Tasmania vs Western Australia: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Tasmania and Western Australia score similarly on the metrics that matter most for short-term rental returns. The right pick depends on whether you optimise for yield (lower regulation risk, higher RevPAR) or capital growth.

Head-to-head metrics

	Tasmania	Western Australia
Median occupancy	42%	42%
Median daily rate	£99	£110
Median RevPAR	£27	£25
Active listings	5,396	10,674
YoY occupancy	+14.1 pts	+19 pts
YoY daily rate	-1%	+3.3%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Tasmania vs Western Australia

There is no clean winner between Tasmania and Western Australia. Tasmania posts 42% occupancy and £27 RevPAR; Western Australia posts 42% occupancy and £25 RevPAR. Weighted together with regulation risk the two finish inside the margin we are willing to call, which is the honest answer rather than an evasive one — a scoring gap this small would flip on the next data refresh. When markets are this close the decision stops being about the market and starts being about the deal: what you pay, what it costs to run, and how quickly you could exit.

On the mechanics of the yield the two are hard to separate. Tasmania runs 42% occupancy at £99 a night; Western Australia runs 42% at £110. That leaves RevPAR almost level too — £27 against £25 — so operating quality, not market selection, is what will decide your return between these two.

A tie does not mean the two are interchangeable — it means each holds something the other does not. Tasmania is the less crowded of the two — 5,396 active listings to 10,674 — so a well-run property has fewer near-identical rivals to out-rank. Western Australia is the deeper market at 10,674 active listings against 5,396, which usually means better comparables going in and a wider buyer pool coming out. Pick the one whose advantage matches how you intend to operate, because the composite score will not do that job for you.

Neither Tasmania nor Western Australia 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. Tasmania peaks in September at 52.2% and bottoms in February at 35.2%; Western Australia runs from 53.6% in June down to 33.8% in September. Both swing by a similar amount across the year, so neither offers meaningfully steadier cash flow than the other.

Who each suits, then. Tasmania 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. Western Australia 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. It is also the momentum side of this pair. 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 2,774 active Tasmania listings and 5,885 in Western Australia.

Frequently asked questions

Is Tasmania or Western Australia better for Airbnb investment?

Neither pulls clearly ahead. Tasmania runs 42% occupancy and £99 a night; Western Australia runs 42% occupancy and £110 a night. Once occupancy, revenue per available night and regulation risk are weighted together the two finish within a couple of points of each other, so the decision turns on purchase price, how far you are willing to travel, and which rulebook you would rather work under.

Which has higher occupancy, Tasmania or Western Australia?

Effectively neither — they are level. Tasmania sits at 42% and Western Australia at 42%, a 0-point difference that is inside the noise of a median drawn from a listings snapshot. Over the last twelve months Tasmania gained 14.1 points and Western Australia gained 19 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Tasmania or Western Australia?

Western Australia, at £110 a night against £99 in Tasmania — roughly 10.8% more. The nightly rate is not the whole story, though. On revenue per available night — rate multiplied by how often the room actually sells — Tasmania comes out ahead at £27 against £25, so Tasmania's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Tasmania or Western Australia?

Western Australia, on occupancy: +19 points over the last twelve months against +14.1 points in Tasmania. Nightly rates fell 1% in Tasmania and rose 3.3% in Western Australia 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, Tasmania or Western Australia?

Western Australia, with 10,674 active listings against 5,396 in Tasmania. 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 Tasmania vs Western Australia?

Tasmania earns more: roughly £9,830 a year for a median listing against £9,226 in Western Australia. 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 Tasmania →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Western Australia →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Ready to buy?

Get a full investment report on either city

Property-level financials, stress tests, and an AI verdict — £19 each.

Tasmania report →Western Australia report →

From the same team

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 →