Rental Vacancy Rate: How to Calculate It & What It Costs

Every rental sits empty for a stretch at some point, usually between one tenant moving out and the next moving in. Those weeks rarely show up in a rent estimate, but they show up in what the home earns over the year, and they cost more than most owners expect once the bills that keep coming are added in.

This guide explains what a rental vacancy rate is, how to calculate yours, how it compares with the national rate, and how to work out what a vacancy costs. It also covers how vacancy differs from a tenant who stops paying, and the steps that shorten the time a home sits empty. If this is your first rental, start with our guide to renting out your house.

Rental vacancy rates at a glance

• Vacancy rate formula: days the home was vacant ÷ days it was available to rent × 100. A home empty for 30 days in a year has a vacancy rate of about 8.2%.

• National benchmark: the U.S. rental vacancy rate was 7.3% in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Census Bureau. That figure covers the whole rental market, mostly apartments, so it's a rough guide for a single home.

• What a vacancy costs: the rent you don't collect, plus the costs that continue while the home is empty (mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, upkeep), plus the cost of getting it ready for the next tenant.

• Vacancy and non-payment are different risks. Vacancy is a home with no tenant. Non-payment is a tenant who stops paying. Guaranteed rent and most landlord insurance don't cover vacancy.

• The biggest levers are keeping good tenants, pricing at market from the first day, and starting the search for the next tenant before the current one leaves.

What is a rental vacancy rate?

A rental vacancy rate is the share of time a rental is empty and available to rent but not earning rent. For a landlord with one home, it's usually measured over a year: the number of days with no tenant, divided by the days the home could have been rented.

There are two ways to look at it:

• Physical vacancy: the time the home is empty. This is the number most landlords mean by vacancy rate.

• Economic vacancy: the rent you could have collected but didn't, whether the home was empty or occupied by a tenant who paid late, paid less, or didn't pay. It also counts concessions, such as a free first month. The dollar amount is often called vacancy loss.

Economic vacancy is always at least as high as physical vacancy, and it's the better measure of what the home actually earned.

How to calculate your rental vacancy rate

Use this formula for a single home:

Vacancy rate = days vacant ÷ days available to rent × 100

Count only the days the home was available. If you took it off the market for two months to renovate, leave those days out of both numbers.

Example: your tenant moves out on June 30, and the next tenant moves in on August 14. The home was vacant for 45 days of a 365-day year.

45 ÷ 365 × 100 = 12.3% vacancy rate

If you own several homes, add up the vacant days across all of them and divide by the total days they were available. To calculate economic vacancy, divide the rent you didn't collect by the rent you could have collected at full occupancy.

IMAGE (graphic, 700px wide, SVG): formula card: "Days vacant ÷ days available × 100 = vacancy rate," with the worked example "45 ÷ 365 × 100 = 12.3%." Alt text: "Rental vacancy rate formula with a worked example: 45 vacant days in a year is a 12.3% vacancy rate."

What's a good vacancy rate for a rental property?

The Census Bureau's national rental vacancy rate was 7.3% in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 7.0% a year earlier. The Census also publishes vacancy rates by state and metro area, which are a better comparison than the national figure.

Two things make the national rate a loose benchmark for a single-family rental:

• It measures the share of all rental units that are empty and for rent at a point in time, and most of those units are apartments.

• A single home is either occupied or empty, so its rate moves in big steps. A home with one turnover a year and a month between tenants has a vacancy rate of about 8%. A home whose tenant renews has a rate of 0%.

Many investors budget a vacancy allowance of 5% to 10% of annual rent when they estimate a rental's returns. If your actual rate is consistently higher than your local market's, the usual causes are pricing above market, long gaps between tenants, or frequent turnover.

What a vacancy costs

A vacancy costs more than the missing rent. Add up three kinds of cost:

• Lost rent: about one month of rent for every month the home is empty.

• Carrying costs: the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and HOA dues continue, and while the home is empty you usually pay the utilities, lawn care, and snow removal the tenant would have covered.

• Turnover costs: cleaning, paint, repairs, and replacing worn items, plus listing photos and screening for the next tenant. Damage beyond normal wear and tear can be deducted from the outgoing tenant's deposit, within your state's security deposit rules, but routine turnover work usually can't.

Example (illustrative): a home that rents for $2,400 a month sits empty for 45 days.

• Lost rent: about $3,550

• Utilities and yard care while vacant: about $250

• Cleaning and touch-up paint: about $1,200

• Total: about $5,000, or roughly 17% of a year's rent

Long vacancies are where the cost adds up. Across Nomad's portfolio, about 1 in 10 turnovers leaves a home empty for 120 days or more (Nomad platform data, 2026). At $2,400 a month, 120 days is close to four months of rent before any carrying or turnover costs.

Check your insurance as well. Many landlord policies limit coverage for some types of damage once a home has been vacant for a set period, often 30 or 60 days in a row. Read the vacancy clause in your policy before a long gap, and ask your insurer what it requires.

Vacancy vs. a tenant who stops paying

Vacancy and non-payment both cut into rental income, but they're different risks, and they're covered differently:

• Vacancy is a home with no tenant. The rent is lost, and no one owes it to you.

• Non-payment is a tenant who's living in the home but stops paying. The rent is still owed under the lease, and you may recover part of it later, sometimes through an eviction.

Standard landlord insurance usually covers lost rent only when the home becomes unlivable because of a covered event, such as a fire. It doesn't cover an ordinary vacancy or a tenant who stops paying. Guaranteed rent covers rent a tenant owes under a signed lease, not the time between tenants. The way to limit vacancy is to shorten it.

How to reduce your vacancy rate

1. Keep good tenants longer

The shortest vacancy is the one that doesn't happen. Fix maintenance problems quickly, answer messages, and offer the renewal early. When you set the renewal rent, weigh an increase against what a turnover costs: keeping a good tenant at slightly below market often earns more over the year than replacing them at full market rent. The three financial risks landlords underestimate goes further into turnover costs.

2. Start the next lease before the current one ends

Once you know a tenant is leaving, list the home right away rather than waiting for move-out. Many leases let you show the home during the last weeks of a tenancy with proper notice. If you're the one ending the lease, our guide to notice of non-renewal requirements by state covers how much notice you need to give, which also sets how much time you have to find the next tenant.

3. Price at market from the first day

A price above market is the most common reason a listing sits. Compare your home with similar rentals that leased recently, and adjust quickly if the first week brings few inquiries. Our rental pricing guide walks through how to set and adjust the price.

4. Time your lease end dates

Homes lease faster in late spring and summer than in winter. Setting lease terms so they end in busier months makes the next vacancy shorter. Our guides to rent seasonality and lease date decisions explain how.

5. Screen for a good fit, consistently

A tenant who meets clear, written criteria is more likely to pay on time and stay. Apply the same criteria to every applicant and follow fair housing rules in your state.

6. Make the listing easy to act on

Good photos, a complete description, and quick replies to inquiries turn interest into showings. Our renter inquiry response templates cover the messages you'll send most often.

How Nomad handles this: With Nomad's Rental Advertising, you set the rent and Nomad lists the home on rental sites including Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin. Screening & Leasing handles applications, screening, and a state-specific lease, and you choose the tenant. Guaranteed Rent pays you on a fixed monthly schedule for the term of the lease, whether or not the tenant pays; it doesn't cover the time between tenants.

Frequently asked questions

What is a rental vacancy rate?

It's the percentage of time a rental is empty and available but not earning rent. For a single home, divide the days it was vacant in a year by the days it was available to rent, and multiply by 100.

How do you calculate vacancy rate?

Divide the number of days (or months) the unit was vacant by the number of days (or months) it was available to rent, then multiply by 100. A home empty 45 days in a year has a vacancy rate of 45 ÷ 365 × 100 = 12.3%.

What is a good vacancy rate for a rental property?

Lower than your local market's rate. The national rental vacancy rate was 7.3% in the second quarter of 2026, and many investors plan for 5% to 10% when estimating returns. A single home that renews with the same tenant has a 0% rate for the year.

What is the current national rental vacancy rate?

The Census Bureau reported a U.S. rental vacancy rate of 7.3% for the second quarter of 2026, up from 7.0% a year earlier. The Census updates the figure each quarter.

What is vacancy loss?

Vacancy loss is the rent a property could have earned at full occupancy but didn't, because units were empty. Some owners also include rent lost to concessions and unpaid rent, which is called economic vacancy.

Does landlord insurance cover lost rent from a vacancy?

Usually not. Landlord policies typically cover lost rent only when the home can't be lived in because of a covered event, such as a fire or storm damage. Many policies also limit coverage once a home has been vacant for a set period.

Does guaranteed rent cover vacancy?

No. Guaranteed rent covers rent a tenant owes under a signed lease. If the home is empty between tenants, no rent is guaranteed for that time.