US Airbnb Hosts Using $22 Billion in Earnings to Cover Rising Cost of Living

Airbnb hosts are using the service to cope with the rising cost of living.

The online marketplace for short-term home rentals has found that 62% of hosts in the United States plan to use their earnings to cover the higher cost of living, 44% use it to cover the cost of food and other needs, and 42% said it has helped them stay in their home, Airbnb said in a Thursday (March 23) press release.

“With the livelihoods of so many impacted by the continued economic uncertainty, hosting on Airbnb continues to help people stay afloat,” the company said in the release. “Hosting on Airbnb offers a flexible and accessible form of income, creating a way for people to pay essential expenses in uncertain times and beyond.”

The firm also found that more than 75% of the hosts share just one home and that the median amount of earnings for U.S. hosts in 2022 was $14,000, according to the release.

In total, U.S. hosts earned $22 billion through Airbnb last year, the release said.

“New data shows supplemental income from home sharing is more important than ever as people continue to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, navigate economic uncertainty and cover the rising cost of living,” Airbnb said in the release.

During the company’s most recent earnings call, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said that the firm had 6.6 million global listings as of the end of last year, a tally that represented the addition of more than 900,000 listings, excluding China, since the beginning of 2022.

The growth in supply is indicative of the appeal of earning supplemental income, “which is critical during tough times,” Chesky said during the Feb. 14 call.

PYMNTS research has found that most consumers believe those tough times will continue for at least the next several months, with 56% of consumers saying they think life will be more expensive this year than last.

In addition, 70% of the people surveyed are living paycheck to paycheck, according to “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report: The Economic Outlook and Sentiment Edition,” a PYMNTS and LendingClub collaboration.