Short-term rental income calculator: formulas, examples and mathematical principles

Purpose and steps

Booked nights = 365 × occupancy. Estimated stays = booked nights / average stay. Revenue adds nightly and cleaning-fee income; NOI subtracts platform, management, supplies, utilities, insurance, HOA, and property tax before mortgage. The calculation runs locally and keeps cash-flow timing consistent with the stated assumptions.

Confirm currency and monthly versus annual amounts. U.S. tax and loan models should be used within their stated scope.
Prepare Average nightly rate, Expected occupancy, Average stay length, Cleaning fee charged per stay, Platform fee / revenue, Management fee / revenue, Monthly utilities, Supplies per stay, Monthly insurance, Monthly HOA dues, Monthly mortgage payment, Monthly property tax, Cash invested. Defaults demonstrate the model rather than your personal circumstances.
Check the headline result and its components. A key interpretation for this tool is: RevPAR reflects nightly room revenue per available night and excludes cleaning-fee revenue.
Compare the baseline with a changed scenario: Occupancy and average stay jointly drive turnover-related supplies and cleaning-fee income.

Input reference and units

These values reproduce the model’s demonstration. Replace them with your own records or measurements; they are not recommended targets.

On a small screen, swipe the table horizontally to see all columns.

Parameters used by this calculator
Parameter	Demonstration value	How to enter it
Average nightly rate	185 USD	Use dollars and the monthly or annual period stated in the field label; do not enter thousands of dollars.
Expected occupancy	62 %	Enter a percentage such as 6.5, not 0.065. The equation converts it to a decimal.
Average stay length	3.2 nights	Use the definition shown in the field label; keep this assumption consistent when comparing scenarios.
Cleaning fee charged per stay	85 USD	Use dollars and the monthly or annual period stated in the field label; do not enter thousands of dollars.
Platform fee / revenue	3 %	Enter a percentage such as 6.5, not 0.065. The equation converts it to a decimal.
Management fee / revenue	18 %	Enter a percentage such as 6.5, not 0.065. The equation converts it to a decimal.
Monthly utilities	220 USD	Use dollars and the monthly or annual period stated in the field label; do not enter thousands of dollars.
Supplies per stay	35 USD	Use dollars and the monthly or annual period stated in the field label; do not enter thousands of dollars.
Monthly insurance	120 USD	Use dollars and the monthly or annual period stated in the field label; do not enter thousands of dollars.
Monthly HOA dues	0 USD	Use dollars and the monthly or annual period stated in the field label; do not enter thousands of dollars.
Monthly mortgage payment	1850 USD	Use dollars and the monthly or annual period stated in the field label; do not enter thousands of dollars.
Monthly property tax	250 USD	Use dollars and the monthly or annual period stated in the field label; do not enter thousands of dollars.
Cash invested	80000 USD	Use dollars and the monthly or annual period stated in the field label; do not enter thousands of dollars.

Model-specific method

How this calculator produces its result

A cash-flow waterfall and scenario sensitivity

Income and costs form successive layers. Subtracting financing before computing NOI changes the definition and distorts cap-rate comparisons. Principal repayment uses cash but can also build equity, so a tax profit, operating profit and cash-flow result may legitimately differ.

Sensitivity analysis changes one assumption while keeping the others fixed. If yearly potential rent is G, a one-percentage-point vacancy increase directly reduces collected rent by G×0.01, before variable expense offsets. Combined stress scenarios are also important: vacancy, maintenance and borrowing costs can worsen together.

Effective income = potential income × (1 − vacancy)
NOI = effective income − operating expenses
Cash flow = NOI − debt service
DSCR = NOI / debt service

Potential income: before vacancy or collection loss
NOI: net operating income before financing
Debt service: contractual principal and interest payments
Cash flow: money remaining after the modeled payments

Worked example

At 62% occupancy, about 226 nights are booked each year. With a 3.2-night average stay, that is roughly 71 turnovers before cancellations and blocked dates.

Reproduce the default scenario

This is a separate example, calculated using the exact engine on the tool page and the defaults in the input reference above. Health examples use metric units. Displayed rounding may differ from intermediate precision.

Estimated annual short-term rental cash flow: 6,067.35 USD
Booked nights per year: 226.3
Estimated stays / turnovers: 70.72
Gross booking revenue: 47,876.59 USD
Operating expenses before mortgage: 19,609.24 USD
Net operating income (NOI): 28,267.35 USD
Monthly cash flow: 505.61 USD
Debt-service coverage ratio: 1.27
Cash-on-cash return: 7.58%
Revenue per available night (RevPAR): 114.7 USD

Reading results without overstating them

RevPAR reflects nightly room revenue per available night and excludes cleaning-fee revenue.
Occupancy and average stay jointly drive turnover-related supplies and cleaning-fee income.

Assumptions and exclusions

This scenario excludes lodging and income taxes, cleaning labor paid by the host, furnishing replacement, permits, seasonality, cancellation, platform-specific pricing, major repairs, and local short-term-rental restrictions.

Test a changed assumption in the calculator

Sources and content notes

Toolify describes the implemented algorithm and its assumptions. Sources below support the topic or applicable rules; they do not endorse this calculator. Examples are illustrative, and published rules take precedence over simplified estimates.

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