How should I compare the profitability of two rentals?
Compare operating profit and margin for the same period, currency and cost coverage, then use occupancy, ADR and profit per occupied night to explain differences. A revenue ranking alone does not show which property retains more after recorded costs. Confirm that both properties and their transactions are included before interpreting the comparison.
Workbook July example: MARINA LOFT earns €5,250 revenue and €2,541.25 operating profit; OLD TOWN HOUSE earns €3,900 revenue and €2,605.50 operating profit.
The Active/Inactive property setting affects the entire selected year, not just the month being viewed.
Follow the workbook method and instructions →To compare vacation rental profitability, calculate recorded revenue minus operating costs for each property over the same period. Rank by operating profit, then examine margin, occupancy and revenue per night to understand the differences.
A larger home may produce more revenue while requiring more cleaning and maintenance. A smaller unit may retain a higher percentage of its income. Both observations matter: total profit shows scale, while relative metrics explain efficiency.
Fee control: under Airbnb's common 15.5% single host fee, a €1,000 fee-bearing subtotal produces a €155 platform cost; the 16% Brazil/Mexico scenario produces €160. The base includes the nightly price plus cleaning, pet and other applicable host-set charges, while taxes and a routine security deposit are excluded. Verify the reservation breakdown and read how Airbnb's fee applies to cleaning and other host charges.
A clear definition of the metric or operating question.
A calculation you can reproduce with your own data.
The limits that prevent the number being misread.
Include the 15.5% host fee before interpreting profit
Platform cost belongs in the operating calculation even when the booking platform deducts it before the bank transfer. Record gross fee-bearing revenue and deduct the fee once. If you start from a net payout and subtract the fee again, profit is understated.
Use 15.5% only when it matches the account. Airbnb describes it as the most common single-fee rate, while other hosts can normally see 14% to 16% and listings in Brazil and Mexico use 16%. A reservation-level amount overrides a portfolio assumption.
At 15.5%, €1,000 × 0.155 = €155. At 16%, the same subtotal produces €160.
| Scenario | Fee-bearing subtotal | Host fee | Before other costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common single fee | €1,000 | €155.00 | €845.00 |
| Brazil / Mexico | €1,000 | €160.00 | €840.00 |
Define what a better-performing property means
Choose the question before choosing the ranking. Operating profit answers how much a property retained from recorded operations. Margin answers what share of revenue it retained. Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR explain demand and pricing rather than costs.
Start with how to calculate short-term rental operating profitability. This comparison does not measure the return on buying a property: purchase price, financing and investment capital are outside its scope.
Compare revenue, operating profit and margin
Property A earns €800 more revenue, but Property B retains €500 more operating profit. B also retains a greater proportion of its revenue. Both conclusions follow from the recorded costs, rather than from an assumption about the quality of either home.
Property B: €3,400 ÷ €4,700 × 100 ≈ 72.3%.
| Metric | Property A | Property B |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | €5,500 | €4,700 |
| Operating costs | €2,600 | €1,300 |
| Operating profit | €2,900 | €3,400 |
| Operating margin | 52.7% | 72.3% |
Use the same period, currency and cost rules
Compare the same month and year, record costs against the correct property and use a consistent rule for stays that cross month-end. Avoid comparing gross revenue for one home with platform payouts for another.
Keep cleaning charges and cleaning expenses separate. Allocate shared monetary costs with a documented rule when a direct assignment is unavailable. Unassigned expenses can make one home look more efficient than it is.
Host Profit Dashboard uses one main currency per file. Convert any source amounts consistently before combining them, retaining the exchange-rate basis in your records.
Compare different property sizes with relative metrics
Margin helps compare the proportion of revenue retained. Profit per occupied night compares the operating result against sold nights. ADR and RevPAR describe commercial performance, but property type, location and season still matter.
Read how RevPAR measures revenue per available night alongside Airbnb occupancy rate and blocked-night rules. A home with fewer sellable nights needs that context before its percentage is compared with a fully available property.
Use the ranking to decide where to investigate
One emergency repair may lower a property's profit for a single month. Compare several months and equivalent seasonal periods before treating that result as a recurring weakness. Keep the expense visible and explain it rather than removing it from the result.
For each change, identify whether the cause is price, sold nights, booking mix or cost. A ranking becomes useful when it leads to a specific check and a follow-up in the next review.
- Review the highest and lowest operating profit.
- Check margin changes against the cost categories.
- Look for unusual repairs or turnover costs.
- Compare equivalent seasonal periods.
- Record one action and the metric you will check next month.
Keep the portfolio comparison in one dashboard
A shared view should show revenue, costs, profit, margin, occupancy, ADR and RevPAR for the same selected period. Aggregate amounts by summing them; calculate portfolio ratios from the underlying totals instead of averaging property percentages.
Use these ten monthly Airbnb dashboard metrics as the review structure. Hostpartner's short-term rental profit dashboard for up to seven properties is designed around this operating comparison.
Explore related questions
Clear answers, without the jargon
Which metric is best for comparing two Airbnb properties?
For operating profitability, start with operating profit and margin, then use occupancy, ADR and RevPAR to explain the result.
Can I compare properties of different sizes?
Yes, but combine absolute profit with margin and per-night measures, and account for differences in location, availability and property type.
Is one month enough to rank properties?
It is useful for identifying questions. Several months and equivalent seasonal comparisons help distinguish one-off expenses from recurring patterns.
Should I average the margins of my properties?
For portfolio margin, divide total operating profit by total revenue. A simple average of individual margins ignores differences in revenue.
How this guide was prepared
Each example starts with recorded accommodation revenue, completed stays and operating costs. Calculations state their inputs, cleaning income is kept separate where comparability requires it, and no external income benchmark is presented as an expected result.
Hostpartner is an operational analysis tool. It does not calculate VAT, taxes, depreciation, financing or mortgage principal and does not connect to booking platforms, banks or PMS systems.
Compare what each property actually retains.
Hostpartner groups entered operating figures for one to seven properties into a monthly Excel view.
- Built for 1–7 properties
- Excel (.xlsx)
- No platform connection required
What the Hostpartner calculator measures and which inputs you need
Monthly reporting