Bismarck, Arkansas Short-Term Rental Market
Bismarck, AR area STR listings averaged $298/night at 59.2% occupancy in June 2026.
Quick Answer: Bismarck, Arkansas is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Hot Springs market area is 59%. average monthly revenue in the Hot Springs market area is $4,841. average daily rate in the Hot Springs market area is $298.
Market data reflects the Hot Springs regional market, which includes Bismarck. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Bismarck.
Market Overview
Bismarck is a small unincorporated community of about 229 people on the north shore of DeGray Lake in the Ouachita Mountain foothills of Hot Spring County, Arkansas, roughly 25 miles from Hot Springs. Tourism here is driven almost entirely by DeGray Lake Resort State Park, Arkansas’s only resort state park, which drew more than 558,000 visitors in 2022, a roughly 38% jump from 2020 and among the top five most-visited of the state’s 52 parks. In the Bismarck area STR market, the most recent tracked month (June 2026) shows an average daily rate of $298 and occupancy of 59.2%, producing RevPAR of $176 and average revenue of $4,841 per listing for the month. Year over year, the market is running hot: occupancy is up 2.6 percentage points, ADR is up 3.5%, and revenue is up 6.0%, a broad-based improvement rather than a rate-only gain. Listing-type, bedroom-count, property-manager, and housing-value data are not published for Bismarck at a city-specific level in the current dataset, so this profile omits those figures rather than estimate them from county or state totals. Demand is largely seasonal and tied to the lake: spring through fall draws anglers (striped and hybrid bass, crappie, walleye, catfish), boaters, golfers at the resort’s championship course, campers, and lodge and conference guests using the park’s 94-room lodge and 300-seat conference center. Visitors are described as largely regional drive-market travelers from Arkansas and neighboring states rather than long-haul tourists, with additional demand from corporate and wedding groups booking the lodge’s conference space. Investors evaluating this market should weight the state park’s steady, multi-year visitation growth alongside the property-level data gaps noted above.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| Jan | 26% |
| Feb | 38% |
| Mar | 57% |
| Apr | 42% |
| May | 47% |
| Jun | 61% |
| Jul | 66% |
| Aug | 44% |
| Sep | 40% |
| Oct | 48% |
| Nov | 43% |
| Dec | 34% |
Month-by-month nightly rates and revenue figures for Bismarck are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Booking Insights
Booking-window and length-of-stay analysis for Bismarck — how far ahead guests book and how to price around it — is available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Short-term rentals are permitted in Bismarck. Because it is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hot Spring County with no municipal government, there is no city-level STR permit, license, occupancy cap, night limit, or owner-occupancy requirement, and no county-specific STR zoning restriction was found. Under Arkansas Act 1072 of 2019, cities and counties are barred from enacting outright STR bans or jurisdiction-wide numeric caps, though they may adopt health-and-safety rules. The main compliance burden is tax registration: operators must register with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration and collect the state’s 6.5% sales tax, a 1% short-term rental tax, and a 2% state tourism tax. Because Bismarck has no incorporated city government, it has no local Advertising and Promotion lodging-tax commission, so there is no separate city hotel/occupancy tax beyond the 2% state tourism tax. Enforcement is rated minimal, with no aggressive local STR-specific activity reported. Note that the nearby city of Hot Springs, in a different county, has its own stricter STR permit and zoning rules that do not apply in Bismarck. Investors should confirm current requirements directly with Hot Spring County and Arkansas DFA before operating, since county-level practice is not well documented.
Market Comparison
At 59.2% occupancy, the Bismarck area STR market is running above the commonly cited U.S. STR median occupancy of roughly 55%. Its $298 ADR is well above the national median of roughly $220 too, a gap of about 35%, reflecting strong recent pricing power tied to the resort-lake setting and a summer season that draws regional drive-market travelers to DeGray Lake Resort State Park. That combination, above-average occupancy and well-above-average ADR, is a stronger overall profile than many small markets in this dataset show, though it should be read against the market’s extreme seasonality: winter months fall far below both national benchmarks, with January occupancy at just 26.3%. Top property manager rosters are not published for Bismarck at a city-specific level in the current dataset, so this profile omits operator rankings rather than estimate them from broader regional totals.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bismarck, Arkansas
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