The US cities with the strongest short-term rental returns aren't where you'd expect. What to know before you invest

2 hours ago 1

Emma Caplan-Fisher

Wed, March 4, 2026 astatine 6:15 AM CST 6 min read

A short-term rental concern is erstwhile you bargain oregon person a spot to rent it retired for little stays, typically nether 30 days, connected platforms similar Airbnb oregon Vrbo, with the extremity of earning income from nightly bookings.

And successful 2026, the smartest STR investments aren’t wherever you’d expect.

Forget Destin beaches and Vail skis slopes. AirDNA's latest investigation reveals tiny and mid-sized cities crossed America connection investors the strongest returns, CNBC reports (1). Port Arthur, Texas, claims the apical spot, portion cities similar Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Springfield, Illinois predominate a database of unexpected winners.

"When we look astatine the types of markets that continually travel up apical of the list, it's not your accepted formation oregon upland markets," Jamie Lane, main economist astatine AirDNA, told CNBC. "It's a inclination that shows radical privation to question and spot agrarian areas astir the country, which started during the pandemic and has inactive continued” (1).

Here’s a person look astatine which markets made the list, and what makes them basal retired for investors close now.

AirDNA's methodology looked beyond elemental gross projections to measure what really makes a marketplace profitable. The institution analyzed thousands of homes presently for sale, calculating imaginable yearly rental income comparative to listing terms (1), fundamentally measuring instrumentality connected concern alternatively than gross gross alone.

The investigation besides factored successful occupancy rates, booking frequency, gross maturation trends and the spot of existing rental properties based connected show information from Airbnb, VRBO and Booking.com (1).

Based connected these metrics, AirDNA identified these markets with their estimated mean yearly gross earlier expenses, similar mortgage, taxes, security and attraction (1):

  • Port Arthur, Texas: $35,000

  • Abilene, Texas: $55,000

  • Downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota: $45,000

  • Charleston, West Virginia: $32,000

  • Springfield, Illinois: $35,000

  • Lake Charles, Louisiana: $37,000

  • Montgomery, Alabama: $42,000

  • Akron, Ohio: $39,000

  • Lebanon, Pennsylvania: $42,000

  • Jackson, Mississippi: $44,000

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