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Wisconsin Short-Term Rental Revenue Calculator

Estimate your Airbnb or VRBO revenue using Wisconsin market data. Property tax, insurance, and vacancy defaults are pre-filled with current Wisconsin averages. Cash-on-cash return separates a profitable STR from an expensive hobby.

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Revenue Assumptions

Investment & Financing

Operating Expenses(Wisconsin defaults)

Total Annual Operating Expenses$29,514

Wisconsin Market Context

Avg Cap Rate

6.2%

Median Price

$311K

Property Tax

1.19%

Vacancy Rate

4.1%

Local Factors

  • -Milwaukee offers affordable urban investment with moderate rental demand
  • -High property taxes are the primary expense concern for investors
  • -Madison has very low vacancy driven by state government and UW employment

How to Analyze a Short-Term Rental

Nightly rate × occupancy determines your top line, but the real story is in what's left after expenses. STRs carry higher operating costs than long-term rentals — cleaning, furnishing, platform fees, utilities, and guest supplies all eat into revenue.

RevPAN (Revenue Per Available Night) accounts for vacancy — it's your gross revenue divided by 365. This metric lets you compare properties regardless of how they're marketed or how stay lengths differ.

Management costs are the biggest variable. Self-managing saves 20–30% but costs you time. Full-service STR management typically runs 20–25% of gross revenue. Factor in your time honestly.

Always stress-test with lower occupancy — markets shift, regulations change, and new supply comes online. A deal that only works at 80% occupancy is a deal that's one bad season from going underwater.

Annual Cash Flow

$-16,227

Negative

Cash-on-Cash Return

-21.0%

Gross Revenue$33,150
Rental Income$20,400
Cleaning Fee Income$12,750
Operating Expenses$29,514
NOI$3,637
Annual Debt Service$19,863
Monthly Mortgage$1,655
RevPAN$91/night
Monthly Cash Flow$-1,352
Total Cash Invested$77,200
CASH FLOW$-16,227
Cash Flow$0
Mortgage$19,863
Management$6,630
Cleaning$8,500
Platform Fees$995
Property Tax$3,701
Insurance$1,288
Utilities$3,600
Maintenance$3,000
Supplies & Other$1,800

What does this mean?

This STR is losing money at these numbers. Either the nightly rate needs to increase, occupancy needs to improve, or expenses need to come down. Many hosts underestimate cleaning, furnishing, and platform fees.

Want to analyze a full deal with comps, rehab estimates, and flip projections?

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