Airbnb profit calculator
Most short-let calculators hold turnovers fixed while occupancy moves. This one derives them, which is the only way break-even occupancy means anything.
- Net profit
- $1,701
- Gross revenue
- $3,942
- Break-even occupancy
- 30.3%
19.5 nights across 5.6 turnovers. Platform takes $237, cleaning costs $362, consumables $156. Each booked night contributes $163.44 toward the $1,486 of fixed costs, and the month keeps 43.2% of revenue.
The formulas
nights = days x occupancy
turnovers = nights / average stay length
gross = nights x nightly rate + turnovers x cleaning fee
net = gross - platform fee - cleaning cost - consumables - fixed costs
contribution per night = rate x (1 - fee) + (cleaning fee x (1 - fee) - cleaning cost) / stay length - consumables
break-even occupancy = fixed costs / (contribution per night x days)
Turnover costs follow occupancy because turnovers do. A calculator that lets you type in eight stays a month and then reports break-even at 19% occupancy is describing a month that cannot happen.
A worked example
At $175 a night, 65% occupancy over 30 days and an average stay of 3.5 nights, that is 19.5 nights across 5.6 turnovers.
gross = 19.5 x 175 + 5.6 x 95 = 3,942
platform (6%) = 237 · cleaning = 362 · consumables = 156
net = 3,942 - 237 - 362 - 156 - 1,486 = 1,701
contribution/night = 163.44 → break-even = 1,486 / (163.44 x 30) = 30.3%
Roughly a third of the month has to be booked before the property pays for itself. The remaining two thirds are the profit.
Assumptions and limits
- One property, one nightly rate. Seasonality needs a month-by-month view, which is what the spreadsheet does.
- Cashflow, not tax. Depreciation, allowances and local short-let rules are excluded.
- Turnovers can be fractional here because occupancy is an average. Over a month that is the right expected value, not a rounding error.
- Fixed costs mean everything you pay whether or not anyone books — including the months nobody does.
Doing this more than once?
This page prices one average month. These keep a whole year, with a different occupancy for each month and the actual payouts alongside the projection.
Questions
- Why does average stay length matter so much?
- It decides how many turnovers you pay for. The same 20 booked nights is six cleans at 3.5-night stays and twenty at one-night stays — on a $65 clean that is a $900 swing in the same month.
- What is break-even occupancy?
- The occupancy at which an average month covers its costs and nothing more. It is worked out from contribution per booked night, so cleaning and consumables scale with bookings rather than being held still.
- What if the calculator says break-even is not reachable?
- Then each booked night contributes nothing or less after its own turnover and consumables. No occupancy fixes that — the nightly rate, the cleaning cost or the stay length has to change.
Last updated 22 August 2026.