Rhode Island vs Salem Or: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Salem Or edges ahead of Rhode Island on higher occupancy (29.6% vs 18.1%).

Head-to-head metrics

	Rhode Island	Salem Or
Median occupancy	18.1%	29.6%
Median daily rate	£286	£124
Median RevPAR	£54	£42
Active listings	4,449	233
YoY occupancy	+0 pts	-9.9 pts
YoY daily rate	+38.9%	+39.4%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Rhode Island vs Salem Or

Salem Or finishes clearly ahead of Rhode Island on our composite of occupancy, revenue per available night and regulation risk — and it is the calendar rather than the price tag doing the work. Salem Or sells 11.5 more points of its calendar — 29.6% median occupancy against 18.1% in Rhode Island. Salem Or is the less crowded of the two — 233 active listings to 4,449 — so a well-run property has fewer near-identical rivals to out-rank. 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. Rhode Island is the rate market: £286 a night against £124, some 130.2% more, but it converts fewer of those nights at 18.1% occupancy. Salem Or is the volume market, filling 29.6% of its calendar at a lower headline price. Revenue per available night settles it: £54 in Rhode Island against £42. Rate is what you advertise; RevPAR is what you bank.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Rhode Island is not simply the weaker market of the two. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 28.6% higher in Rhode Island: £54 against £42. The twelve-month direction favours Rhode Island too: occupancy there moved +0 points while Salem Or moved −9.9 points. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Rhode Island nor Salem Or 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. Rhode Island peaks in October at 60.4% and bottoms in December at 46.8%; Salem Or runs from 58.3% in September down to 30.1% in February. Rhode Island is the steadier of the two at 13.6 points peak-to-trough against 28.2 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Salem Or 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. Rhode Island 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. Salem Or 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 4,449 active Rhode Island listings and 233 in Salem Or.

Frequently asked questions

Is Rhode Island or Salem Or better for Airbnb investment?

Salem Or, on the data we track. It leads on higher occupancy (29.6% vs 18.1%), a thinner competitive field (233 vs 4,449 active listings), and a lower price point (£124 a night vs £286). Rhode Island is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on stronger RevPAR (£54 vs £42).

Which has higher occupancy, Rhode Island or Salem Or?

Salem Or, at 29.6% median occupancy against 18.1% in Rhode Island — a gap of 11.5 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 Rhode Island was flat and Salem Or shed 9.9 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Rhode Island or Salem Or?

Rhode Island, at £286 a night against £124 in Salem Or — roughly 130.2% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £54 in Rhode Island against £42, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Rhode Island or Salem Or?

Rhode Island, on occupancy: +0 points over the last twelve months against −9.9 points in Salem Or. Nightly rates rose 38.9% in Rhode Island and rose 39.4% in Salem Or 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, Rhode Island or Salem Or?

Rhode Island, with 4,449 active listings against 233 in Salem Or. 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 Rhode Island vs Salem Or?

Rhode Island earns more: roughly £19,593 a year for a median listing against £15,230 in Salem Or. 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 Rhode Island →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Salem Or →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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