Colorado Airbnb hosts made $183 million in 2017 spurred by 68% growth in stays
- Feb 20, 2018 | Jennifer Sokolowsky
Airbnb short-term operators in Colorado hosted 1.2 million guests in 2017, a 68 percent increase from the previous year. Combined, Colorado Airbnb hosts made $183 million last year, with an average of $8,100 per host for the year. Airbnb statistics also show that last year, 16 percent of the state’s Airbnb hosts were older than 60, and 59 percent were women.
The top three Colorado Airbnb markets in 2017 were Denver, with 325,000 guests and $51 million in host income; Breckenridge, with 89,000 guests and $16.5 million in host income; and Colorado Springs, with 72,000 guests and $2.1 million in host income.
Airbnb has an agreement with Colorado to collect state-administered lodging taxes on behalf of its hosts. This includes the 2.9 percent state sales tax on accommodations, county taxes of between .9 percent and 2 percent, local marketing district taxes that range from 1.4 percent to 4 percent, and local sales taxes that range from 1 percent to 5 percent.
Airbnb has separate agreements with 11 non-state-administered communities to collect lodging taxes on behalf of hosts. These include Basalt, Boulder, Carbondale, Colorado Springs, Durango, Golden, Loveland, Pagosa Springs, Snowmass Village, and Steamboat Springs.
Colorado Airbnb hosts residing in cities that have no agreement with Airbnb are responsible for collecting and remitting any non-state-administered local lodging tax. And hosts who use other booking services, such as VRBO and HomeAway, must take care of all taxes on short-term rentals themselves. MyLodgeTax, a managed tax filing service, helps many Colorado hosts simplify and manage lodging tax compliance.
The growth in short-term rentals in Colorado in not universally welcomed. The Golden City Council, for example, recently approved a six-month moratorium on applications for new short-term rentals so the city can draft clear short-term rental regulations.
Currently, short-term rentals are legal in certain zones in Golden as “Tourist Homes,” but the city wants to institute more comprehensive rules. The new rules may follow Denver’s lead to only allow short-term rentals at primary residences — not second homes or investment properties.
In nearby Wheat Ridge, the city plans to look at short-term rental regulations this year, while Edgewater recently drafted rules that will severely restrict short-term rentals.
