Is Nashville, TN a Good Airbnb Market in 2026? (Real Data)
The data says:MODERATE
Last updated: April 18, 2026
The short answer
6.7% of 4,077 scraped listings in Nashville pass both 75/55 thresholds. That's a Moderate market on our framework.
6.7% of Nashville listings pass 75/55. That's the headline number — and it puts this market in the Moderate column. Listing-level data from 4,077 scraped calendars.
What the calendars actually show
We scraped 4,077 active Airbnb calendars in Nashville. 9.3% passed the 75% threshold (22+ booked nights in the next 30 days). 15.5% passed the 55% threshold (16+ booked nights in the 30–60 day window). 6.7% cleared both bars. That is the 75/55 framework, applied. More on the 75/55 rule →
What kind of investor wins in Nashville
Full units beat private rooms on booked nights and on nightly rate; proximity to the city's top 1-2 nightlife or business corridors is the strongest explanatory variable. Parking is a revenue lever most hosts under-price.
Regulations to know
Metro Nashville (Davidson County) regulates short-term rentals through a permit system administered by Metro Codes. Two permit types exist: Type 1 (owner-occupied), broadly permitted, and Type 2 (non-owner-occupied), restricted to specific zoning districts — primarily commercial, mixed-use, and some multi-family residential. Pure single-family residential zones largely exclude Type 2 permits. Permit eligibility determines the viable property set before any revenue analysis; verify parcel zoning with Metro Codes before offer.
Last verified: April 22, 2026 · source →
Seasonality
Davidson County's short-term rental seasonality is bimodal and pronounced. Peaks hit twice — March (festival and event season) and October (fall tourism and convention traffic) — with a January trough and a softer June–July shoulder between them. The seasonal multiplier between January low and October peak runs roughly 2.64x. Our April 2026 scrape captures the descending edge of the March peak — a near-peak window where the 33% median occupancy we measured is more telling than a low-season snapshot would be. Seasonality data: Rabbu, Davidson County curve. For the full listing-level analysis — why 80% of Nashville Airbnbs are failing, and the three patterns that separate the top 1% — see our deep dive at /blog/nashville-airbnb-market-failing.
Should you invest in Nashville?
Moderate means the market has pockets that work and pockets that do not. Segment by property type and location before committing. Aggregate numbers are misleading here.
How we reach a verdict: our methodology →
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Start an analysis →FAQ
What's the average Airbnb occupancy in Nashville?
The median listing in our April 2026 scrape booked 10 of the next 30 nights — 33% occupancy. AirDNA's annualized estimate is 54%. The gap reflects the difference between a market-wide annual average and a listing-level point-in-time read.
Is Airbnb profitable in Nashville?
For the top 10% of operators, yes — the top decile runs 87% occupancy at premium ADRs. For the median listing, current performance (33% occupancy, 10 booked nights per 30-day forward window) makes profitability dependent on ADR, cost basis, and financing. Nashville is a winner-take-most market.
How many Airbnb listings are there in Nashville?
AirDNA tracks 13,544 properties across Airbnb and Vrbo in the broader Nashville metro. Our April 2026 scrape of a drawn market boundary returned 4,077 active Airbnb listings with booking data.
What are the best neighborhoods for Airbnb in Nashville?
Top-performing listings concentrate in walkable urban-core neighborhoods — Downtown, The Gulch, Germantown, East Nashville — where occupancy holds through the June–July shoulder. Outer-ring neighborhoods depend more heavily on drive-in tourism and show larger seasonal swings.
Are there STR regulations in Nashville?
Yes. Metro Nashville requires a permit, and non-owner-occupied (Type 2) permits are restricted to specific zoning districts — generally commercial, mixed-use, and some multi-family areas. Verify parcel-level zoning with Metro Codes before purchase.
How does Nashville compare to AirDNA's estimates?
AirDNA estimates Nashville runs at 54% occupancy annualized across 13,544 listings. Our scraped calendars show the median listing at 33% booked nights (next 30 days) as of April 18, 2026. Both numbers are useful — AirDNA for market-level scouting, STRecon for listing-level underwriting.