Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Required nightly rate
$178.85
Projected monthly revenue
$3,488
Booked nights at this occupancy
19.5
Resulting monthly profit
$1,200
Psst — share this and help Rex grow
One click, a permanent link with your numbers baked in.
How to use this
- 1Enter fixed monthly costs ($).
- 2Enter variable cost per booked night ($).
- 3Enter expected occupancy (%).
- 4Enter days in month.
- 5Enter target monthly profit ($).
- 6Read your required nightly rate on the right — it updates as you type.
- 7Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Many short-term rental owners set nightly rate by copying nearby listings rather than working backward from their own cost structure and profit goal. This calculator starts with your fixed monthly costs (mortgage or rent portion, insurance, utilities, software subscriptions), adds variable costs per booked night, factors in expected occupancy, and solves for the nightly rate needed to hit a target monthly profit. It's a bottom-up floor price check to run alongside whatever comp-based rate a pricing tool like PriceLabs or Wheelhouse suggests, so you know the minimum rate that keeps the unit profitable at your real occupancy level.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Fixed monthly costs: 1800 $
- Variable cost per booked night: 25 $
- Expected occupancy: 65 %
- Days in month: 30
- Target monthly profit: 1200 $
Results
- Required nightly rate: $178.85
- Projected monthly revenue: $3,488
- Booked nights at this occupancy: 19.5
- Resulting monthly profit: $1,200
What each field means
Inputs
- Fixed monthly costs ($)
- The fixed monthly costs used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 1800 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Variable cost per booked night ($)
- The variable cost per booked night used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 25 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Expected occupancy (%)
- The expected occupancy used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 65 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 1–100 %.
- Days in month
- The days in month used in the calculation. Starts at 30 so you have a working example on load.
- Target monthly profit ($)
- The target monthly profit used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 1200 $ so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Required nightly rate
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Projected monthly revenue
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Booked nights at this occupancy
- Returned as a decimal number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Resulting monthly profit
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
What should count as a fixed monthly cost here?
Mortgage or the rental-equivalent opportunity cost, property insurance, HOA fees, software subscriptions (channel manager, pricing tool), and a monthly-averaged reserve for maintenance and furniture replacement. Don't include cleaning fees you pass through to guests since those are typically a wash.
Why does occupancy assumption matter so much to the required rate?
At 40% occupancy you have far fewer booked nights to spread fixed costs across, so the required rate per night rises sharply. Dropping from 65% to 45% occupancy on a typical fixed-cost base raises the required rate by 30-45%, which is why owners with low occupancy often need higher, not lower, nightly rates to hit the same profit target.
Is this the rate I should actually list at?
Treat it as a floor. Your dynamic pricing tool should set nightly rates based on demand and comp set, but this number tells you the average rate across the month that keeps you profitable — if your average realized rate falls below this floor, you're losing money even with decent occupancy.
How often should I recompute this?
Recalculate whenever fixed costs change materially (insurance renewal, rate increase on a HELOC used for the property) or at least twice a year, since maintenance reserve needs and utility costs shift seasonally.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Related tools
Short-Term Rental Cleaning Fee Breakeven Calculator
Find the minimum cleaning fee that covers turnover cost without killing bookings.
Length-of-Stay Discount Impact Calculator
See whether a weekly or monthly stay discount actually nets more revenue per available night.
Hotel Breakeven Occupancy Calculator
The occupancy percentage where room revenue covers fixed and variable costs.
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Vacation Rental Nightly Rate Optimizer. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/vacation-rental-nightly-rate-optimizer
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/vacation-rental-nightly-rate-optimizer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vacation Rental Nightly Rate Optimizer — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Vacation Rental Nightly Rate Optimizer — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/vacation-rental-nightly-rate-optimizer) (2026).