Airbnb: top 10 cities with the most listings
Two dated rankings show the French and global markets with the most active short-term rentals, then explain why these figures do not count Airbnb listings alone.
The essentials. Paris tops the French markets observed by AirDNA, with 41 220 active rentals in its 29 September 2026 survey. Worldwide, London precedes Orlando and Paris in the ranking published on the same date. These figures combine Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com, with duplicate listings across platforms de-duplicated: they are not a count of Airbnb listings alone.
The title echoes hosts’ usual search. To read the tables correctly, keep the exact measure in mind: AirDNA counts properties available or booked during the twelve months preceding its survey, not the listings visible for a single night. Both the French rankings and the global rankings published by AirDNA use this definition.
Top 10 French cities
Paris has more than three times the number of active rentals than Nice in AirDNA’s 29 September 2026 survey. Cannes and Marseille follow. Agde and Antibes appear ahead of Lyon: a volume ranking is not limited to the largest metropolitan areas.
| Rang | Marché français | Locations actives | Ce que ce rang ne vous dit pas |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris | 41 220 | How many properties compete with yours in your neighbourhood. |
| 2 | Nice | 11 882 | How many nights remain available on your dates. |
| 3 | Cannes | 9 969 | How supply is distributed throughout the year. |
| 4 | Marseille | 9 528 | What share of that supply matches your property type. |
| 5 | Agde | 6 281 | Whether your calendar will fill outside the high season. |
| 6 | Antibes | 5 383 | The net price you will obtain after your costs. |
| 7 | Lyon | 4 656 | The number of bookings for your property. |
| 8 | Toulouse | 4 444 | Demand at your address. |
| 9 | Montpellier | 3 731 | The length of stays of your direct competitors. |
| 10 | Bordeaux | 3 681 | The margin you will keep. |
The table answers a precise question: where does AirDNA observe the most active rentals in France? It does not rank the most profitable cities nor listings published only on Airbnb. Lille and Nantes, mentioned in the first version of this sheet, are not among the top ten markets in this survey.
Top 10 global cities
London holds first place in AirDNA’s global ranking of 29 September 2026, ahead of Orlando and Paris. The first version of this article placed New York top. We have removed that earlier ranking: it was not based on a dated, comparable survey. The photographs of New York and Amsterdam kept here illustrate the cities mentioned in that earlier version, not their presence in the new top 10.
| Rang | Marché mondial | Locations actives |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 64 432 |
| 2 | Orlando | 42 672 |
| 3 | Paris | 41 220 |
| 4 | São Paulo | 40 169 |
| 5 | Buenos Aires | 39 722 |
| 6 | Rio de Janeiro | 31 048 |
| 7 | Los Angeles | 30 538 |
| 8 | Rome | 28 680 |
| 9 | Tokyo | 27 500 |
| 10 | Mexico | 25 788 |
This ranking covers markets for countries where AirDNA publishes free data pages, not an exhaustive census of all cities worldwide. It uses market boundaries defined by AirDNA: do not automatically equate them with a municipality’s administrative limits.
Exactly what do these rankings count?
AirDNA counts as active a rental available or booked during the twelve months preceding the survey. The same property listed on Airbnb and Vrbo is counted only once. The benefit is a comparison based on the same measure; the limitation is stated in the title of this sheet: these numbers are not Airbnb listings alone.
If you need to study Airbnb without other platforms, Inside Airbnb provides datasets by territory. You must then check for each city the file date, its coverage and its definition of an active listing before comparing two results. Adding files downloaded at different dates would produce a figure, not a reliable ranking.
AirDNA surveys are updated monthly. When reusing these tables, check the date shown on the source pages: a ranking without a period becomes outdated quickly.
What to do with the cities mentioned in the earlier ranking?
A few months ago we published an initial list of the top 10 cities with the most listings. Today we have updated our article but the original French list included Paris, Nice, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Cannes, Toulouse, Lille, Montpellier and Nantes. It remains useful as an editorial record, not as a statistical series: its figures were not accompanied by a collection period or a method allowing comparison with the current survey. Agde and Antibes enter the sourced table; Lille and Nantes drop out.
The original global list mentioned New York, Paris, London, Rome, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Tokyo, Berlin, Sydney and Amsterdam. London, Paris, Rome, Los Angeles and Tokyo also appear in the AirDNA ranking presented above, at positions to be read in that new table. For the others, absence from the top 10 alone tells you nothing about changes in their Airbnb listings.
And if another page shows a different ranking, first ask what it counts. This is often where the top ten spots change.
How to use these figures for your property?
Do not choose a city based only on the volume of its supply. For a specific property, look at comparable listings nearby, their open booking periods, occupancy rate, the price actually achieved and your costs. Our article on key performance indicators for a property helps separate these measures. A national ranking does not know your street or your calendar.
Then check the rules applicable to the address in question with local public sources; our page on French short-term rental regulations is a starting point. A supply ranking is never authorisation to rent.
Once a booking is secured, the work changes. Our internal observation, published by StyQR, is that 40 % of welcome book views are in a language other than French. For these guests, write a clear check-in first: verified address, access and codes. The example of an Airbnb welcome book and the fillable template for a holiday rental provide a practical structure.
For an occasionally let property, a shared document is sufficient if you can keep it up to date. The StyQR welcome book for short-term rentals avoids sending a file after every correction; its multilingual translation helps guests read the instructions, provided your codes and directions are correct from the start. If you are working on your visibility on Airbnb rather than post-booking, the guide on becoming an Airbnb Superhost answers that other question.
Frequently asked questions
Which French city has the most Airbnb listings? Paris tops AirDNA’s 29 September 2026 survey, with 41 220 active rentals. This number includes Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com after de-duplication: it does not measure Airbnb listings alone.
Which city leads the global ranking? London is first in AirDNA’s 29 September 2026 ranking, with 64 432 active rentals. The result covers markets for which AirDNA publishes data pages and several platforms, not all Airbnb listings worldwide.
Why is New York no longer top? The earlier ranking for New York had neither a collection date nor a verifiable method. The new table follows a different source and a defined measure: you cannot therefore read this change as a quantified decline in New York listings.
Why does Agde rank ahead of Lyon? In the AirDNA survey presented, Agde has 6 281 active rentals versus 4 656 for Lyon. The ranking measures the observed volume of short-term rentals, not city population or the number of hotels.
Do these figures indicate where to invest? No. They describe past supply across several platforms. Before deciding, examine comparable properties at your address, demand by period, your costs and local rules.
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