Study: New Yorkers Host on Airbnb to Help Pay the Rent, Mortgage

• May 12, 2015

by Lark Turner

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A new study from Airbnb shows that New Yorkers primarily use revenue from the service to help pay their rent or mortgage.

First, a caveat: The Airbnb study was paid for by the company itself, which is engaged in a long battle with NYC’s hotel industry and the New York attorney general. It was carried out by economic consulting firm HR&A Advisors.

The primary point of the study, from the company’s perspective, was to demonstrate that Airbnb brings a lot of money to the city and to New Yorkers. It contends that the service generated $1.15 billion in “economic activity” to the city last year.

But it uncovered some interesting facts, too.

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It found that a good chunk of Airbnb properties are not in Manhattan: 243,000, or 32 percent, are in Brooklyn; 42,000, or 5 percent, are in Queens; and 5,300, or 1 percent, are in the Bronx. (There are 3,300 in Staten Island.)

The remaining 61 percent are in Manhattan, with 19 percent in “mid-Manhattan” — near most of the city’s hotels — and the other 42 percent outside mid-Manhattan.

The study also looked at how Airbnb hosts spend their revenue, using the annual average income the service brings in for hosts. The biggest chunk by far went toward paying rent or a mortgage.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/study_new_yorkers_host_on_airbnb_to_help_pay_the_rent_mortgage/9875