In This Article:
Short-term rentals found on Airbnb and VRBO have been in the news a lot lately. In Knoxville, they're on track to bring in record revenues in 2023.
The Knox County Commission is looking to regulate short-term rentals in the unincorporated county, and a Norris Lake community is in the middle of a nasty battle over whether residents can rent out their homes.
It's almost football time in Tennessee, and that means lots of visitors coming to Knoxville. It's a busy time for short-term rental owners, and there are more of them than you might think!
Here's everything you need to know about short-term rentals in Knoxville.
How many Airbnbs are in Knoxville?
According to AirDNA, a website that tracks short-term rental listings, there are an estimated 1,072 in Knoxville and Knox County.
Knox County doesn't track short-term rentals, so this is the best available data to figure out how many are in the county versus the city.
As of July 24, the city of Knoxville had 336 permitted short-term rentals, according to Knoxville Department of Finance Revenue Administrator Donna Dyer.
Assuming listings within the city on AirDNA's website are all permitted, that would leave an estimated 706 short-term rentals in the unincorporated county.
Of course, there could be more out there that AirDNA hasn't tracked down.
AirDNA's Knoxville boundary covers all of the city, and most of the county, but other areas like Powell and Corryton have their own data set. Knox News combined all areas to approximate the total number of short-term rentals in the county.
In the Knoxville area specifically (excluding Powell, Corryton and the other regions that make up Knox County on AirDNA):
-
65% are listed only on Airbnb
-
8% are listed only on VRBO
-
27% listed on both Airbnb and VRBO
The average short-term rental in Knoxville has 2.2 bedrooms and can accommodate 5.8 guests, according to AirDNA.
How much money do short-term rentals in Knoxville make?
The average nightly rate for a short-term rental in Knoxville is $171, according to AirDNA.
Short-term rentals brought in $13.3 million in revenue from January to June, up 30.7% from that same period in 2022, according to a Visit Knoxville analysis of AirDNA data.
That would put 2023 on track to be a record year for short-term rental revenue.
-
2019 - $12.6 million
-
2020 - $11.5 million, down 8.2% from the previous year
-
2021 - $18.1 million, up 56.6% from the previous year
-
2022 - $24.8 million, up 37.1% from the previous year
Knoxville short-term rentals compared to other cities
The city of Knoxville has significantly fewer short-term rentals than some nearby cities, according to AirDNA: