AUSTIN, Texas — Airbnb hosting is becoming more and more popular — and it's not just for city folks, according to new data released Tuesday by the vacation rental company.
Airbnb said that since March 2020, more than 8,100 cities and towns across the globe have received their first-ever Airbnb bookings, including 1,300 in the U.S. Airbnb said that guests have already planned stays in over 72,000 cities and towns this summer.
But what's really interesting is the Airbnb growth in rural areas. Airbnb said domestic nights booked by U.S. guests for stays in rural areas grew 110% in 2021 compared to 2019. And Airbnb hosts in rural U.S. counties earned over $3.5 billion over the year.
That includes hosts in the Lone Star State. Airbnb said in Texas, hosts in rural counties earned over $115 million in 2021, and the typical Airbnb host in rural Texas earned nearly $12,000 in 2021.
Central Texas hosts were among those bringing in the big bucks. In Gillespie County alone, hosts earned an estimated $40 million in 2021.
Here's a breakdown of the approximate 2021 host earnings in rural Central Texas counties:
- Blanco County: $3 million
- Burnet County: $6 million
- Fayette County: $2 million
- Gillespie County: $40 million
- Lee County: $175,000
- Llano County: $6 million
Not everyone saw Airbnb success last year. In January, KVUE reported that Airbnb denied 48,000 reservations in Texas in 2021 — including about 3,300 in Austin — in an effort to stop parties from happening in rentals.
Britny Eubank on social media: Twitter
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: