New York City edges ahead of Oakland on higher occupancy (60% vs 36%), stronger RevPAR (£47 vs £18).
Head-to-head metrics
| New York City | Oakland | |
|---|---|---|
| Median occupancy | 60% | 36% |
| Median daily rate | £117 | £85 |
| Median RevPAR | £47 | £18 |
| Active listings | 10,918 | 1,449 |
| YoY occupancy | — | +14.1 pts |
| YoY daily rate | — | -0.9% |
| Regulation risk | — | — |
| Annual night cap | None | None |
| License required | No | No |
Full analysis: New York City vs Oakland
On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — New York City finishes decisively ahead of Oakland. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 166.6% higher in New York City: £47 against £18. New York City sells 24 more points of its calendar — 60% median occupancy against 36% in Oakland. That is not a rounding difference, and it compounds over a hold period.
New York City takes both halves of the yield equation, which is less common than it sounds. It charges more per night — £117 against £85 — and still fills more of the year, 60% against 36%. 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 £47 against £18.
That verdict needs a caveat, because Oakland is not simply the weaker market of the two. Oakland is the less crowded of the two — 1,449 active listings to 10,918 — so a well-run property has fewer near-identical rivals to out-rank. Oakland sits at the cheaper end at £85 a night against £117, which lowers the bar for filling shoulder-season dates and usually tracks a lower purchase price too. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.
Neither New York City nor Oakland 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 York City peaks in November at 67% and bottoms in January at 47.3%; Oakland runs from 60.8% in September down to 35.5% in February. New York City is the steadier of the two at 19.7 points peak-to-trough against 25.3 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Oakland 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 York City suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. Oakland answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 3,530 active New York City listings and 886 in Oakland.
Frequently asked questions
Is New York City or Oakland better for Airbnb investment?
Which has higher occupancy, New York City or Oakland?
Which has higher nightly rates, New York City or Oakland?
Which has stronger year-over-year growth, New York City or Oakland?
Which is the bigger Airbnb market, New York City or Oakland?
How much can you earn from an Airbnb in New York City vs Oakland?
Go deeper on each city
Get a full investment report on either city
Property-level financials, stress tests, and an AI verdict — £19 each.
Already hosting? Meet HostPal
An AI concierge that answers your guests on WhatsApp 24/7 — in 50+ languages, from your own guidebook and house rules. Emergencies get escalated to you; the WiFi password doesn't. Live in under 10 minutes.
Try HostPal free for 7 days →