Nisswa, Minnesota Short-Term Rental Market
The Nisswa, MN area STR market averaged $302 a night at 62.8% occupancy in June 2026, roughly flat yearly.
Quick Answer: Nisswa, Minnesota is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Minnesota Area market area is 63%. average monthly revenue in the Minnesota Area market area is $4,729. average daily rate in the Minnesota Area market area is $302. the top operator in the Minnesota Area market area is Evolve with 337 listings. market score is 71/100 (grade B).
Market data reflects the Minnesota Area regional market, which includes Nisswa. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Nisswa.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Nisswa, MN is a small resort town of 1,954 residents in the heart of Minnesota’s Brainerd Lakes Area, a major seasonal destination for cabin, resort, and lake vacationers. The town’s walkable downtown shopping district and the Nisswa Turtle Races, a summer Wednesday tradition since 1966 that often draws 500-plus entrants, anchor its tourist economy alongside boating, fishing, and biking on the Paul Bunyan State Trail. City officials report Nisswa has roughly 30 short-term rentals operating locally. Nisswa is one of several small resort towns dotting the Brainerd Lakes chain, alongside Baxter, Brainerd, and Crosslake, all drawing from the same regional pool of lake and cabin travelers.
Listing-level inventory counts, bedroom mix, and market-score benchmarks are tracked at a shared regional level across the Brainerd Lakes Area rather than uniquely for Nisswa, so this profile omits those figures rather than present regional numbers as town-specific. All occupancy, rate, and revenue figures below describe the Nisswa, MN area STR market rather than the town in strict isolation.
In the most recent month of data (June 2026), the Nisswa area STR market posted an average daily rate of $302.36 and average occupancy of 62.81%. Average monthly revenue per listing was $4,729, with standalone houses averaging $5,105 a month and entire-place listings averaging $4,948, both well ahead of the $3,651 average for apartment-style listings.
Year over year, occupancy dipped 1.0 percentage point and average daily rate fell 3.8%, though revenue per listing still edged up 1.5%. Longer-run data shows a similar pattern of pandemic-era occupancy gains giving way to a gradual normalization: annual occupancy peaked near 60.5% in 2021 before settling into the high 40s to low 50s in recent years.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 40% | $180 | $2,076 |
| Feb | 45% | $181 | $2,063 |
| Mar | 46% | $171 | $2,212 |
| Apr | 47% | $158 | $1,915 |
| May | 54% | $195 | $2,323 |
| Jun | 66% | $253 | $3,994 |
| Jul | 71% | $255 | $4,769 |
| Aug | 66% | $251 | $4,457 |
| Sep | 50% | $214 | $2,966 |
| Oct | 50% | $196 | $2,740 |
| Nov | 41% | $164 | $1,982 |
| Dec | 47% | $180 | $2,160 |
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Minnesota Area market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the Minnesota Area market as a whole, which includes Nisswa, so these counts are not Nisswa-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evolve | 337 | 13,110 | ★ 4.77 |
| 2 | Cascade Vacation Rentals | 182 | 3,861 | ★ 4.76 |
| 3 | Heirloom | 112 | 7,458 | ★ 4.82 |
| 4 | Sota Lake Home Rentals | 61 | 1,310 | ★ 4.50 |
| 5 | Woods To Water Vacation Homes | 48 | 939 | ★ 4.95 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Nisswa?
Revenue and pricing by property type, tier, and bedroom count.
Revenue by Bedroom Count
| 1 bed | 2,551 |
| 2 bed | 3,013 |
| 3 bed | 2,537 |
| 4 bed | 1,420 |
| 5 bed | 876 |
ADR by Property Tier
| Entire Home | $316 |
| Luxury | $536 |
| Professionally Managed | $387 |
Revenue by Dwelling Type
| Apartment | $3,651 |
| Entire Place | $4,948 |
| House | $5,105 |
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 40.1% |
| vrbo | 14.3% |
| both | 45.7% |
Investment Analysis
Zillow’s typical home value for the Nisswa area is $589,624, with a median list price of $694,900 and 21 homes for sale as of June 2026; median sale price and days-to-pending were not published for this market. Against the $4,729 average monthly revenue per listing, about $56,747 annualized, that works out to a gross short-term rental yield of roughly 9.6% of the typical home value.
Revenue held up despite softer rate and occupancy: average daily rate fell 3.8% and occupancy dipped 1.0 percentage point year over year, yet revenue per listing still edged up 1.5%, suggesting a modest shift in booking mix toward longer or higher-value stays. Pricing tiers show room to move upmarket: the all-listing average daily rate of $302.36 compares to $386.91 for professionally managed listings (about 28% above the all-listing average) and $536.29 for the luxury tier, a 77% premium over the market average.
On the regulatory side, Nisswa contracts with Crow Wing County for STR licensing rather than running its own ordinance; the county’s $100-per-bedroom annual license is the primary cost investors should build into underwriting, on top of septic-compliance documentation requirements. There is no separate city-level occupancy tax confirmed for Nisswa beyond standard Minnesota sales tax registration, so investors should verify the current combined tax burden directly with the Minnesota Department of Revenue before underwriting.
Revenue Trend (5 yr)
ADR & Occupancy Trends (5 yr)
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Booking Insights
Guests book Nisswa area short-term rentals an average of 90.6 days in advance, one of the longer lead times in this data set, and the average length of stay is 4.02 nights. That long booking window is consistent with travelers planning Brainerd Lakes cabin vacations well ahead of the summer season.
At a 4.02-night average stay, a fully booked calendar works out to roughly 91 turnovers a year, concentrated mostly into the June-through-August peak. With more than 12 weeks of average lead time, operators have substantial room to set summer pricing early and to plan around the septic-inspection and county-license renewal cycle well before the season starts. Given the county’s calendar-year license cycle, that lead time also overlaps conveniently with the January renewal window, letting operators handle paperwork before the booking season ramps up. That timing reduces the risk of a license lapse interrupting bookings right as summer demand builds.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Nisswa does not regulate short-term rentals through its own ordinance. Instead, the city contracts with Crow Wing County, which passed a Short-Term Rental Licensing Ordinance effective January 3, 2023. Any owner operating an STR in Nisswa must obtain a county STR license, at a fee of $100 per advertised bedroom, running on a calendar-year cycle from January 1 to December 31 and renewed annually regardless of when first issued. Licenses are non-transferable, so a new owner must reapply after a sale.
Applicants must provide septic compliance documentation, either a Septic Installation Certificate if installed within the past 5 years, a Compliance Inspection within the past 3 years for older systems, or a waiver if connected to municipal sewer, with a winter window form allowing inspection deferral until June 1. Maximum occupancy is capped at 3 people per bedroom plus 1 additional person per unit, and extra sleeping spaces such as RVs, tents, or garages cannot be used to exceed that cap.
There is no owner-occupancy or primary-residence requirement and no annual night cap. Enforcement is complaint-driven through a 24/7 hotline; three substantiated violations within a year can lead to a one-year license revocation, and false complaint reporting carries escalating fines. STR operators must also register with the Minnesota Department of Revenue for sales tax. City officials report Nisswa has roughly 30 STRs and few enforcement issues to date.
Market Comparison
The Nisswa area’s 62.81% average occupancy in the latest month runs above the roughly 55% median occupancy typically seen across the broader US short-term rental market, and its $302.36 average daily rate sits well above the roughly $220 national median, reflecting a premium lake-cabin destination rather than a broad leisure market.
Property manager rankings and total listing counts for this market are tracked at a shared regional level across the Brainerd Lakes Area rather than distinctly for Nisswa, so this profile omits a market-specific operator breakdown rather than present shared data as town-specific. With only about 30 licensed STRs reported locally by city officials, Nisswa itself is a small niche within the broader Brainerd Lakes rental market, and investors should weigh that limited local supply against any region-wide competitive analysis. A property’s exact town within the Brainerd Lakes chain, Nisswa, Baxter, Brainerd, or Crosslake, likely matters less to guests than proximity to a specific lake, so investors should factor lake access and shoreline quality into any comparison as much as municipal boundaries.
Frequently Asked Questions About Nisswa, Minnesota
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