Sebring, Florida Short-Term Rental Market
Sebring STRs averaged $181/night at 46.5% occupancy in June 2026 across 1,558 active listings.
Quick Answer: Sebring, Florida is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy is 47%. average monthly revenue is $2,333. average daily rate is $181. the top operator is Evolve with 91 listings. market score is 56/100 (grade C).
Market data reflects the Florida South Central Area regional market, which includes Sebring. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Sebring.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions Apivex evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Sebring, Florida had 1,558 active short-term rental listings as of the latest snapshot, split between Airbnb (730), Vrbo (154), and 674 properties listed on both platforms. The market posted a $180.98 average daily rate (ADR) and 46.54% occupancy in June 2026, generating average monthly revenue of $2,333 per listing. Occupancy fell 2.65% year over year, ADR rose 1.80%, and average revenue declined 1.38% over the trailing year.
Entire-place listings account for 1,474 of the total (94.6%), with 84 private-room listings and no shared-room listings recorded. By bedroom count, 3-bedroom properties are the largest category at 492 listings, followed by 2-bedroom (474), 1-bedroom (387), 4-bedroom (146), and 5-bedroom (57).
Sebring sits in central Florida’s Highlands County and markets itself as ‘The City on the Circle,’ with a population of 11,379. Tourism is a significant economic driver: Highlands County visitor spending reached a record $349.4 million in 2024. The signature draw is Sebring International Raceway, the ‘Birthplace of Endurance Racing in America,’ which reportedly brings more than 300,000 people annually across 175-plus events, headlined by the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race each March. Beyond motorsport, visitors come for outdoor recreation on the region’s roughly 100 lakes, the 9,000-acre Highlands Hammock State Park, historic downtown, and golf. No published total headcount of annual visitors specific to Sebring was found; the cited figures are spending-based or single-attraction attendance.
Booking data shows a relatively short 35.62-day average lead time and a 5.38-night average length of stay. StaySTRA’s overall market score for Sebring is 56.29, with investability the strongest sub-component at 87.81 and revenue growth the weakest at 46.98.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 67% | $138 | $2,493 |
| Feb | 79% | $149 | $2,876 |
| Mar | 65% | $174 | $2,979 |
| Apr | 44% | $143 | $2,011 |
| May | 46% | $139 | $1,773 |
| Jun | 51% | $150 | $2,024 |
| Jul | 54% | $147 | $2,204 |
| Aug | 45% | $131 | $1,689 |
| Sep | 46% | $131 | $1,548 |
| Oct | 51% | $125 | $1,690 |
| Nov | 52% | $144 | $1,891 |
| Dec | 55% | $147 | $2,144 |
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Sebring
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evolve | 91 | 2,382 | ★ 4.72 |
| 2 | Vacasa | 20 | 497 | ★ 4.60 |
| 3 | Jeeves Florida Rentals | 15 | 43 | ★ 4.63 |
| 4 | RedAwning | 5 | 104 | ★ 4.86 |
| 5 | Midtown Stays | 3 | 21 | ★ 4.67 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Sebring?
Revenue and pricing by property type, tier, and bedroom count.
Revenue by Bedroom Count
| 1 bed | 387 |
| 2 bed | 474 |
| 3 bed | 492 |
| 4 bed | 146 |
| 5 bed | 57 |
ADR by Property Tier
| Entire Home | $185 |
| Luxury | $319 |
| Professionally Managed | $236 |
Revenue by Dwelling Type
| Apartment | $1,682 |
| Entire Place | $2,399 |
| House | $2,439 |
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 46.9% |
| vrbo | 9.9% |
| both | 43.3% |
Investment Analysis
Sebring’s ADR tiers show wide separation relative to a modest market-wide average: the $180.98 baseline sits below the entire-home tier at $185.18, professionally managed listings at $235.61, and the luxury tier at $319.47, a $138.49 gap and roughly 76.5% premium over the market average.
Revenue by property type is relatively tight: houses average $2,439 per month, just ahead of entire-place listings overall at $2,399 and apartments at $1,682, a 45.0% spread between apartment and house revenue.
The trailing-year trend shows a 2.65% occupancy decline only partly offset by a 1.80% ADR increase, netting a 1.38% revenue decline. StaySTRA’s revenue-growth score of 46.98 out of 100 is the lowest of the six tracked market-score components, consistent with that softness, even though the market’s investability score of 87.81 is among the strongest, suggesting the underlying opportunity may outweigh the recent-year softness.
Typical home value and median sale price data are not currently published for Sebring in this dataset, so a gross-yield calculation against acquisition cost cannot be produced here. Notably, the state DBPR vacation rental license itself costs about $170 per year to renew, a modest fixed cost relative to average monthly revenue of $2,333.
Revenue Trend (5 yr)
ADR & Occupancy Trends (5 yr)
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Booking Insights
Sebring guests book an average of 35.62 days in advance, a shorter window than many Florida leisure markets, which likely reflects both the area’s smaller scale and demand tied to specific events like the 12 Hours of Sebring rather than long-planned vacations. Operators have roughly five weeks of runway to adjust pricing ahead of arrival, arguing for pricing tools that react to booking pace rather than assuming a long planning horizon.
Average length of stay is 5.38 nights, a solidly multi-day stay length consistent with lake recreation, motorsports events, and outdoor tourism rather than single-night stopovers. This supports 4 to 5-night minimum-stay policies without meaningfully restricting bookable inventory.
Given the shorter lead time, operators should monitor near-term booking pace closely, especially heading into March race week, rather than relying on advance bookings alone to gauge demand for that period.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Short-term rentals are legal in Sebring, and a permit is required at the state level: operators need a Florida DBPR Vacation Rental License, which renews annually at about $170 per single dwelling (roughly $220-$230 the first year including a one-time application fee and hospitality-education requirement). No separate City of Sebring STR permit program was identified; compliance runs through Highlands County business and zoning rules instead.
No City of Sebring STR-specific ordinance exists. Rentals must comply with Highlands County Land Development Regulations and the underlying zoning district; residential zones may carry additional restrictions or require special-use approval, while commercial and mixed-use zones are generally more permissive. Florida’s statewide preemption (Chapter 509, 2011 law) prevents local governments from outright banning STRs or regulating rental duration and frequency, except for qualifying ordinances that predate June 2011.
Combined transient rental tax on Highlands County stays totals 12.5%: 6% Florida state sales tax, the 5% county Tourist Development Tax (raised from 4% effective August 1, 2023), a 1% infrastructure surtax, and a 0.5% school capital-outlay surtax. There is no owner-occupancy or primary-residence requirement and no annual night cap. Enforcement is described as minimal, handled mainly through state licensing, with fines of roughly $500 to $1,000-plus per day possible for unlicensed operation, rather than an active local STR-permit regime. Investors should confirm current zoning and business-tax-receipt requirements directly with Highlands County Development Services before purchasing.
Market Comparison
Sebring’s 46.54% occupancy runs below the roughly 55% national STR median, and its $180.98 ADR is about 18% lower than the national median of approximately $220. Both metrics below the national benchmark point to a smaller, value-oriented market rather than a high-demand tourist hub, consistent with Sebring’s role as a motorsports and lake-recreation destination rather than a major metro or beach market.
The market’s top property managers are modest in scale relative to bigger Florida metros. Evolve leads with 91 listings and 2,382 reviews (4.717 rating), followed by Vacasa (20 listings, 497 reviews, 4.604 rating), Jeeves Florida Rentals (15 listings, 43 reviews, 4.628 rating), RedAwning (5 listings, 104 reviews, 4.860 rating, the highest-rated of the top five), and Midtown Stays (3 listings, 21 reviews, 4.667 rating). Together these five operators manage 134 listings, about 8.6% of the market’s 1,558 total active listings, indicating supply here is overwhelmingly independent hosts.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sebring, Florida
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