West Haven, Connecticut Short-Term Rental Market
West Haven, CT allows STRs only via discretionary zoning approval, with a 7-day minimum stay. June 2026 area ADR was $234.
Quick Answer: West Haven, Connecticut is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Stamford/New Haven market area is 66%. average monthly revenue in the Stamford/New Haven market area is $4,361. average daily rate in the Stamford/New Haven market area is $238. the top operator in the Stamford/New Haven market area is Compass Furnished Apartments with 54 listings. market score is 49/100 (grade D).
Market data reflects the Stamford/New Haven regional market, which includes West Haven. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to West Haven.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
West Haven treats short-term rentals as a Special Exception Use rather than an as-of-right use, adopted by the Planning & Zoning Commission in August 2019. To operate legally, an owner must apply to the Zoning Board of Appeals for case-by-case approval, and that approval is only available in two residential districts and two commercial districts, meaning STRs are prohibited outright in most of the city’s zones. The board weighs neighborhood character, property-value impact, health and safety, and traffic, and requires the applicant to show adequate off-street parking. The ordinance also sets a 7-day minimum stay, effectively banning nightly or weekend rentals shorter than a week, and caps occupancy at no more than 4 unrelated adult renters.
West Haven is a New Haven-area shoreline city, population 55,351, with the longest publicly accessible shoreline in Connecticut, nearly 4 miles of beach making up roughly 25% of the state’s public beaches, drawing mostly regional day-trippers and beachgoers rather than an overnight-lodging-focused visitor base.
StaySTRA tracks West Haven’s ADR, occupancy, and revenue at a shared regional level with Stamford, Milford, and New Haven, but it’s worth being direct about the mismatch: West Haven, Milford, and New Haven form the New Haven-Milford metro area while Stamford sits in the separate Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro area, two officially distinct federal metro definitions, so these performance figures describe a broader Connecticut coastal area STR market rather than West Haven’s own market specifically, and in any case reflect a mix of listings across all four cities’ very different zoning regimes. In June 2026, that coastal area STR market posted a blended ADR of $233.80 and 65.4% occupancy, with average monthly revenue of $4,094/listing.
Bedroom mix, listing-type breakdown, and the top-property-manager list are tracked at the same shared regional level rather than uniquely for West Haven, so this profile omits those breakdowns.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| Jan | 48% |
| Feb | 58% |
| Mar | 60% |
| Apr | 63% |
| May | 64% |
| Jun | 67% |
| Jul | 71% |
| Aug | 70% |
| Sep | 62% |
| Oct | 61% |
| Nov | 57% |
| Dec | 53% |
Month-by-month nightly rates and revenue figures for West Haven are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Stamford/New Haven market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the Stamford/New Haven market as a whole, which includes West Haven, so these counts are not West Haven-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Compass Furnished Apartments | 54 | 51 | ★ 4.45 |
| 2 | Housing solutions | 50 | 2,034 | ★ 4.71 |
| 3 | Evolve | 29 | 774 | ★ 4.26 |
| 4 | ITrip Vacations | 17 | 302 | ★ 4.90 |
| 5 | Premium Trips | 14 | 233 | ★ 4.52 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in West Haven?
Revenue and nightly-rate breakdowns by bedroom count, property tier, and dwelling type for West Haven are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 63.1% |
| vrbo | 5.1% |
| both | 31.8% |
Home Value Trends (West Haven)
Typical home values, median sale prices, and the 10-year price trend for West Haven 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 West Haven — 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
West Haven adopted a short-term rental zoning regulation in August 2019 that treats STRs as a Special Exception Use rather than an as-of-right use. The regulation was adopted by the Planning & Zoning Commission, but individual applications are approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals, so to operate legally an owner must apply to the ZBA for a special use exception, available only in two residential districts and two commercial districts, meaning STRs are prohibited outright in most of the city’s zones. Approval is discretionary: the board evaluates neighborhood character, property-value impact, health and safety, and traffic, and the owner must show adequate off-street parking.
The regulation defines a short-term rental as a rental of 7 or more days, effectively banning nightly or weekend stays shorter than a week, and caps occupancy at no more than 4 unrelated adult renters. There is no separately published annual night cap or explicit owner-occupancy requirement in the ordinance itself.
On taxes, Connecticut levies a statewide 15% Room Occupancy Tax on short-term lodging of 30 days or less (no additional West Haven local lodging tax); platforms may collect and remit this. Enforcement is rated moderate; non-conforming rentals can be reported to the zoning office. For investors, the practical takeaway is that West Haven is a restrictive-entry market: the 7-day minimum, 4-adult cap, and discretionary special-exception approval limited to a handful of districts make traditional nightly STRs difficult.
Market Comparison
This Connecticut coastal area STR market’s June 2026 occupancy of 65.4% runs above the commonly cited US STR median of roughly 55%, while its $233.80 blended ADR sits above the roughly $220 US median as well.
Top-property-manager data is not currently published uniquely for West Haven in this snapshot (tracked at a shared regional level with Stamford, Milford, and New Haven instead), so this profile omits a named-operator comparison. West Haven’s own regulatory structure, a 7-day minimum and discretionary district-limited approval, is the standout comparison point against most other markets StaySTRA tracks, which allow nightly rentals as of right in at least some residential zones.
Frequently Asked Questions About West Haven, Connecticut
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Can I rent my West Haven property for a weekend on Airbnb?
What is the average daily rate for short-term rentals near West Haven, CT?
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When was West Haven's short-term rental ordinance adopted?
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