Nantucket, Massachusetts Short-Term Rental Market
Nantucket short-term rentals averaged $571 per night at 66.5% occupancy in June 2026 across 13,361 listings.
Quick Answer: Nantucket, Massachusetts is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Cape Cod market area is 67%. average monthly revenue in the Cape Cod market area is $7,792. average daily rate in the Cape Cod market area is $571. the top operator in the Cape Cod market area is Vacasa with 569 listings. market score is 46/100 (grade D).
Market data reflects the Cape Cod regional market, which includes Nantucket. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Nantucket.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Nantucket’s short-term rental market includes 13,361 active listings tracked across Airbnb and Vrbo, and the market carries the highest ADR in this batch. In June 2026, the average daily rate was $571.41 with occupancy at 66.5%, producing average monthly revenue of $7,792.28 per listing, the highest revenue figure in this data set. Occupancy is down 1.89 percentage points year over year and ADR is down 1.88%, but average revenue per listing is still up 7.45% year over year.
The market is dominated by entire-place rentals: 12,737 of the 13,361 total listings (95.3%) are entire-place, private rooms make up 623 (4.7%), and shared rooms are essentially nonexistent at 1 listing. Bedroom count skews toward larger properties, with 3-bedroom the largest bucket at 3,931 listings, followed by 2-bedroom at 2,764, 4-bedroom at 2,632, 1-bedroom at 2,491, and 5-bedroom-plus at 1,533. By booking channel, 6,622 listings appear on both Airbnb and Vrbo, 3,916 are Airbnb-only, and 2,823 are Vrbo-only.
Nantucket is a premier seasonal resort island about 30 miles south of Cape Cod, with a year-round population of roughly 14,445 that swells dramatically each summer; on the busiest days the island can host over 80,000 people. The visitor base skews affluent, drawn by historic whaling-era architecture, beaches, and signature events like the Daffodil Festival and Nantucket Wine & Food Festival. No reliable annual visitor count was published for this profile. StaySTRA’s market scoring gives this area a very strong revenue growth score of 89.75, against a much lower total score of 45.83, reflecting the sharp seasonality and low seasonality score of 45.58 detailed below.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30% | $323 | $2,767 |
| Feb | 42% | $314 | $2,924 |
| Mar | 42% | $301 | $2,851 |
| Apr | 48% | $306 | $2,855 |
| May | 51% | $358 | $3,258 |
| Jun | 67% | $452 | $5,970 |
| Jul | 77% | $479 | $8,404 |
| Aug | 79% | $510 | $9,283 |
| Sep | 45% | $401 | $4,875 |
| Oct | 34% | $323 | $3,242 |
| Nov | 31% | $316 | $2,647 |
| Dec | 33% | $353 | $2,989 |
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Cape Cod market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the Cape Cod market as a whole, which includes Nantucket, so these counts are not Nantucket-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vacasa | 569 | 20,680 | ★ 4.52 |
| 2 | Del Mar Vacation Rentals | 398 | 18,582 | ★ 4.79 |
| 3 | Kinlin Grover Vacation Rentals | 351 | 1,811 | ★ 4.70 |
| 4 | New England Vacation Rentals | 274 | 1,577 | ★ 4.66 |
| 5 | Robert Paul Vacations | 189 | 1,796 | ★ 4.69 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Nantucket?
Revenue and pricing by property type, tier, and bedroom count.
Revenue by Bedroom Count
| 1 bed | 2,491 |
| 2 bed | 2,764 |
| 3 bed | 3,931 |
| 4 bed | 2,632 |
| 5 bed | 1,533 |
ADR by Property Tier
| Entire Home | $587 |
| Luxury | $1,114 |
| Professionally Managed | $566 |
Revenue by Dwelling Type
| Apartment | $5,640 |
| Entire Place | $7,979 |
| House | $8,309 |
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 29.3% |
| vrbo | 21.1% |
| both | 49.6% |
Investment Analysis
ADR is unusually flat across tiers here compared to most markets in this batch. All-listing average ADR is $571.41, entire-home listings average $586.51, and professionally managed listings average $565.86, essentially in line with (slightly below) the overall market average rather than commanding a premium. The luxury tier tops out at $1,113.64 per night, about 1.9x the market average and the highest luxury-tier rate in this data set. Average revenue per listing is up 7.45% year over year despite both occupancy and ADR softening slightly, one of the stronger revenue trends in this batch.
On the acquisition side, Zillow-sourced housing data puts the typical home value at $3,106,226.68, by far the highest in this batch, with a median list price of $3,677,500.00 and only 89 homes for sale. Annualizing the average listing’s $7,792.28 monthly revenue to $93,507.32 against the $3,106,226.68 typical home value works out to a gross revenue yield of just roughly 3.0%, before cleaning, management, mortgage, insurance, and the town’s registration and tax costs. That is a gross topline figure, not a net cash-on-cash return, and it is the lowest yield figure in this batch: Nantucket is an appreciation-and-lifestyle market rather than a cash-flow-driven STR play, given the extreme home-price-to-revenue ratio. On the regulatory front, a November 4, 2025 ballot measure (Article 1, approved by more than 70% of voters) legalized short-term rentals in nearly all zoning districts island-wide, resolving a mid-2025 court challenge that had threatened non-owner-occupied STRs in the downtown historic district.
Revenue Trend (5 yr)
ADR & Occupancy Trends (5 yr)
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Booking Insights
Average booking lead time in Nantucket is 106.15 days, over three months ahead of the stay date and the longest booking window in this batch by a wide margin, reflecting a premium island-vacation market where guests reserve well before the summer season. Average length of stay is 4.65 nights. This exceptionally long lead time gives operators substantial runway to set advance-purchase pricing for the tight July-August peak, and given the roughly 49-point occupancy swing between summer and winter, securing peak-season bookings early should be the priority, since the shoulder and winter months see a steep demand drop-off.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Nantucket requires every short-term rental (a dwelling rented for 31 calendar days or less) to be registered both with the state, free and one-time via MassTaxConnect, and with the Town of Nantucket via the GovOS portal. Renting 14 days or fewer per calendar year is exempt. The local certificate of registration costs $250.00 per dwelling unit and must be renewed annually, expiring October 31 each year. Operators must carry and upload proof of $1,000,000 in liability insurance, provide a 2-hour emergency contact response, file quarterly occupancy reports, and include both the Massachusetts and Nantucket certificate numbers in all advertising.
A June/July 2025 Massachusetts Land Court ruling had held that non-owner-occupied short-term rentals were not a lawful accessory use in the Residential Old Historic (downtown) zoning district, creating significant legal uncertainty. That uncertainty was resolved on November 4, 2025, when Nantucket voters approved Article 1 by more than 70%, legalizing short-term rentals in all zoning districts on the island except a commercial-industrial area near the airport, and ending the residential-legality challenge in favor of STRs (commercial/entity ownership of STRs remains prohibited). Lodging taxes total 11.70% (5.7% state plus 6% town local-option) and can reach 14.7% with an additional 3% Community Impact Fee that Nantucket adopted in 2024 for professionally managed or multi-property operators. Enforcement is characterized as moderate, with the local online registration system live since March 2024 and enforcement beginning in 2025.
Market Comparison
Nantucket’s 66.5% occupancy is well above commonly cited US STR benchmarks (roughly 55% occupancy nationally), and its $571.41 ADR is more than 2.5x the roughly $220 national median, the highest ADR in this batch, reflecting the island’s premium, affluent-vacation positioning.
Property management is led by Vacasa with 569 listings (20,680 reviews, 4.52 average rating), about 4.3% of the 13,361 tracked listings. Del Mar Vacation Rentals ranks second with 398 listings (18,582 reviews, the highest rating in the top five at 4.79), followed by Kinlin Grover Vacation Rentals with 351 listings, New England Vacation Rentals with 274 listings, and Robert Paul Vacations with 189 listings. The top 5 PMs combined control about 13.3% of listings, a moderately concentrated top tier reflecting the scale several established regional operators have built on the island.
Frequently Asked Questions About Nantucket, Massachusetts
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