Short answer: The Airbnb occupancy rate in Johor Bahru is somewhere between about 26% and 45% depending on who you ask: AirROI puts the median listing near 26%, Airbtics puts it at 45%. Both can be right. What matters more is your own break-even: in our worked example about 13% covers the bills, but about 51% is needed to beat a long-term tenant.
We manage more than 100 homestay units in Johor Bahru and Desaru, and owners who are about to buy, or about to switch from a tenant to short-term rental, almost always quote an occupancy figure they found online. The trouble is that the figures online measure different things. This article explains why the numbers disagree, how to turn any occupancy figure into money, and what occupancy your unit actually needs. Every calculation below is an example, not a quote and not a promise.
What is the Airbnb occupancy rate in Johor Bahru right now?
Three data providers publish Johor figures. We read their pages on 31 October 2026:
| Source | Area | Period | Occupancy | Nightly rate | Listings counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbtics | Johor Bahru | Sep 2025 to Aug 2026 | 45% (median) | RM252 | 4,951 |
| AirROI | Johor Bahru | Oct 2025 to Sep 2026 | 28.9% (average), about 26% (median), top 25% at 45% or more | RM348 | 5,254 |
| BnbCalc | Johor state | 12 months to Sep 2026 | 28% | RM347 | 7,522 (Airbnb and VRBO) |
Airbtics also gives a typical annual revenue of about RM44,000; AirROI gives an average of RM27,258 per listing, before cleaning, platform fees, management and tax. Those two numbers are as far apart as the occupancy figures, which tells you the gap is in the method, not in the city.
Why do the occupancy figures disagree so much?
None of these companies can see Airbnb's booking database. They estimate from public calendars, and small choices in the method move the result a lot:
- Median or average. A median is the listing in the middle. An average gets dragged down by hundreds of listings that sit almost empty. AirROI shows both, and even its own two figures differ.
- Which listings count. AirROI says its yearly figure averages every active listing across the whole year, slow months and part-year listings included. A unit that was only listed for four months still pulls the yearly number down.
- Booked or just closed. A public calendar shows a night as unavailable whether a guest booked it or the owner blocked it. Airbtics says it reads weekly calendar snapshots of open and unavailable nights, and does not publish how it separates the two. If blocked nights are counted as booked, occupancy looks higher than it is.
- Area and platforms. BnbCalc covers the whole state and includes VRBO. Johor Bahru city and Desaru behave differently; see our Desaru article.
The honest reading is: a typical Johor Bahru listing is booked somewhere between a quarter and under half of its open nights, and the best quarter of listings do 45% or better. Treat any single number as a range.
Is occupancy the right number to look at?
Not on its own. An owner is paid in ringgit, not percentage points. A unit at 60% that only sells cheap one-night stays can earn less than a unit at 40% with a higher rate and longer stays, because each checkout costs a cleaning. What you need is occupancy, nightly rate and length of stay together, put against your costs. That is the break-even calculation.
What occupancy does my unit need to break even?
Here is one example unit, using the cost structure from our monthly running costs article. All figures are examples, not our fees and not anyone's real statement:
| Example assumption | Figure |
|---|---|
| Nightly rate | RM250 |
| Average stay | 2 nights |
| Cleaning, laundry and consumables | RM70 per checkout, so RM35 per night |
| Platform commission | 15% of the rate, so RM37.50 per night |
| Electricity and water from guest use | RM12 per booked night |
| Unit costs that run when empty (internet, base electricity) | RM150 a month |
| Owner's own fixed costs (maintenance fee, assessment, insurance) | RM410 a month |
Each booked night therefore leaves RM250 − RM37.50 − RM35 − RM12 = RM165.50 before the management split. Run it through the three plans listed on our /ownerenquiry page, again as an example only:
| Plan (example) | Owner keeps per booked night | Monthly fixed the owner carries | Nights to cover costs | Occupancy to cover costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90% of gross, owner pays unit costs | RM140.50 | RM560 | 4.0 | about 13% |
| 80% of net profit | RM132.40 | RM530 | 4.0 | about 13% |
| 70% of net profit | RM115.85 | RM515 | 4.4 | about 15% |
So in this example a unit stops losing money at roughly four booked nights a month. That is the easy bar, and most listed units clear it. It is not the bar that matters.
What occupancy beats renting to a long-term tenant?
This is the comparison owners should make, because a tenant is the alternative. Take an example rent of RM2,000 a month. The tenant pays their own utilities; the owner still pays the RM410 of fixed costs, so the owner keeps about RM1,590, before agent fees and any empty month between tenants.
| Plan (example, RM250 a night) | Nights needed to match RM1,590 | Occupancy needed |
|---|---|---|
| 90% of gross | 15.3 | about 51% |
| 80% of net profit | 16.0 | about 53% |
| 70% of net profit | 18.2 | about 61% |
The nightly rate changes the answer more than anything else. On the 90% plan, same costs:
| Nightly rate (example) | Occupancy needed to match RM1,590 |
|---|---|
| RM200 | about 70% |
| RM250 | about 51% |
| RM350 | about 33% |
Put that next to the market table. A median Johor Bahru listing at 26% to 45% occupancy does not beat a decent long-term tenant in this example. A unit with a strong rate, longer stays, or a top-quarter occupancy can. This is the same conclusion as our homestay vs long-term rental comparison, reached from the other direction.
What occupancy have we actually seen?
We do not publish an average occupancy across our units. The one figure we do publish: a Paragon Premier Room unit was fully booked for five months in a row, April to August 2026. That was peak season in one strong building, not a yearly figure, and it should not be read as what every unit does. For real monthly payouts from one owner across peak and low months, see what owners actually earn.
How do I estimate occupancy for my own building?
- Look at three to five similar listings in the same building on Airbnb for the next 60 days. Count closed nights. Remember a closed night may be an owner block, so treat this as an upper bound.
- Split weekdays and weekends. Johor Bahru units often fill Friday and Saturday and sit empty midweek. A weekend-only unit tops out near 30%.
- Note the nightly rate on open dates, not the headline price, and the minimum stay.
- Ask any management company, including us, for booked nights divided by available nights per month for the last 12 months, with owner blocks taken out, plus the average nightly rate. If they only give you a percentage without the rate, you cannot do the sums above.
- Run the break-even with your own maintenance fee and a realistic rent quote. If the occupancy you need is above what the building's listings show, a tenant is the safer choice.
What should an owner be careful about?
- The bar to beat a tenant is high. In our example it is about half the nights of the year. Many units don't reach it, and we would rather say so now than after you have furnished the unit.
- Our interest is not identical to yours. On the 90% plan we earn from gross revenue, so more short bookings help us even when the extra cleaning is paid by you. Our plan comparison shows when each plan suits which unit.
- Low months exist. A year average hides months well below it; our low season article covers what helps and what doesn't.
- Market figures move. Re-read the providers' pages before deciding; the numbers above are a snapshot from October 2026.
This article is general information, not financial or investment advice.
If you want us to run this break-even for your own building, unit size and maintenance fee, anywhere in Johor Bahru or Desaru, send the details through /ownerenquiry.