The 10 Best (and Worst) Cities to Invest in Short-Term Rentals

About 17 years ago, two friends started Airbnb to give travelers more options for safe and affordable accommodations—and to give property owners a way to make some extra cash with available space in their homes. 

Turns out, the market was more than ready for it, and the enterprise grew from a humble air mattress on the floor of a San Francisco apartment to a network of over 8 million properties across the globe. 

More than 5 million Airbnb hosts have since made over $250 billion from 1.5 billion stays.

Truth be told, that growth hasn’t been without some backlash, thanks to some unsociable or downright shady behavior on both sides: 

• Unreasonable demands and/or exorbitant fees from property owners
• Renters trashing the property and/or traumatizing the neighborhood

That second issue has led to a flurry of new city laws that impose restrictions on short-term rentals. 

That said, short-term rentals are still a great way for property owners across the country to make their monthly mortgage payments more affordable. The trick is identifying the best markets for it. 

Clever Real Estate teamed up with Rabbu.com (a Charlotte-based short-term rental investment platform) to rank the 50 largest U.S. metros on how friendly they are to short-term rentals. 

Read on to learn the 10 best—and worst—short-term rental markets of 2024.