Sandusky, Ohio Short-Term Rental Market
Sandusky, OH short-term rentals averaged $236/night at 62.6% occupancy in June 2026, capped at 99 city permits.
Quick Answer: Sandusky, Ohio is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Ohio Area market area is 63%. average monthly revenue in the Ohio Area market area is $3,966. average daily rate in the Ohio Area market area is $236. the top operator in the Ohio Area market area is Evolve with 317 listings. market score is 85/100 (grade B).
Market data reflects the Ohio Area regional market, which includes Sandusky. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Sandusky.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Sandusky’s short-term rental market posted a $236 average daily rate and 62.6% occupancy in June 2026, generating $3,966 in average monthly revenue per listing. By property type, houses averaged $4,342/month, entire-place listings $4,179/month, and apartments $3,218/month. Year over year, occupancy rose 2.9 percentage points and average revenue rose 6.8%, even as ADR slipped 3.0%, a sign of rising demand volume offsetting softer nightly pricing.
The market carries roughly 11,450-11,470 active listings, the second-largest supply base in this batch. The bedroom mix skews small: 3,589 one-bedroom units (31% of supply), 3,334 two-bedroom, 2,830 three-bedroom, 1,091 four-bedroom, and 610 five-bedroom. Entire-place listings dominate at 10,456 (about 91%), with 1,007 private rooms and 4 shared rooms. Channel data shows 4,608 listings on both Airbnb and Vrbo, 5,903 Airbnb-only, and 956 Vrbo-only.
Sandusky anchors the Shores & Islands Ohio tourism region on Lake Erie, home to Cedar Point amusement park and roughly 5 million estimated annual visitors to the city. Its investability score of 96.79 (out of 100) is the highest in this batch, and its rental demand score of 83.96 and total market score of 84.69 both point to a strong, tourism-anchored market, tempered by a seasonality score of 63.05 reflecting the strongly seasonal May-through-September visitor pattern.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| Jan | 40% |
| Feb | 48% |
| Mar | 51% |
| Apr | 51% |
| May | 53% |
| Jun | 62% |
| Jul | 66% |
| Aug | 59% |
| Sep | 49% |
| Oct | 49% |
| Nov | 48% |
| Dec | 45% |
Month-by-month nightly rates and revenue figures for Sandusky are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Ohio Area market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the Ohio Area market as a whole, which includes Sandusky, so these counts are not Sandusky-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evolve | 317 | 10,621 | ★ 4.61 |
| 2 | Amish Country Lodging | 76 | 8,729 | ★ 4.91 |
| 3 | Island Club Home Rentals | 67 | 5,009 | ★ 4.46 |
| 4 | Ohio Shores Vacation Rentals | 61 | 4,052 | ★ 4.70 |
| 5 | Simply Better Property Management | 47 | 1,039 | ★ 4.80 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Sandusky?
Revenue and nightly-rate breakdowns by bedroom count, property tier, and dwelling type for Sandusky 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 | 51.5% |
| vrbo | 8.3% |
| both | 40.2% |
Home Value Trends (Sandusky)
Typical home values, median sale prices, and the 10-year price trend for Sandusky 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 Sandusky — 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
Short-term rentals (transient rentals, any dwelling rented for under 30 consecutive days) are legal in Sandusky but tightly controlled. Every dwelling used for transient occupancy must hold an annual Transient Rental Permit from the city’s Code Compliance Division; permits expire December 31 each year and must be renewed. The city caps total permits at 99 citywide, so availability is severely limited regardless of an investor’s capital. The standard annual fee is $500 per dwelling, reduced to $200 for an owner-occupied rooming or tourist house. Permits require a health, fire, and building code inspection before issuance.
There is no owner-occupancy or primary-residence requirement for a standard permit. Location matters: transient rentals are allowed as-of-right only in specified commercial and overlay zones (including a dedicated Transient Rental Overlay district), allowed with a conditional use permit in Local Business zoning, and otherwise prohibited except for legally non-conforming pre-ordinance operators.
Tax obligations combine a 4% Erie County lodging tax with an additional City of Sandusky transient occupancy tax on top. Enforcement is rated strict, using both automated monitoring and manual compliance checks, more intensive than most markets in this batch. The 99-permit cap dates to Ordinance 23-031 (2023), which also moved applications to an online portal and consolidated lodging-tax filing with Erie County into a single form. No maximum-nights-per-year cap was found beyond the permit framework itself.
Market Comparison
At 62.6% occupancy and a $236 ADR, Sandusky runs above the roughly 55% occupancy of typical US short-term rental benchmarks and close to the roughly $220 national median ADR, reflecting steady demand from Cedar Point and the broader Shores & Islands Ohio tourism draw (an estimated 5 million visitors to the city annually). The market’s investability score of 96.79 out of 100, the highest of any market processed in this batch, underscores that read, supported by the region’s low typical home value of $151,313 relative to its revenue potential.
Property management here is led decisively by one national brand: Evolve holds 317 listings, more than 4 times the next-largest operator, Amish Country Lodging (76 listings). The top 5 combined, Evolve, Amish Country Lodging, Island Club Home Rentals, Ohio Shores Vacation Rentals, and Simply Better Property Management, control 568 of the roughly 11,450-11,470 listings, about 5%, meaning most of Sandusky’s STR supply is independently operated despite Evolve’s outsized single-operator share.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sandusky, Ohio
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