Travel

Essentials: Staying Power

Airbnb hosts here rake in a significant amount of money

By Rob Smith July 21, 2023

Prop styling by Ginger Langford
Prop styling by Ginger Langford
Photography by Ken Kist

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2023 issue of Seattle magazine.

Airbnb hosts across Washington state earned on average $16,700 last year, almost 20% more than the national average. Top-earning counties are King, Pierce, Clallam, Chelan, and Whatcom.

Hosts in the U.S. earned a total of $22 billion last year.

Data from Airbnb also find that nearly two-thirds of hosts use the supplemental income to cover basic costs, especially food.

Airbnb launched in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home. Today, more than 4 million hosts worldwide welcome 1.4 billion guests. 

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