Cape May, New Jersey Short-Term Rental Market
Atlantic City/Cape May NJ STRs averaged $288/night at 36.7% occupancy in April 2026 across 10,360 active listings.
Quick Answer: Cape May, New Jersey is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Atlantic City/Ocean City market area is 73%. average monthly revenue in the Atlantic City/Ocean City market area is $9,614. average daily rate in the Atlantic City/Ocean City market area is $514. the top operator in the Atlantic City/Ocean City market area is Long & Foster Vacations with 651 listings. market score is 49/100 (grade D).
Market data reflects the Atlantic City/Ocean City regional market, which includes Cape May. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Cape May.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
The Atlantic City and Cape May, NJ short-term rental market is one of the largest coastal vacation rental markets in the Northeast, with 10,360 active listings as of the latest snapshot. Entire-place rentals dominate at 10,134 listings (97.8%), with 215 private rooms and 11 shared rooms rounding out the mix. Bedroom distribution is broad and skews toward larger vacation properties: 3-bedrooms lead at 2,876, followed by 2-bedrooms (2,229), 4-bedrooms (1,733), 1-bedrooms (2,004), and 5-bedrooms (1,499). The channel spread shows strong dual-platform presence: 4,557 listings appear on both Airbnb and VRBO, with 3,020 Airbnb-only and 2,783 VRBO-only properties, indicating a market where VRBO holds meaningful share relative to most inland markets.
In April 2026, average daily rate was $287.87 and occupancy was 36.74%, producing a RevPAR of $105.75 and average monthly revenue of $2,625. On a year-over-year basis, ADR rose 3.18% while occupancy declined 7.37%, resulting in a marginal 0.16% revenue decline versus April 2025. The market total score is 48.99, with revenue growth scoring 83.20 (the highest sub-score) and investability at 76.88. Seasonality (44.48) and rental demand (44.97) reflect the concentrated summer peak. Cape May County drew 12.1 million visitors in 2024, generating $8.1 billion in visitor spending, with lodging sector revenue reaching $3.59 billion in 2023.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| Jan | 26% |
| Feb | 36% |
| Mar | 36% |
| Apr | 39% |
| May | 47% |
| Jun | 66% |
| Jul | 76% |
| Aug | 77% |
| Sep | 40% |
| Oct | 25% |
| Nov | 30% |
| Dec | 33% |
Month-by-month nightly rates and revenue figures for Cape May are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Atlantic City/Ocean City market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the Atlantic City/Ocean City market as a whole, which includes Cape May, so these counts are not Cape May-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Long & Foster Vacations | 651 | 1,596 | ★ 4.42 |
| 2 | Experience Vacation Rentals | 240 | 1,201 | ★ 4.46 |
| 3 | Evolve | 201 | 5,688 | ★ 4.68 |
| 4 | Compass NJ – Laricks Team | 178 | 115 | ★ 4.88 |
| 5 | Tim Kerr Sotheby's International Realty | 154 | 267 | ★ 4.60 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Cape May?
Revenue and nightly-rate breakdowns by bedroom count, property tier, and dwelling type for Cape May are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 29.2% |
| vrbo | 26.9% |
| both | 44% |
Home Value Trends (Cape May)
Typical home values, median sale prices, and the 10-year price trend for Cape May are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Booking Insights
Booking-window and length-of-stay analysis for Cape May — how far ahead guests book and how to price around it — is available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
The Atlantic City and Cape May area has one of the more rigorous STR regulatory environments in this batch. In the City of Cape May specifically, all STR operators must hold a City of Cape May Annual Mercantile License before advertising or renting. The annual license fee is $300 for units under 4,000 square feet and $1,000 for units over 4,000 square feet, plus a $50 annual tourism fee surcharge and $25 parking surcharge. All units must pass an annual fire safety inspection by the Fire Prevention Bureau before the license is issued.
Operators must designate a managing agent residing in Cape May County and carry liability insurance: $300,000 minimum for owner-occupied multi-unit properties of 4 or fewer units, and $500,000 minimum for all other rental properties. There is no owner-occupancy or primary-residence requirement and no annual nights cap. Enforcement is rated strict: the city uses nightly automated web-scraping technology to identify unlicensed listings across approximately 10,000 websites. As of March 2025, over 40% of Airbnb and VRBO listings were reported non-compliant.
The combined lodging tax burden in Cape May city is 14.625%: 6.625% NJ sales tax, 5% NJ state occupancy fee, and 3% Cape May city municipal occupancy tax (raised from 2% in January 2022). Airbnb and VRBO collect and remit state taxes automatically for reservations under 90 consecutive nights. Regulations vary across the broader Atlantic County and Cape May County jurisdictions; always verify local rules for the specific municipality.
Market Comparison
The Atlantic City/Cape May market’s April 2026 occupancy of 36.74% is below the U.S. STR median of approximately 55%, consistent with the heavy summer concentration. The 2025 annual average occupancy of 44.12% also trails the national median, but the $287.87 April ADR significantly exceeds the approximate U.S. STR median of $220. Annual average revenue of $4,107 in 2025 outperforms most inland and rural markets.
The professional management segment is dominated by a real-estate-brokerage hybrid model unusual in most vacation markets. Long and Foster Vacations leads with 651 listings and a 4.422 average rating. Experience Vacation Rentals holds 240 listings with a 4.455 rating. Evolve manages 201 listings with a 4.684 rating. Compass NJ (Laricks Team) holds 178 listings with a 4.876 rating (highest in the top 5), and Tim Kerr Sotheby’s International Realty rounds out the group with 154 listings and a 4.600 rating. The top 5 operators together manage 1,424 listings, approximately 13.7% of the 10,360-listing market. The prominence of real estate brokerage brands (Long and Foster, Compass, Sotheby’s) in vacation PM reflects the shore market’s traditional cross-selling of real estate and rental management.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cape May, New Jersey
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