Airbnb hosts in this rural, eastern Kentucky county raked in $5M in earnings last year
Emerging from the lockdowns and social distancing rules that defined the earlier years of the pandemic, most Americans say they have plans to travel in 2022, a recent NerdWallet study indicates.
New data from short-term rental company Airbnb also shows many thousands of towns across the country have welcomed their first guests since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2021, domestic nights booked by U.S. guests on Airbnb for stays in rural parts of the country jumped by 110% compared to 2019, the platform reported earlier this month. Meanwhile, hosts in rural counties across the U.S. earned a combined $3.5 billion over the course of last year.
We reached out to an Airbnb representative for data about how hosts in Kentucky are doing.
As it turns out, hosts in the commonwealth’s rural counties made more than $27 million in 2021, and the typical Airbnb host in rural Kentucky earned more than $10,000 last year.
Powell County, near the Red River Gorge, topped the list at $5 million in earnings.
We also have a breakdown, sourced from Airbnb data, of total host income in each of Kentucky’s rural counties. See the list below:
Rural County | Approximate 2021 Host Earnings |
Adair | $180,000 |
Anderson | $330,000 |
Ballard | $15,000 |
Barren | $770,000 |
Bath | $20,000 |
Bell | $80,000 |
Boyle | $390,000 |
Breathitt | $13,000 |
Breckinridge | $160,000 |
Caldwell | $12,000 |
Calloway | $625,000 |
Carlisle | $5,000 |
Carroll | $15,000 |
Carter | $75,000 |
Casey | $100,000 |
Clay | $100,000 |
Clinton | $135,000 |
Crittenden | $20,000 |
Cumberland | $225,000 |
Estill | $130,000 |
Fleming | $160,000 |
Floyd | $50,000 |
Franklin | $730,000 |
Fulton | $5,000 |
Garrard | $200,000 |
Graves | $20,000 |
Grayson | $650,000 |
Green | $40,000 |
Harlan | $80,000 |
Harrison | $65,000 |
Hart | $85,000 |
Hickman | $15,000 |
Hopkins | $140,000 |
Jackson | $275,000 |
Johnson | $10,000 |
Knott | $60,000 |
Knox | $50,000 |
Laurel | $340,000 |
Lawrence | $140,000 |
Lee | $640,000 |
Leslie | $15,000 |
Letcher | $225,000 |
Lewis | $90,000 |
Lincoln | $130,000 |
Livingston | $170,000 |
Logan | $250,000 |
Lyon | $480,000 |
Madison | $900,000 |
Magoffin | $3,000 |
Marion | $425,000 |
Marshall | $975,000 |
Mason | $215,000 |
McCracken | $1 million |
McCreary | $100,000 |
Menifee | $255,000 |
Mercer | $300,000 |
Metcalfe | $30,000 |
Monroe | $25,000 |
Montgomery | $80,000 |
Morgan | $20,000 |
Muhlenberg | $145,000 |
Nelson | $1 million |
Nicholas | $75,000 |
Ohio | $15,000 |
Owen | $80,000 |
Owsley | $10,000 |
Perry | $115,000 |
Pike | $275,000 |
Powell | $5 million |
Pulaski | $2 million |
Robertson | $20,000 |
Rockcastle | $70,000 |
Rowan | $175,000 |
Russell | $760,000 |
Simpson | $85,000 |
Taylor | $325,000 |
Todd | $165,000 |
Trigg | $875,000 |
Union | $30,000 |
Washington | $310,000 |
Wayne | $545,000 |
Webster | $75,000 |
Whitley | $115,000 |
Wolfe | $2 million |
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