Owner resources · 6 min read
What a short-term rental earns in Nova Scotia, market by market.
Nightly rates, occupancy and annual revenue for the listings in the Nova Scotia markets Casa Scotia tracks, typical and premium, and what sits between the two.
Owners ask one question before any other: what would the home bring in? The honest answer has two parts. There is what the average listing in a market earns, which this page sets out from the market data Casa Scotia tracks every month, and there is what a particular home can earn, which depends on the home and on how it is run. The first part is below. The second is the calculator, which reads the comparable homes near an address rather than a market average.
The numbers, and what they measure
Three figures describe a market. The nightly rate is the average price charged across the market's active listings on the nights they were booked. Occupancy is the share of available nights that were booked. Annual revenue is what the average listing took in over the last twelve months. All three are the snapshot’s own figures, AirROI’s measure of what a listing charged and took in; what the booking platform’s host fee, the municipal levy and HST take from a booking is a separate question, set out below.
The premium columns are the segment of each market with three bedrooms or more, which the snapshot keeps apart from the rest. They are the useful comparison for a whole-home rental, because the market average blends such homes with rooms, suites and small apartments.
The markets
| Market | Active listings | Nightly rate | Occupancy | Annual revenue | Premium nightly rate | Premium annual revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hammonds Plains | 15 | $405 | 46% | $46,423 | $560 | $67,704 |
| Upper Tantallon | 11 | $246 | 49% | $36,876 | $454 | $76,508 |
| Chester | 41 | $406 | 38% | $33,709 | $584 | $40,675 |
| Wolfville | 62 | $264 | 47% | $30,801 | $564 | $53,381 |
| Halifax | 854 | $229 | 55% | $28,384 | $429 | $46,915 |
| Lunenburg | 86 | $270 | 47% | $28,034 | $444 | $45,062 |
| Town of Mahone Bay | 55 | $267 | 42% | $27,108 | $424 | $41,855 |
| Truro | 35 | $221 | 44% | $25,148 | $360 | $32,041 |
| Town of Kentville | 27 | $171 | 46% | $23,185 | $198 | $32,640 |
| Dartmouth | 187 | $196 | 54% | $22,218 | $367 | $33,510 |
| Bedford | 99 | $230 | 46% | $21,279 | $529 | $46,767 |
| Lower Sackville | 24 | $179 | 49% | $19,349 | $310 | $37,000 |
| Hubbards | 55 | $321 | 32% | $19,014 | $504 | $34,663 |
| Porters Lake | 34 | $268 | 30% | $17,568 | $625 | $28,669 |
| Town of Bridgewater | 14 | $170 | 42% | $15,602 | $363 | $25,878 |
The table covers 1,599 active listings across 15 markets, read in August 2026 and refreshed monthly. They are the markets Casa Scotia tracks, all of them inside its management service area: Halifax and the communities within about a ninety-minute drive, out through the South Shore and the Annapolis Valley.
Typical and premium are two different businesses
The gap between the average listing and the three-bedroom-and-larger segment is the point of the table. In Halifax the premium nightly rate is $429 against $229 for the average listing, and the premium annual revenue is $46,915 against $28,384. In Chester the premium listing takes $40,675 a year against $33,709 for the average one; in Wolfville, $53,381 against $30,801.
Two things put a home in the premium segment. The first is the home itself: its size, its setting, water or a view, and the things a group of guests can do there. The second is how it is run: a price that moves with the season and the calendar rather than one rate all year, photographs that show the home at its best, reviews that keep arriving, and replies that come quickly. The first is fixed when you buy the home. The second is the work, and it is the part a manager is paid for.
Where the money goes before it is yours
A booking’s price loses three things on its way to an owner. The booking platform keeps its host fee on every reservation it brings. The municipality's marketing levy, where one is in force, is a percentage of the accommodation charge; a platform may collect it for you, and on a direct booking you collect and remit it yourself. HST applies to stays of under a month. The provincial registration fee is a fixed yearly cost on top. The registration and levy page sets out the fees and every municipality's levy, and the HST page explains the tax.
Your own number
A market average is a starting point, not an estimate. The calculator takes an address, finds the comparable homes around it in the same data, and reads what they earned, so the number it gives is the home's neighbours' rather than the region's. It is the figure to bring to a conversation about management.
Questions owners ask
Are these figures gross or net?
They are the snapshot’s own revenue figures, as AirROI reports them; the page does not restate what AirROI nets out. The platform’s host fee, the municipal levy and HST are the costs that follow a booking, set out on the page, and an owner’s share comes after the costs of running the home.
How current are the numbers?
The table shows the month the market data was read; Casa Scotia refreshes it monthly and the page is rebuilt from the data, never typed by hand.
Why does one market out-earn its neighbour?
The figures are averages across whatever is listed in each market, so a market with more whole homes and fewer rooms and suites shows a higher average. The premium columns compare like with like.
Does Casa use the market average to estimate a home?
No. The calculator reads the comparable homes near the address, in the same data, and reports what they earned. A market average is context, not a quote.
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Start with a number
See what your home could earn.
The calculator reads the comparable homes near your address, not the market average.