Oakland vs Portland: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Portland edges ahead of Oakland on higher occupancy (60% vs 36%), stronger RevPAR (£32 vs £18).

Head-to-head metrics

	Oakland	Portland
Median occupancy	36%	60%
Median daily rate	£85	£80
Median RevPAR	£18	£32
Active listings	1,449	3,143
YoY occupancy	+14.1 pts	+14 pts
YoY daily rate	-0.9%	+2%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Oakland vs Portland

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Portland finishes decisively ahead of Oakland. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 82.8% higher in Portland: £32 against £18. Portland 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.

The two markets reach their revenue by different routes, which is what makes this pairing worth reading rather than just tabulating. Oakland is the rate market: £85 a night against £80, some 5.9% more, but it converts fewer of those nights at 36% occupancy. Portland is the volume market, filling 60% of its calendar at a lower headline price. Revenue per available night settles it: £32 in Portland against £18. Rate is what you advertise; RevPAR is what you bank.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Oakland is not simply the weaker market of the two. Oakland prices modestly above Portland — £85 a night to £80, about 5.9%. Oakland is the less crowded of the two — 1,449 active listings to 3,143 — so a well-run property has fewer near-identical rivals to out-rank. If your model leans on nightly rate rather than volume, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Oakland nor Portland 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. Oakland peaks in September at 60.8% and bottoms in February at 35.5%; Portland runs from 55.9% in November down to 27.8% in January. Both swing by a similar amount across the year, so neither offers meaningfully steadier cash flow than the other.

Who each suits, then. Oakland 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. Portland 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. 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 886 active Oakland listings and 1,114 in Portland.

Frequently asked questions

Is Oakland or Portland better for Airbnb investment?

Portland, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£32 vs £18), higher occupancy (60% vs 36%), and higher median annual revenue (£11,708 vs £6,404). Oakland is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a higher nightly rate (£85 vs £80).

Which has higher occupancy, Oakland or Portland?

Portland, at 60% median occupancy against 36% in Oakland — a gap of 24 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 Oakland gained 14.1 points and Portland gained 14 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Oakland or Portland?

Oakland, at £85 a night against £80 in Portland — roughly 5.9% more. The nightly rate is not the whole story, though. On revenue per available night — rate multiplied by how often the room actually sells — Portland comes out ahead at £32 against £18, so Portland's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Oakland or Portland?

Oakland, on occupancy: +14.1 points over the last twelve months against +14 points in Portland. Nightly rates fell 0.9% in Oakland and rose 2% in Portland 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, Oakland or Portland?

Portland, with 3,143 active listings against 1,449 in Oakland. 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 Oakland vs Portland?

Portland earns more: roughly £11,708 a year for a median listing against £6,404 in Oakland. 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 Oakland →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Portland →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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