How do you calculate mid-term rental income?

Multiply the furnished monthly rate your unit can ask, from 30+ night comps with the same bedroom count, by the share of the year you expect it to be leased. Illustrative example: a $3,200 rate at 80% occupancy is $2,560 a month before expenses. Those dollars are illustrative, not a market quote.

Can I multiply a nightly rate by 30?

No. A nightly rate prices short stays, weekend peaks, and frequent turnover. Monthly tenants pay less per night than a weekend guest. Start from homes actually offered for 30 nights or more.

Is a short-term revenue estimate a mid-term calculator?

No. Revenue built from short-term bookings is the nightly product. A mid-term calculator uses the monthly rate of 30+ night comps, then occupancy, then the furnished-monthly expense stack.

What expenses does a mid-term calculator miss if I only subtract rent?

Utilities and internet you include, furnishing spread over the years it lasts, turnover between stays, channel or listing fees, and the mortgage, taxes, and insurance if you own the home. Empty months still carry the fixed costs.

How does the mid-term rate compare with a long-term lease?

In July 2026, across 8,946 U.S. ZIP codes with at least five tracked listings, the median ZIP's furnished monthly rate ran 77% above the Census median rent. That gap is before occupancy, furnishing, and utilities. Underwrite the specific address before you treat the national figure as the deal.

Underwriting · 8 min read

Mid-term rental calculator: monthly rate, occupancy, and expenses

To calculate a mid-term rental, take the furnished monthly rate for that bedroom count, multiply by the share of the year you expect the home to be leased, and subtract the expense stack. In July 2026 the median U.S. ZIP code's furnished monthly rate ran 77% above the Census median rent, across 8,946 ZIP codes with at least five tracked listings. A nightly rate times 30, or a total built from short-term bookings, is a different product.

The rate is what similar homes ask for 30 nights or more. Occupancy is the gaps between tenants. The expenses are what a furnished monthly stay costs that an unfurnished lease does not. This page is that arithmetic. The underwriting guide carries it through to cash flow, cap rate, and the premium over a long-term lease.

Published October 21, 2026. Example figures are illustrative, not market data. The ZIP premium is the published MTR Analytics benchmark.

1. Start from the monthly rate

The input is the average monthly rate (AMR) your unit can ask: the furnished rent of active 30+ night listings with the same bedroom count, in the same ZIP. A citywide average mixes studios and houses. A national average mixes markets. Use the band that looks like the home.

Monthly rate = furnished asking rent of 30+ night comps, same bedroom count

2. Apply occupancy

A 13-week stay with a gap before the next one is not 100% leased. Four contracts with three weeks between them land near 80%. One empty week on a short gap is closer to 90%. Multiply the monthly rate by that share. The result is effective rent, before expenses.

Effective rent = monthly rate × expected occupancy

3. Subtract the expense stack

A monthly tenant expects the home to work on arrival. The costs that follow are yours:

Utilities and internet, included in the rent on most 30+ night stays.
Furniture, kitchenware, and linens, spread over the years they last.
Turnover cleaning and the weeks the home sits empty.
A listing fee or a booking commission, depending on the channel.
If you own the home: mortgage, taxes, insurance, and repairs.

What remains is the number you compare with an unfurnished lease on the same home. The national premium above Census rent does not survive this stack intact. Read the methodology before you treat 77% as profit.

4. Why a short-term estimate is the wrong input

Tools aimed at nightly stays estimate revenue from short-term bookings: weekend peaks, cleaning fees, and occupancy that resets every few days. Pasting that annual total into a mid-term calculator double-counts a product you are not selling. The guest who stays 90 nights does not pay the weekend rate thirty times.

The same mistake shows up as a nightly rate times 30. That product is a short stay. The mid-term product is a monthly rent. If you are checking a lease rather than a purchase, the other half of the math is the asking rent, which is what mid-term rental arbitrage walks through. Zillow is often where that asking rent is published. It is not the source of the furnished monthly rate.

5. Worked example (illustrative numbers)

Illustrative example, not a quote for any market. A two-bedroom comp band supports a $3,200 monthly rate. At 80% occupancy the effective rent is $2,560. Utilities and internet at $300, furnishing at $250, and turnover at $200 leave $1,810 before the cost of the house itself. If the unfurnished lease on the same home is $2,200 and the tenant pays their own utilities, the furnished stay is not automatically ahead. Run the address, not this example, in Property Analyzer.

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate mid-term rental income?: Multiply the furnished monthly rate your unit can ask, from 30+ night comps with the same bedroom count, by the share of the year you expect it to be leased. Illustrative example: a $3,200 rate at 80% occupancy is $2,560 a month before expenses. Those dollars are illustrative, not a market quote.
Can I multiply a nightly rate by 30?: No. A nightly rate prices short stays, weekend peaks, and frequent turnover. Monthly tenants pay less per night than a weekend guest. Start from homes actually offered for 30 nights or more.
Is a short-term revenue estimate a mid-term calculator?: No. Revenue built from short-term bookings is the nightly product. A mid-term calculator uses the monthly rate of 30+ night comps, then occupancy, then the furnished-monthly expense stack.
What expenses does a mid-term calculator miss if I only subtract rent?: Utilities and internet you include, furnishing spread over the years it lasts, turnover between stays, channel or listing fees, and the mortgage, taxes, and insurance if you own the home. Empty months still carry the fixed costs.
How does the mid-term rate compare with a long-term lease?: In July 2026, across 8,946 U.S. ZIP codes with at least five tracked listings, the median ZIP's furnished monthly rate ran 77% above the Census median rent. That gap is before occupancy, furnishing, and utilities. Underwrite the specific address before you treat the national figure as the deal.

How to underwrite a mid-term rental
AMR from real comps, occupancy with placement gaps, the MTR expense stack, and the decision metrics: cash flow, cap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCR, and the MTR vs LTR premium.
How to price a mid-term rental
What the average monthly rate (AMR) means, how to build a comp band for your exact unit, what to include in rent, where to launch, and when to re-price.
Mid-term rental arbitrage
What mid-term rental arbitrage is, how the spread before occupancy differs from the spread after it, and what still has to be underwritten before you sign a lease.