troughs in December at 29.9%; Seattle peaks in September at 58.2% and troughs in December at 31.5%. Because the peaks fall in different months, the two markets are partly complementary — a portfolio holding one of each has a flatter combined calendar than either alone.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in New Orleans →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Seattle →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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