Ask a simple question, get a gloriously untidy answer. According to AirROI’s June 2026 global ranking, Nantucket, Massachusetts, has the highest average daily rate at $1,123. Small problem: Nantucket is officially the Town and County of Nantucket, not a city. Take the question literally and Aspen, Colorado, is the winner at $1,060. (AirROI)
The winner is a town. The runner-up has just 103 active listings. A simple league table has immediately become more interesting.
How the most expensive Airbnb cities were ranked
The comparison below uses average daily rate, usually shortened to ADR. In plain English, that is the average nightly rental revenue across booked nights. It is not the cheapest advertised rate, the most expensive available villa or necessarily the final amount a guest pays. Airbnb says a reservation total can also include charges set by the host, Airbnb service fees and taxes. Cleaning, pet and extra-guest fees may be part of the total too. (Airbnb; Airbnb)
AirROI’s figures cover the trailing 12 months to 2 June 2026. Its dataset includes Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com, and the ranking only considers markets with more than 100 active listings. This is therefore a broad short-term rental comparison, rather than an Airbnb-only price list. All figures below are in US dollars. (AirROI)
The 10 most expensive Airbnb markets in 2026
| Rank | Market | Average daily rate | Active listings | Occupancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nantucket, Massachusetts | $1,123 | 527 | 40.2% |
| 2 | Leeward Settlement, Caicos Islands | $1,108 | 103 | 35.4% |
| 3 | Saint Barthélemy | $1,081 | 538 | 34.5% |
| 4 | Town of Southampton, New York | $1,079 | 1,148 | 33.2% |
| 5 | Town of East Hampton, New York | $1,061 | 1,249 | 35.4% |
| 6 | Aspen, Colorado | $1,060 | 599 | 34.8% |
| 7 | Providenciales, Caicos Islands | $986 | 430 | 41.8% |
| 8 | Koloa, Hawaii | $976 | 298 | 48.3% |
| 9 | Beaver Creek, Colorado | $961 | 523 | 27.2% |
| 10 | Sant Josep de sa Talaia, Balearic Islands | $935 | 204 | 44.5% |
Source: AirROI, trailing 12 months to 2 June 2026. Active listings and occupancy use the provider’s own market definitions. (AirROI)
The first thing to notice is what is missing. This is not a parade of giant capitals. London, Paris and New York are nowhere near the top ten. Instead, the list is full of islands, beach enclaves and ski resorts where large homes and high-end villas carry much more weight. The top ten has a type: water views or ski lifts.
1. Nantucket: $1,123 a night
Nantucket lies 30 miles off Cape Cod. Its cobblestone streets, preserved homes, beaches and ferry-only sense of separation are central to its appeal. Massachusetts tourism sources describe an island that feels like its own little world, despite being a relatively short journey from the mainland. (Massachusetts Travel)
The property mix matters too. AirDNA’s current Nantucket page says 85% of its tracked rentals are entire homes. Nearly half, 44%, have at least four bedrooms. That does not prove why Nantucket tops AirROI’s ranking, but it helps explain how the average can climb so high. This is not mainly a market of spare rooms and compact city flats. (AirDNA)
Nantucket beats Leeward Settlement by only $15 a night. Its lead over Aspen is $63, or roughly 5.6%. The crown is expensive, but it is not especially secure.
2. Leeward Settlement: $1,108 a night
The runner-up is the most delicate number in the table. Leeward Settlement has 103 active listings in AirROI’s dataset, only three above the ranking’s cut-off. That threshold matters: AirROI only includes markets with more than 100 active listings to avoid thin-market outliers, and Leeward Settlement only just clears it. A handful of large properties entering or leaving the active pool can make a noticeable difference. (AirROI)
3. Saint Barthélemy: $1,081 a night
St Barts in third place is probably the least surprising twist in the whole ranking. The island’s official tourism guide leads with its beaches, luxury hotels, fine dining and major sailing events. Private villas are a substantial part of its accommodation identity, so an average above $1,000 fits the destination rather neatly. (Saint Barth Tourism)
Image: Airbnb listing for Villa Nagabaaja. (Airbnb)
It misses second place by $27 and first place by $42. At this end of the table, one large villa with an infinity pool could practically cover the gap.
4 and 5. Southampton and East Hampton: $1,079 and $1,061
The Hamptons take two seats at the same very expensive table. Southampton ranks fourth, just $2 behind St Barts. East Hampton follows in fifth place, only $18 lower than Southampton and a single dollar above Aspen.
Official Long Island tourism material is not shy about the area’s beaches, boutiques, galleries, restaurants and reputation for luxury. The ranking suggests that reputation is reflected in booked nightly rates, not just glossy magazine covers. (discoverlongisland.com)
The two Hamptons markets also have the largest listing pools in the top ten. That makes their positions less dependent on a very small sample than Leeward Settlement’s second-place finish.
6. Aspen: $1,060 a night
Aspen is where the wording of the original question starts doing real work. The official Aspen website refers to Aspen City Hall and City Council. Nantucket’s authority calls itself the Town and County of Nantucket. On a strict city-only reading, Aspen has the most expensive Airbnbs in AirROI’s ranking. (Aspen; Nantucket)
Its place near the top is not difficult to understand. Aspen is served by four ski mountains: Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass and Buttermilk. AirDNA also says 95% of the short-term rentals it tracks there are entire homes. (Aspen Chamber; AirDNA)
That is a very different property mix from a city dominated by studios and one-bedroom flats. Aspen may sit sixth in the table, but it has the cleanest claim to the word “city”.
7 to 10: Caribbean water, Kauaʻi beaches, Colorado snow and Ibiza sunsets
The rest of the top ten keeps the resort theme going:
- Providenciales, $986: the main tourism hub of Turks and Caicos, home to luxury resorts, restaurants and the Grace Bay area. (Visit Turks and Caicos Islands)
- Kōloa, $976: a South Shore Kauaʻi market that reaches the beaches and resort area around Poʻipū. (Go Hawaii)
- Beaver Creek, $961: a Colorado mountain resort built around skiing, an alpine village and high-end holiday accommodation. (beavercreek.com)
- Sant Josep de sa Talaia, $935: an Ibiza municipality with 80 kilometres of coastline and well-known coves including Cala Comte and Cala Bassa. (Santjosep.net)
The pattern is striking. Eight of the ten markets are islands or coastal destinations. The other two are Colorado mountain resorts. Six are in the United States. The world’s most expensive “Airbnb cities” are mostly not big cities at all.
What the nightly rate does not tell you
An ADR of $1,123 does not mean every Nantucket rental costs $1,123 on every night. It is an average across booked nights, mixing different dates, property sizes and price points. A one-bedroom stay in spring and an eight-bedroom summer house may both contribute to the same market figure.
It is not the final checkout bill either. Airbnb says the full price may include cleaning charges, extra-guest or pet fees, service fees and taxes alongside the nightly rate. (Airbnb)
High nightly rates also do not guarantee packed calendars. Occupancy in the top ten sits between 27.2% in Beaver Creek and 48.3% in Kōloa. That spread is a useful reminder that price and booking frequency measure different things. (AirROI)
In fact, Kōloa has the highest occupancy in the top ten despite ranking eighth by nightly rate. Nantucket, the price leader, sits below it at 40.2%. “Most expensive” is not the same as “most booked” or “most profitable”.
What high nightly rates mean for guest support
High ADR markets raise guest expectations. A guest paying resort-market prices is less forgiving about missing check-in details, unclear parking instructions, buried Wi-Fi notes or a slow reply when something breaks.
If you manage premium short-term rentals, the basics still do most of the work: clear arrival instructions, a reliable digital guidebook and a human escalation route for urgent issues.
letbloom.io helps guests get answers from your property guidebook on WhatsApp, while passing urgent or unusual issues back to your team. If your team manages premium short-term rentals and wants fewer repeated check-in, Wi-Fi, parking and late-night issue messages, see how letbloom works, or start for free.
Sources
- AirROI, global short-term rental market ranking and ADR data. (AirROI)
- Airbnb Help Center, performance data and pricing explanations. (Airbnb performance data; Airbnb pricing)
- Massachusetts Travel, Nantucket tourism context. (Massachusetts Travel)
- AirDNA, Nantucket and Aspen market pages. (AirDNA Nantucket; AirDNA Aspen)
- Saint Barth Tourism, St Barts destination context. (Saint Barth Tourism)
- Airbnb, Villa Nagabaaja listing photo. (Airbnb)
- Discover Long Island, Hamptons tourism context. (Discover Long Island)
- Official local and destination tourism pages for Nantucket, Aspen, Turks and Caicos, Kauaʻi, Beaver Creek and Sant Josep. (Nantucket; Aspen; Aspen Chamber; Visit Turks and Caicos Islands; Go Hawaii; Beaver Creek; Sant Josep)
- Header image: South Galena Street in Aspen by Wolfgang Moroder, CC BY-SA 3.0. (Wikimedia Commons)
