56 hosts earn 24% of Austin's $145 million Airbnb market
January 21, 2026
- What: What: Original research analyzing Austin's $145 million Airbnb market, finding that 56 hosts (the top 1%) earn 24% of all platform revenue while the bottom 50% of hosts split less than 5%.
- Who: AustinNews.org Research, using publicly available data from Inside Airbnb; the analysis covers 5,523 unique hosts operating 10,533 active listings in Austin.
- Why it matters: The heavy revenue concentration challenges the "home sharing" narrative and reveals that professional operators, not individual homeowners, capture most of the economic benefit from short-term rentals in Austin.
Our analysis of publicly available listing data found that the top 1% of hosts on the platform earned an estimated $34.5 million in the past year, while the bottom half of all hosts combined earned just $6.7 million. The findings reveal a short-term rental market dominated by a small number of high-volume commercial operators, even as the platform markets itself around individual "hosts" sharing their homes.
The Numbers
AustinNews.org analyzed revenue estimates for 5,523 unique hosts operating 10,533 active Airbnb listings. The total estimated annual revenue for Austin's Airbnb market is $144.9 million.
The top 10% of hosts earn 60% of all revenue. The bottom 50% split less than 5%.
| Host Group | Hosts | Est. Revenue | Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 1% | 56 | $34.5M | 23.8% |
| Top 5% | 277 | $67.7M | 46.7% |
| Top 10% | 553 | $86.7M | 59.8% |
| Bottom 50% | 2,761 | $6.7M | 4.6% |
Who Are the Top Earners?
The ten highest-earning hosts on Austin's Airbnb market:
| Rank | Host | Est. Revenue | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RoomPicks | $2.76M | 20 |
| 2 | Lynn | $2.47M | 23 |
| 3 | Vacasa Texas | $1.57M | 77 |
| 4 | Ames - Austin Vacay | $1.18M | 25 |
| 5 | Portoro | $1.15M | 77 |
| 6 | Kasa | $1.04M | 14 |
| 7 | Dakota | $1.01M | 24 |
| 8 | Kelson | $829K | 4 |
| 9 | Laurent | $793K | 40 |
| 10 | Renters Club | $791K | 51 |
Several of these names represent professional property management companies. Vacasa is a publicly traded vacation rental company. Kasa operates corporate housing nationally. Portoro and Renters Club are regional property managers.
The top 56 hosts (the 1%) collectively control 1,264 listings and have a median of 19 properties each. The minimum revenue to qualify for the top 1% is approximately $294,000 annually.
The Typical Host
The median Austin Airbnb host earns an estimated $9,240 per year from a single listing.
Three-quarters of all hosts (4,136 people) operate just one property. These single-listing hosts account for 75% of all hosts but capture only 36% of total platform revenue.
| Host Type | Hosts | % of Hosts | Revenue | % of Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single listing | 4,136 | 74.9% | $52.6M | 36.3% |
| Small (2-4) | 1,095 | 19.8% | $38.7M | 26.7% |
| Commercial (5+) | 292 | 5.3% | $53.6M | 37.0% |
Commercial operators (those with five or more listings) represent just 5% of hosts but earn 37% of all revenue.
Revenue Tiers
The distribution of annual earnings across all 5,523 hosts:
| Annual Revenue | Number of Hosts |
|---|---|
| $100,000+ | 242 |
| $50,000 - $99,999 | 345 |
| $10,000 - $49,999 | 2,083 |
| Under $10,000 | 2,853 |
More than half of all hosts (2,853) earn less than $10,000 per year from their listings. Meanwhile, 242 hosts each earn over $100,000 annually.
What This Means
The concentration of revenue among a small number of operators challenges the narrative of Airbnb as a platform primarily serving individual homeowners earning extra income. While thousands of Austinites do participate in the market at small scale, the economic gains flow disproportionately to professional operators running dozens of properties.
For the median single-listing host earning $9,240 per year, the calculus of short-term versus long-term rental remains close. For commercial operators earning millions, the incentive to convert housing stock to vacation rentals is substantial.
Methodology
Data Source
This research uses data from Inside Airbnb, an independent project that compiles publicly available information from the Airbnb website. The dataset was scraped on September 16-17, 2025.
Direct data download: https://insideairbnb.com/get-the-data/
Definitions
- Host: A unique Airbnb account operating one or more listings, based on Airbnb's host_id field
- Commercial operator: A host with five or more active listings
- Estimated revenue: Calculated by Inside Airbnb using listing price, availability calendar, and review frequency as proxies for booking activity
- Top 1%/5%/10%: Hosts ranked by total estimated revenue across all their listings
What This Data Includes
- 10,533 active Airbnb listings in Austin as of September 2025
- 5,523 unique hosts
- Listing details including price, availability, host information, and review history
- Revenue estimates based on Inside Airbnb's methodology
What This Data Does Not Include
- Listings on other platforms (VRBO, Booking.com, Furnished Finder)
- Actual booking records or verified revenue
- Host income from properties outside Austin
- Operating costs, taxes, or net profit margins
Important Caveats
Revenue figures are estimates based on publicly visible data. Actual host earnings may differ. Some hosts may operate under multiple accounts, which would undercount their true market share. Conversely, some "hosts" may be property managers listing on behalf of multiple owners.
Data Dictionary
Inside Airbnb provides detailed documentation of all data fields
AustinNews.org conducts original research and data journalism on issues affecting the Austin community. For questions about this analysis, contact research@austinnews.org