Nashville STR Market Research · 2026
The Nashville STR market,
by the numbers.
Every claim Foxspur makes about Nashville's short-term rental market is traceable to a source. This page compiles the Metro Nashville STRP permit data, Airbtics revenue benchmarks, and the four-segment neighborhood ranking behind the operator's recommendations — so you can read the underlying figures, not just the conclusions.
Permit supply
3,800 active permits.
Supply grew 14% last year.
As of Q1 2026, Metro Nashville's Short-Term Rental Property (STRP) registry lists approximately 3,800 active permits[1] across Davidson County. That figure grew by 14% year-over-year[1] from 2024 to 2025 — meaning roughly one new permitted listing entered the market for every seven already operating.
Supply growth at that rate compresses the median performer. When the total addressable demand for Nashville STR nights grows more slowly than the number of units competing for it, occupancy concentrates at the top of the quality and pricing distribution. An operator without active pricing management doesn't hold their position — they get pushed toward the median as better-managed listings absorb the pace.
The practical consequence: in 2023 a Nashville STR with a static Airbnb default price could hold 70%+ occupancy on market momentum alone. In 2026 the same property, unchanged, is competing against a pool 14% larger — and absorbing the pricing slack that the new supply creates.
Revenue benchmarks
Median: $3,640/mo.
Top quartile: $5,900/mo.
Airbtics' Nashville market report for Q4 2025 / Q1 2026 puts the median monthly revenue per active listing at $3,640[2]. Top-quartile listings — the top 25% of active units by monthly revenue — earn a median of $5,900[2] per month. That's a $2,260 monthly gap between the median operator and the top-quartile operator on the same platform, in the same city.
The spread is not primarily a property-quality story. Airbtics' cross-market analysis consistently attributes the gap to three operator-controlled variables: pricing discipline (dynamic rate moves against the local demand calendar), listing quality (headline copy, photo order, amenity framing that converts a search result into a booking), and channel mix (the ratio of Airbnb to Vrbo to Booking to direct — each platform draws different demand at different ADR thresholds).
Those three levers are exactly what Foxspur manages. A property earning $3,640 today is not necessarily in a worse neighborhood or a worse building — it may simply be unmanaged on the revenue side in a market where managing it has become necessary.
Foxspur four-segment ranking
The four neighborhoods worth
active management in 2026.
Ranked by risk-adjusted revenue opportunity — median monthly revenue weighed against competitive supply density and demand-driver durability.[3] Revenue figures from Airbtics[2]; permit counts from the Metro STRP Registry.[1]
$4,820/mo median[2]
Primary demand driver: Business travel + weekend nightlife
$4,110/mo median[2]
Primary demand driver: Music/arts weekend stays, 5th Ave corridor
$3,990/mo median[2]
Primary demand driver: Boutique food/arts scene, strong weekends
$3,340/mo median[2]
Primary demand driver: Boating/event season, compressed May–Oct
East Nashville leads on permit count (~480), which makes it the most competitive zone and the one where pricing discipline creates the largest spread between managed and unmanaged units. The Gulch leads on median revenue despite a smaller supply base — its demand mix (business travel mid-week, nightlife weekend) produces more consistent occupancy across the calendar. Old Hickory Lake is the highest-risk segment: strong peak-season revenue, but compressed to a May–October window; active length-of-stay management is what separates a profitable year from a breakeven one.
What this means in practice
Supply is growing faster
than demand can absorb it.
The Nashville STR market in 2026 is not a rising tide. The 14% supply growth[1] is outpacing tourism demand absorption at the median — which means the operators sitting at the median are being competed downward, not lifted up. The gap between the median ($3,640/mo) and the top quartile ($5,900/mo) is the exact space that active management defends.[2]
Operators without active pricing management are not holding their position — they are drifting toward the median as better-managed listings capture the demand they leave on the table. The market is not punishing bad properties; it is rewarding managed ones. The distinction matters because the fix is operational, not physical. You don't need a renovation to move from $3,640 to $4,800 — you need weekly pricing moves, a listing that converts, and a channel mix that keeps acquisition cost in check.
Flat-fee revenue management is the lever that defends margin without adding a variable cost that rises when revenue rises. Every dollar recovered through better pricing or better channel mix stays with the property owner — not a percentage that scales with the upside the operator helped create.
References
- [1] Metro Nashville STRP Active Permit Registry (accessed Q1 2026). Public permit-count data for Davidson County short-term rental properties.
- [2] Airbtics Nashville Market Report, Q4 2025 / Q1 2026. Median and top-quartile monthly revenue per active listing; neighborhood-level revenue breakdowns.
- [3] Foxspur four-segment ranking methodology (internal), cross-referenced with [1] and [2]. Ranks neighborhoods by risk-adjusted revenue opportunity: median monthly revenue weighted against competitive supply density and demand-driver durability.
Talk to Foxspur
The numbers point to one question:
Is your listing managed?
Send the property address and a current revenue range. Foxspur replies within one business day with a written audit and a flat-rate offer — no percentage, no upsell.