Medellín Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 2026 Benchmarks

Medellín’s published short-term-rental occupancy benchmark is 63% in AirDNA’s latest public market overview, covering the trailing 12 months through August 2026. That is a starting point for comparison—not a forecast for your apartment. The useful question is whether you are filling comparable nights at a rate that leaves you a healthy owner payout. Source: AirDNA.

Sources checked September 19, 2026. Market estimates below come from third-party providers; they are not MedellinBNB portfolio results.

What is the average Airbnb occupancy rate in Medellín?

Two public sources report 63%, but they cover different periods and listing populations. Keep each figure attached to its source instead of treating them as one combined measurement.

Source	Occupancy	Period and scope
AirDNA	63%	Trailing 12 months through August 2026. Overview updated September 16, 2026; 14,643 active listings across its short-term-rental market.
Airbtics	63%	February 2025–January 2026. Page updated March 12, 2026; 12,860 active Airbnb listings.

AirDNA combines Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com data and identifies properties listed on more than one channel. Its market is broader than Airbnb alone. A change of provider, period, or listing mix can change the benchmark without your apartment changing at all. Read AirDNA’s methodology.

Neither figure is a September-only occupancy rate, a neighborhood target, or a promise of future bookings. Do not compare a partially booked future month with a completed annual result.

Calculate your occupancy using the same denominator

Bookable-night occupancy = booked nights ÷ (booked nights + open nights) × 100. Keep owner stays, maintenance blocks, and other unavailable nights separate. AirDNA excludes blocked nights from active listing nights and applies its own listing-activity rules. See its occupancy definition.

Illustrative example: In a 30-night month, your apartment has 18 booked nights, seven open nights, and five blocked nights. Its occupancy of bookable nights is 18 ÷ 25 = 72%. It earned accommodation revenue on 18 ÷ 30 = 60% of all calendar nights.

Both views are useful. The first tells you how well available inventory sold; the second shows how much of the month generated bookings. If a manager reports only the higher percentage, ask to see the blocked-night count too. Blocking an empty date does not create revenue.

For your own records, use completed stays and count nights, not checkout dates. Record the reporting period, booked nights, open nights, blocked nights, and the reason for each block. Compare results only after checking how the other report defines those fields.

What is a good occupancy rate for your property?

A good result beats a relevant comparison while protecting your nightly rate, guest experience, and net income. A citywide 63% does not tell you whether a specific apartment is doing well.

Build the comparison around properties a guest would realistically choose instead of yours:

1. Same location: compare the immediate area, not just a broad “Medellín” label.
2. Same property: match bedroom count, guest capacity, building quality, and important amenities.
3. Same stay type: separate apartments targeting monthly stays from those relying on short visits.
4. Same maturity: a new listing without reviews needs a different review from an established apartment.
5. Same dates and availability: compare the same completed month and understand owner-use or maintenance blocks.

Your property	A more useful comparison
One-bedroom in Laureles	Nearby one-bedroom apartments with similar workspaces, building access, amenities, and stay lengths.
Two-bedroom in El Poblado	Two-bedroom apartments in the same pocket, with comparable capacity, amenities, noise exposure, and quality.
Apartment offered mainly for monthly stays	Similar monthly inventory, compared over several completed months so one long reservation does not distort the picture.

These are comparison rules, not measured neighborhood occupancy rates. The cited public summaries do not establish a verified Laureles-versus-El Poblado occupancy split. A property review should obtain that matched data before giving you a neighborhood target.

Higher occupancy does not always mean more income

Look at occupancy alongside average daily rate (ADR), gross accommodation revenue, expenses, and what the owner actually keeps. A discount can fill more nights while leaving less money to cover fixed costs.

Illustrative example—not market data or a client result: both apartments below have all 30 nights available. Amounts are Colombian pesos and exclude cleaning charges, platform fees, management fees, taxes, and other expenses.

Measure	More nights, lower rate	Fewer nights, higher rate
Booked nights	24	18
Occupancy	80%	60%
Average nightly rate	COP 180,000	COP 260,000
Gross accommodation revenue	COP 4,320,000	COP 4,680,000

The second scenario earns COP 360,000 more before expenses despite lower occupancy. It does not prove that raising prices always works, or that net profit is higher. It shows why you need the full revenue-and-cost calculation. Use our Airbnb ROI calculator to test your own assumptions and our management-fee breakdown to understand the service costs.

How to improve occupancy without discounting blindly

Start with the reason dates are open. A listing problem, an availability problem, and a pricing problem require different changes.

1. Check whether guests can book: inspect calendar blocks, minimum stays, arrival restrictions, and gaps that your rules make impossible to fill.
2. Check what guests see: review photos, amenity accuracy, the total quoted price, and recent reviews. Fix recurring complaints before asking the same listing to convert better.
3. Compare booking pace: for a future month, compare reservations at the same number of days before arrival. Avoid judging next month’s unfinished calendar against last month’s final occupancy.
4. Adjust specific dates: use comparable listings and local demand to test rates and stay rules. Review high-demand dates individually before applying a broad discount.
5. Measure the outcome: check booked nights, ADR, owner payout, guest ratings, and operating costs together. Keep a record of what changed so you can identify what helped.

Dynamic pricing software can help organize this work, but it does not replace accurate availability, good guest care, or someone reviewing the recommendations. A manager should be able to explain the decision for your property, rather than promise a fixed revenue uplift from a tool.

What should your manager show you each month?

Ask for a short report that lets you verify both the percentage and the money behind it:

1. Booked, open, and blocked nights, with reasons for the blocks.
2. ADR, gross accommodation revenue, itemized deductions, and net owner payout.
3. The comparable properties and dates used to judge performance.
4. Booking pace for the next month and the specific actions planned.
5. Guest-review trends and unresolved cleaning or maintenance issues.

A useful explanation sounds like “our rate held up, but three maintenance blocks reduced earning days,” rather than simply “occupancy was 80%.” See what our Airbnb management team in Medellín includes in its service.

Common occupancy questions

Sources and reporting dates

1. AirDNA: Medellín market overview. Page updated September 16, 2026; data through August 2026. Used for the latest market occupancy reference and listing count.
2. Airbtics: Medellín short-term-rental data. Page updated March 12, 2026; reported period February 2025–January 2026. Used as a separate historical comparison.
3. AirDNA: how occupancy is calculated. Updated August 20, 2026. Explains active listing nights, availability, and booked-versus-blocked dates.
4. AirDNA data methodology. Explains channel coverage, matching, and reservation estimates.

All sources accessed September 19, 2026. Provider estimates can change with updates. Calculations labeled “illustrative” were created to explain the arithmetic and do not represent actual properties.