San Diego, CA or San Francisco, CA: which Airbnb market costs more per night, and which is fuller? $330 vs $401 a night, 71.6% vs 59.6% of December open, 33.9% vs 29.4% estimated occupancy
UpRev's Airbnb Market Data puts San Diego, CA and San Francisco, CA side by side from Inside Airbnb's public September 2026 snapshots: On these figures, San Francisco lists at $71 more a night than San Diego at the median, with 12.0 pts less of December open and 4.5 pts less estimated occupancy, and 0.33 times as many bookable entire homes.
By UpRev. Data as of 20 September 2026 for San Diego (9,764 bookable entire homes) and 14 September 2026 for San Francisco (3,231 bookable entire homes). The benchmark is quarterly. The next issue, from the December 2026 snapshots, follows in February 2027.
Airbnb Market Data / Airbnb Market Comparison / San Diego vs San Francisco Airbnb Market Data
Which costs more per night, San Diego or San Francisco?
The listed nightly price is the asking price of a near-term stay at a bookable entire home, net of host discounts and before taxes and fees: what a guest was quoted, not what a guest paid.
| Bedrooms, median listed nightly price | San Diego | San Francisco | Gap, San Francisco minus San Diego |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $165 | $300 | +$135 |
| 1 | $218 | $326 | +$108 |
| 2 | $316 | $428 | +$112 |
| 3 | $445 | $689 | +$244 |
| 4+ | $654 | $1,189 | +$535 |
| All | $330 | $401 | +$71 |
Source: Inside Airbnb (https://insideairbnb.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Aggregated and summarised by UpRev; the figures are UpRev's, not Inside Airbnb's.
Which market has more nights still open to book?
Open nights are the calendar nights a host still offers to book, as Inside Airbnb collected them. A night that is not open may be booked or blocked by the host, and the calendar does not say which, so a low share open is not proof of demand on its own.
| Bedrooms, December nights open | San Diego | San Francisco | Gap, San Francisco minus San Diego |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 68.7% | 60.9% | -7.8 pts |
| 1 | 72.9% | 60.0% | -12.9 pts |
| 2 | 73.0% | 60.4% | -12.6 pts |
| 3 | 70.5% | 55.5% | -15.0 pts |
| 4+ | 69.0% | 60.0% | -9.0 pts |
| All | 71.6% | 59.6% | -12.0 pts |
Source: Inside Airbnb (https://insideairbnb.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Aggregated and summarised by UpRev; the figures are UpRev's, not Inside Airbnb's.
Which market has the higher estimated occupancy?
Estimated occupancy is Inside Airbnb's own review-based model, run by UpRev with each region's average stay. It is an estimate built from reviews, not a count of bookings, and it reads low because a review follows check-out.
| Bedrooms, estimated occupancy, mean | San Diego | San Francisco | Gap, San Francisco minus San Diego |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 35.8% | 21.5% | -14.3 pts |
| 1 | 35.4% | 32.3% | -3.1 pts |
| 2 | 34.6% | 30.4% | -4.2 pts |
| 3 | 34.3% | 29.6% | -4.7 pts |
| 4+ | 28.5% | 21.6% | -6.9 pts |
| All | 33.9% | 29.4% | -4.5 pts |
Source: Inside Airbnb (https://insideairbnb.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Aggregated and summarised by UpRev; the figures are UpRev's, not Inside Airbnb's.
How do the two short-term rental (STR) markets compare on supply and hosts?
| Measure | San Diego | San Francisco | Gap, San Francisco minus San Diego |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bookable entire homes | 9,764 | 3,231 | 0.33 times |
| Change in bookable homes since June | -2.6% | -8.0% | -5.4 pts |
| Run by hosts with 2+ listings | 67.1% | 50.4% | -16.7 pts |
| Minimum stay of 30 nights or more | 24.6% | 41.3% | +16.7 pts |
| Entire homes, share of all listings | 83.4% | 59.5% | -23.9 pts |
Source: Inside Airbnb (https://insideairbnb.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Aggregated and summarised by UpRev; the figures are UpRev's, not Inside Airbnb's.
What stands out in each market?
San Diego, CA: UpRev's September 2026 benchmark puts the median near-term quoted price of a San Diego short-term rental at $330 a night, against a 34-region median of $272. Apart from price, San Diego sits close to the middle of the 34 US regions on most measures UpRev compared.
San Francisco, CA: San Francisco's December calendar was among the least open of the 34 US regions in UpRev's September 2026 benchmark: 59.6% of December nights at its bookable entire homes were still open to book, the 2nd lowest share, against a median of 74.1%. The median near-term quote was $401 a night, against a 34-region median of $272.
How should the gaps be read?
Each gap is the second market minus the first, computed from the two figures printed beside it and at their precision; a dash marks a class too small to report on either side. A gap in shares is in percentage points. The supply ratio is the second market's bookable entire homes over the first's.
Inside Airbnb collects each region on its own days, so the regions' calendars were read at different distances from each month ahead, and a gap in open nights between two regions partly reflects the days each was collected. Every row carries its own snapshot date, and the method page sets out the rest.