Amherst, Massachusetts Short-Term Rental Market
The Pioneer Valley area STR market, including Amherst, averaged $205/night at 61.8% occupancy in June 2026.
Quick Answer: Amherst, Massachusetts is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Massachusetts Area market area is 62%. average monthly revenue in the Massachusetts Area market area is $3,419. average daily rate in the Massachusetts Area market area is $205.
Market data reflects the Massachusetts Area regional market, which includes Amherst. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Amherst.
Market Overview
Amherst is a quintessential Western Massachusetts college town in the Pioneer Valley (Hampshire County), anchored by UMass Amherst (roughly 30,000 students), Amherst College, and the Five College Consortium. StaySTRA’s short-term rental data for this market is tracked at a shared regional level with West Brookfield, a small rural town roughly 22 miles away in Worcester County, rather than uniquely for Amherst, so the figures below describe a shared area STR market rather than Amherst in isolation. That pairing blends two genuinely different demand types, Amherst’s academic-calendar-driven college-town tourism against West Brookfield’s more typical small-town New England character, so treat these figures as directional context for Amherst rather than a precise read on its own performance.
In June 2026, the most recent month with data, this shared market averaged 61.8% occupancy (up 4.3% year over year) and a $204.92 ADR (up 10.9% year over year). Average monthly revenue per listing was $3,419, up 12.8% year over year, meaning both occupancy and rate contributed to strong growth.
RevPAR (revenue per available listing-night) was $126.72 for the month.
Amherst’s own visitor flow is dominated by higher-education traffic: prospective students and their parents on campus tours, alumni, parents’ and graduation weekends, and academic-event attendees, plus cultural tourism to the Emily Dickinson Museum and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Demand is highly seasonal and academic-calendar-driven, tied to fall move-in, spring commencement, and homecoming. Amherst’s population is roughly 38,182.
Bedroom mix, channel split, listing-type counts, and property-manager data are not published for Amherst or the shared series, so this profile omits those breakdowns rather than guessing.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49% | $110 | $1,576 |
| Feb | 56% | $112 | $1,592 |
| Mar | 56% | $110 | $1,716 |
| Apr | 61% | $118 | $1,882 |
| May | 63% | $144 | $2,321 |
| Jun | 65% | $148 | $2,555 |
| Jul | 70% | $144 | $2,783 |
| Aug | 71% | $144 | $2,818 |
| Sep | 64% | $135 | $2,368 |
| Oct | 63% | $138 | $2,441 |
| Nov | 54% | $126 | $1,932 |
| Dec | 52% | $122 | $1,811 |
Investment Analysis
Investment signals for Amherst run through the shared regional STR market data described above, since StaySTRA tracks a series with West Brookfield rather than uniquely for Amherst. Revenue trends have been strongly positive: average revenue per listing rose 12.8% year over year to $3,419 in the latest month, with ADR up 10.9% and occupancy up 4.3% over the same period, both metrics moving in the same direction.
RevPAR of $126.72 for the month reflects solid mid-market performance for this shared series.
StaySTRA does not have Amherst-specific property-tier ADR data (entire-home, luxury, professionally managed) or housing-market data (typical home value, median sale price) for this area, so this profile cannot break down pricing by tier or calculate a gross rental yield here.
Amherst’s own regulatory picture is genuinely substantive and worth underwriting carefully: the town’s Residential Rental Property Bylaw (General Bylaw 3.5, adopted April 8, 2024) requires every rental unit, including short-term rentals, to register and hold a permit, renewed annually with a $150 inspection fee referenced, on top of Massachusetts’ state STR registration ($35 via MassTaxConnect) and a $1,000,000 minimum liability insurance requirement. Combined lodging taxes run roughly 14.7%: the 5.7% state room occupancy excise, Amherst’s 6.0% local option tax, and a 3.0% short-term rental community impact fee that applies to professionally managed units and owner-occupied 2-3 family properties rented short-term.
Revenue Trend (5 yr)
ADR & Occupancy Trends (5 yr)
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StaySTRA does not have published booking-lead-time or average-length-of-stay data for the shared series that includes Amherst, so this profile cannot state precise figures for how far in advance guests book or how many nights they typically stay.
Based on the seasonal pattern above, with clear spikes around August (fall move-in) and May (commencement), demand at Amherst’s end of this series is likely booked well in advance around known academic-calendar dates; parents’ weekends, graduation, and homecoming are fixed university events that parents and alumni typically plan around months ahead. West Brookfield’s contribution to this shared series may follow a different, more typical New England small-town booking pattern that this data cannot isolate.
Operators near Amherst specifically should prioritize locking in rates around the university’s published academic calendar rather than relying on a generic summer-season assumption.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Short-term rentals in Amherst are legal but regulated at both the town and state level. The Town of Amherst treats STRs, defined as 31 or fewer consecutive days, under its Residential Rental Property Bylaw (General Bylaw 3.5, adopted April 8, 2024), which requires every residential rental unit to be registered and permitted. Rental permits run on a July 1 to June 30 cycle and must be renewed annually by June 15; missing the deadline triggers a late fee equal to the permit fee, recurring every 30 days.
The bylaw carries inspection requirements, with a $150 inspection fee referenced, and ties permits to compliance with the town’s Zoning Bylaw. Applications are filed through the town’s OpenGov online permitting portal.
Separately, Massachusetts law requires STR operators to register with the Department of Revenue via MassTaxConnect ($35) and carry at least $1,000,000 in liability insurance.
Lodging taxes on STRs in Amherst total roughly 14.7%: the 5.7% state room occupancy excise, Amherst’s 6.0% local option tax (effective since 2009), plus a 3.0% short-term rental community impact fee (effective July 1, 2019) that applies to professionally managed units and owner-occupied 2-3 family properties rented short-term.
No town-wide cap on nights per year and no explicit STR-specific owner-occupancy or primary-residence mandate were found in available sources.
Market Comparison
This shared regional STR market’s 61.8% occupancy in the latest month runs above the roughly 55% occupancy typically cited as a national STR median, and its $204.92 ADR is close to, but slightly below, the roughly $220 national median ADR figure often cited for the US market. That combination is a solid overall signal, though it blends Amherst’s academic-calendar-driven demand with West Brookfield’s different, more typical small-town character, so it should not be read as a precise Amherst-only figure.
Property manager and top-operator data for this market is tracked at a shared regional level rather than uniquely for Amherst, so this profile omits specific operator names and listing counts rather than presenting cluster totals as Amherst’s own.
Amherst’s own draw, the Five College Consortium (UMass Amherst, Amherst College, and three others), the Emily Dickinson Museum, and the Eric Carle Museum, gives it an independent, education-and-culture-driven visitor base distinct from a typical vacation-tourism market.
Frequently Asked Questions About Amherst, Massachusetts
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