Chicago Airbnb hosts make bank
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Chicago Airbnb hosts made 32% more than the typical host in the U.S last year, according to company figures shared with Axios.
Why it matters: Renting out your home is a growing way to bank extra income as the cost of living goes up.
What's happening: The national short-term rental supply reached record levels in 2022, swelling 20% year-over-year to 1.3 million listings, per new data from AirDNA, a short-term rental analysis firm.
- The firm found Chicago is an attractive spot for investing in those properties — available listings rose nearly 13% from May 2022 to May 2023, while occupancy ticked up to 66%, AirDNA tells Axios.
Zoom in: Host Marrianne McMullen, who rents out a historic 5-bedroom home on the Near South Side, says the funds will be "a very good source of income" during retirement.
- She estimates she'll pay off loans she used for a basement remodel in the next two to three years if she’s booked 10 weeks of the year.
Yes, but: Don't count on people reading your house rules, McMullen says. She scaled back the number of adults allowed to stay at a time after hosting a noisy group celebrating graduation.
Be smart: Get your legal ducks in a row before applying for a license to rent, McMullen advises. The city and other areas have added stricter rules for short-term rentals in recent years, such as Chicago's ban on single-night stays.
By the numbers: The typical host in Chicago earned approximately $18,500 in 2022, compared to the national median of $14,000, per Airbnb data.
- Jo Daviess, Livingston and Marion were the highest-earning Illinois counties for hosts last year.
- Kankakee and Effingham counties rounded out the top five.
- Pro tip: Vrbo hosts can use this resource to help calculate potential earnings when listing a home.
The big picture: Vacation rental hosts are expecting a surge in demand this summer. According to a recent survey from Vrbo, 69% of host respondents expect occupancy to be the same or higher than last summer.
- Also, nine out of 10 say their rates this summer will either be the same or higher.
- "Two-thirds of hosts tell us they're covering their entire mortgage payment with rental income through Vrbo," company spokesperson Melanie Fish says.
State of play: The 6,710 available local listings in May remain 18% below pre-pandemic levels, per AirDNA data. "Although we are seeing some recovery, supply is slower to catch up, and gateway cities like Chicago are still waiting for international travel to really pick up," a company spokesperson says.
What we're watching: Some apartment dwellers can also get in on hosting. Last year Airbnb announced a new listing service for rental units in partnership with big-name landlords, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Go deeper: Chicago's Airbnb fees are among the highest in the country, according to a recent Forbes analysis.