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Kentucky’s rural communities see explosive Airbnb growth

Airbnb today released a global report illustrating the capacity of home sharing to deliver valuable supplemental income to residents of rural areas in Kentucky.

The report also indicates that home sharing can help close the economic opportunity gap by enabling many people beyond cities to benefit directly from the tourism boom, rather than keeping the growing profits in the hands of the traditional hospitality industry in large cities.

Below is the Kentucky data. Here is a map (PDF) illustrating locations of Airbnb hosts in rural Kentucky as well as locations of hotels in rural Kentucky. And here is a link to the global Airbnb “Beyond Cities” report.

Airbnb Impact in Kentucky’s Rural Communities

Guests
Guest Arrivals to Kentucky Rural Listings: 13,000
Year-Over-Year Growth in Airbnb Guest Arrivals to Rural Kentucky: 225%
Listings
Percent of Kentucky’s Airbnb Listings in Rural Areas: 18%
Percent of Kentucky Hotels in Rural Areas: 18%
Hosts
Active Rural Kentucky Hosts: 360
Average Age of Rural Kentucky Hosts: 50 years old
Earnings
Typical Annual Earnings for Rural Kentucky Hosts: $3,300
Total Annual Earnings for Rural Kentucky Hosts: $1.3 million


Editor’s note: for the purposes of this report, Airbnb’s data team utilized the census designation of “rural.”