Airbnb vs Long-Term Rental in Calgary and Edmonton: What Owners Actually Take Home (2026)

Every owner who calls us asks the same question in the first five minutes: would I make more on Airbnb than with a tenant? The honest answer depends almost entirely on the size of the home. For a one bedroom condo it is close to a wash. For a house that sleeps eight or more, Airbnb wins by a wide margin, and July alone can pay for the whole winter.

Below are real monthly take-home figures from homes we manage in Calgary and Edmonton, set beside what a long-term tenant pays for the same kind of place right now. These are owner payouts after every cost, not listing revenue.

The short answer, by property type

Long-term rents are October 2026 city averages from Zumper. The Airbnb column is what owners we manage actually received, after Airbnb's fees, our 15% management fee, cleaning, supplies, utilities, internet and insurance, and before their mortgage. Ranges are our portfolio; the house figures are two specific homes, shown month by month below.

What two Calgary houses paid their owners in 2026

Averages hide the shape of the year, and in Calgary the shape is everything. Here is what two houses we manage paid their owners every month this year. Both are full service: we handle pricing, guests, cleaning and maintenance, and the owner gets a statement and a payout.

House A: 4 bedrooms, sleeps 8, established neighbourhood

Six months, $26,555 to the owner. That is $4,426 a month on average against a long-term rent of about $2,300 for a comparable house. September was 11 reservations and $6,070 in bookings, of which the owner kept $3,056. Roughly half of what guests pay reaches the owner after cleaning, platform fees, utilities and management, which is typical and is the number to plan around.

House B: larger home, sleeps 11

Seven months, $37,940 to the owner, or $5,420 a month. A home this size would rent long-term for somewhere between $2,800 and $3,200. July paid more than a tenant would in four months.

Two things to take from both houses. First, Stampede is not a bonus, it is the business model: one month carries 25 to 30% of the year. Second, March and April are the floor, and the floor still matches or beats a tenant.

Why the average Calgary Airbnb makes $15,000 a year and ours do not

Market data for Calgary shows about 4,700 active listings running 42.5% occupancy at a $139 nightly rate, for average annual revenue of $15,126 per listing (AirROI, trailing twelve months to July 2026). That is the number people quote when they say Airbnb does not work here.

It is an average of everyone: spare rooms, part-time hosts, listings with eight photos and no pricing strategy. The homes we manage run at 80 to 90% occupancy year round. The difference is not the city, it is how the listing is run:

• 01Pricing moves every night: In the off season we would rather book every night at $100 to $110 than sit empty at $150. In July we hold the line.
• 02Winter is for workers, not tourists: Calgary and Edmonton both have steady weekday demand from contractors, nurses and relocations. A 30 night stay in February at a lower rate beats three weekends.
• 03Reviews compound: A listing with 200 reviews at 4.9 shows up first and books first. New listings borrow that trust by being run the same way from day one.
• 04Nothing sits empty waiting for a photo shoot: Our owners' homes are listed within two weeks of handover, licensed and insured.

That is what the gap between $15,000 and $50,000 a year on the same kind of house comes down to.

Where long-term rental wins

We would rather tell you now than six months in.

• 01A one bedroom condo in a building with high fees: After condo fees, which you pay either way, Airbnb take-home of $1,500 to $2,000 against a $1,555 tenant is a marginal win that comes with more activity in the building. If the board is hostile to short-term rentals, take the tenant.
• 02A home you cannot licence: Calgary requires a business licence for every short-term rental and treats non-primary residences differently. Edmonton requires a licence too. If the property or the building cannot be licensed, the answer is long-term. We check this before anything else.
• 03You want a fixed number every month: Airbnb income is seasonal. A $9,718 July and a $2,264 April average out well, but they do not arrive evenly. Some owners prefer the flat cheque, and that is a fair choice.
• 04A remote property with no local cleaner: Not an issue in Calgary or Edmonton, but worth saying.

Comparing fairly: what the Airbnb number already has taken out

Owners often compare an Airbnb take-home figure to a rent figure and conclude the gap is smaller than it is. The two numbers are not built the same way.

The Airbnb take-home above is after:

• 01Airbnb's host fee
• 02Our management fee, 15% of the nightly rate only. The guest-paid cleaning fee goes to the cleaning team, not to us and not out of your pocket
• 03Cleaning, supplies and linens
• 04Utilities and internet, which the guest does not pay
• 05Short-term rental insurance and the city licence
• 06Lawn and snow, which are included in our fee

A long-term rent figure is before:

• 01Vacancy between tenants, typically 3 to 5% of the year
• 02Repairs and turnover costs, typically 5 to 8% of rent
• 03The utilities you may still carry on a house

So a fair comparison takes 8 to 12% off the rent column, and remembers the Airbnb column is money that was actually paid, not a listing price. On a $2,300 house the tenant's real number is closer to $2,050. House A averaged $4,426.

The hybrid options most people do not consider

The choice is not only Airbnb or a tenant.

• 01Live in it, rent Stampede: One owner lives in his house May through August and leaves for the ten Stampede nights, which book at around $800 a night. The other eight months it runs as a full-time Airbnb. The projection for that home is about $28,000 a year to the owner from a house he still lives in half the year.
• 02Mid-term in winter, short-term in summer: A 30 to 90 day furnished stay to a travelling nurse or a family between homes fills January to March at a steady rate. Then the calendar opens up for summer. This suits owners moving away who want the income without the daily turnover in the slow months.
• 03Snowbird: Owners who are away October to April rent those months and move back in for summer. The off season still beats an empty house.

We run all three for owners today. They are built into the business case when we put one together for you.

Get your own number instead of an average

Every figure on this page is a real home, not a formula, and your home will have its own number. We build it month by month: what it would earn as a short-term rental, as a mid-term rental, and next to a long-term lease, with the licence check done first.

It takes a 15 minute call to learn the property and your costs, and you have the projection the same week. Start with Airbnb management in Calgary or Airbnb management in Edmonton, or try the STR vs long-term ROI calculator for a first look.

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