Rocky Mount, Missouri Short-Term Rental Market
Rocky Mount area STRs (Lake of the Ozarks) averaged $401/night at 56.1% occupancy in June 2026, with a county lodging tax struck down in 2024.
Quick Answer: Rocky Mount, Missouri is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Lake of Ozarks market area is 56%. average monthly revenue in the Lake of Ozarks market area is $5,788. average daily rate in the Lake of Ozarks market area is $401. the top operator in the Lake of Ozarks market area is Evolve with 354 listings. market score is 51/100 (grade D).
Market data reflects the Lake of Ozarks regional market, which includes Rocky Mount. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Rocky Mount.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Rocky Mount is a small unincorporated lakeside community on the Lake of the Ozarks in eastern Morgan County, Missouri, roughly six miles southwest of Eldon. It functions as a vacation and second-home destination rather than a standalone tourist hub, drawing boaters, anglers, and residents to the lake’s 1,150 miles of shoreline. Visitors are predominantly regional drive-market travelers from Missouri and neighboring Midwest states seeking water recreation, bass, crappie, and catfish fishing, and lakefront rentals. The resident population skews older, with a median age around 56 and roughly 31% aged 65 or older, reflecting a retiree and seasonal-homeowner base.
Because StaySTRA’s short-term rental performance data for this submarket is shared across the Lake of the Ozarks cluster (Rocky Mount, Gravois Mills, Sunrise Beach, and Warsaw), this profile frames occupancy, rate, and revenue figures as describing the Rocky Mount area (Lake of the Ozarks) STR market rather than claiming Rocky Mount-only precision.
In June 2026, that area STR market averaged 56.06% occupancy and a $400.89 average daily rate, with average monthly revenue of $5,787.53 per active listing. Year over year, occupancy fell 2.79 points, ADR fell a sharper 7.80%, and revenue slipped a modest 0.38%, a softer overall trend than several other markets in this pipeline.
Listing count, bedroom mix, and channel split data for this area are tracked at a shared regional level rather than uniquely for Rocky Mount, so this profile omits those specific breakdowns.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22% | $175 | $1,152 |
| Feb | 27% | $176 | $1,172 |
| Mar | 42% | $189 | $1,714 |
| Apr | 34% | $204 | $1,762 |
| May | 43% | $269 | $2,451 |
| Jun | 59% | $348 | $5,143 |
| Jul | 69% | $338 | $6,320 |
| Aug | 52% | $324 | $4,781 |
| Sep | 34% | $261 | $2,506 |
| Oct | 28% | $202 | $1,797 |
| Nov | 27% | $196 | $1,487 |
| Dec | 23% | $192 | $1,424 |
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Lake of Ozarks market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the Lake of Ozarks market as a whole, which includes Rocky Mount, so these counts are not Rocky Mount-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evolve | 354 | 13,902 | ★ 4.73 |
| 2 | LakeDays.Rentals | 213 | 4,973 | ★ 4.80 |
| 3 | YourLakeVacation | 139 | 1,600 | ★ 4.75 |
| 4 | Shores Vacation Rentals | 106 | 3,165 | ★ 4.81 |
| 5 | Lakecation Vacations | 97 | 1,574 | ★ 4.41 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Rocky Mount?
Revenue and pricing by property type, tier, and bedroom count.
Revenue by Bedroom Count
| 1 bed | 634 |
| 2 bed | 1,215 |
| 3 bed | 1,678 |
| 4 bed | 635 |
| 5 bed | 560 |
ADR by Property Tier
| Entire Home | $402 |
| Luxury | $645 |
| Professionally Managed | $467 |
Revenue by Dwelling Type
| Apartment | $3,879 |
| Entire Place | $5,816 |
| House | $7,349 |
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 19.2% |
| vrbo | 18.4% |
| both | 62.3% |
Investment Analysis
Rocky Mount’s revenue splits sharply by property type. Houses led June 2026 monthly revenue at $7,348.78, well ahead of entire-place listings at $5,815.81 and apartment-style units at $3,879.10, an 89% gap between houses and apartments, fitting a lake market where larger group-oriented lake houses command a real premium over smaller units.
Annualizing the average listing’s June 2026 revenue works out to roughly $69,450 a year. Against Zillow’s typical home value of $342,009.10 for the area, one of the more affordable markets in this batch, that implies a gross yield near 20.3%. This is a rough screening estimate for an average listing’s pace, not an achievable return for any specific property, particularly given this market’s sharp seasonality.
On regulatory cost, Rocky Mount sits in unincorporated Morgan County, where there is no dedicated county STR permit or registration ordinance, no owner-occupancy requirement, and no annual night cap. A genuinely favorable recent development: on June 25, 2024, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the statutory scheme behind the tri-county (Camden, Miller, Morgan) Lake of the Ozarks lodging tax as unconstitutional, and as of 2026 that roughly 3% county tax has not been reinstated, meaning only standard state and local sales taxes now apply to lodging here, an actual reduction in operating cost rather than the tightening trend seen in most markets in this pipeline.
Revenue Trend (5 yr)
ADR & Occupancy Trends (5 yr)
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Booking Insights
Booking lead time in the Rocky Mount area averages 80.17 days, nearly three months out, one of the longer lead times in this pipeline, and average length of stay is 3.72 nights, a shorter weekend-to-midweek pattern.
This combination of a long lead time and a shorter stay suggests travelers plan lake vacations well ahead, likely coordinating around boating trips and lake events, but tend to book a several-night getaway rather than a full week. For operators, the extended lead time supports early-release summer pricing, while the shorter typical stay favors turnover-friendly amenities and cleaning schedules geared toward frequent weekend and midweek changeovers during the short but intense summer season.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Rocky Mount is an unincorporated community in Morgan County, Missouri, so there is no city-level short-term rental ordinance governing it. Missouri has no statewide STR licensing regime, leaving regulation to counties and municipalities, and Morgan County has no dedicated STR permit or registration ordinance for this area. Operators must register with the Missouri Department of Revenue for a sales tax license and collect and remit state and local sales taxes on lodging.
A significant recent change: on June 25, 2024, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the statutory scheme (sections 67.1170 through 67.1180) that had created tri-county Lake of the Ozarks area lodging taxes across Camden, Miller, and Morgan counties, ruling it unconstitutional because it directed public tax revenue to a private organization, and ordered collection stopped immediately. That tax had generated over $2 million a year for regional tourism promotion. As of 2026, the county lodging tax has not been reinstated, so only standard state and local sales taxes on lodging currently apply.
There is no owner-occupancy or primary-residence requirement and no annual night cap. Short-term rentals in the county are generally allowed and reportedly concentrated in Agricultural Residential and Lake Residential zones, consistent with the area’s vacation-home and lakefront-cabin market. Enforcement is light and tax-focused rather than permit-based.
Market Comparison
Rocky Mount’s 56.06% occupancy in June 2026 runs close to the roughly 55% occupancy typical of the broader U.S. short-term rental market, while its $400.89 ADR runs well above the national median of roughly $220, giving this market strong per-night pricing power at a fairly average fill rate.
Property manager data for this area is tracked at a shared regional level rather than uniquely for Rocky Mount, so this profile omits naming specific operators here.
What distinguishes Rocky Mount in this pipeline is the combination of a genuinely reduced regulatory tax burden (the 2024 court-ordered elimination of the county lodging tax) with one of the most extreme seasonal swings seen in this dataset, a roughly 4.4x gap between July and December revenue, meaning the summer window carries disproportionate weight for annual returns here.
Frequently Asked Questions About Rocky Mount, Missouri
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What is the typical home value in the Rocky Mount, MO area?
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