Owners ask us for a number before they ask us anything else. Here is the honest version, with the sources, including the parts that are less flattering.
Occupancy and nightly rates
The Amelia Island Convention and Visitors Bureau reports vacation rentals separately from hotels, which makes this one of the better documented small markets in Florida. Their recent quarters:
- April to June 2026: 55.9% occupancy at a $325 average nightly rate.
- January to March 2026: 48.3% occupancy at $258.
- July to September 2025: 47.1% occupancy at $313.
For comparison, hotels ran 73.2% occupancy in that same April to June quarter. Vacation rentals do not fill the way hotels do, and any manager suggesting otherwise is selling something.
What that means per house
Listing data for Fernandina Beach puts average annual booking revenue at roughly $55,000 per property, and the spread by size is wide:
- One bedroom, about $37,500
- Two bedrooms, about $54,300
- Three bedrooms, about $67,800
- Four bedrooms, about $108,700
- Five bedrooms, about $160,600
The interesting part is the supply. Two bedroom units are the largest single group on the island by a wide margin, while properties with four bedrooms or more are a small fraction of the inventory. If you own a larger house here, you are competing in the thinnest part of the market.
The seasonal swing owners underestimate
July averages around $9,000 a month per property. January averages around $2,100. That is a four to one gap, and it arrives every year. Your cleaning costs, insurance and management do not fall by four fifths in January, so plan your cash flow around the trough rather than the peak.
The honest caveat
Island visitor numbers have been down year over year for four consecutive quarters, between roughly 2% and 5%. This is a solid, established market that is softening slightly, not a boom you are catching early. We would rather you hear that from us now than discover it from your own statements later.
One number that is genuinely encouraging
In Nassau County, professionally managed rentals collect more bed tax than hotels do. This is a rental-led lodging market, not a hotel one, which is unusual and is the reason a well-run house here does well.
Sources: Amelia Island CVB quarterly visitor profiles and Rabbu short-term rental data for Fernandina Beach, read September 2026. Estimates from listing data are approximations, not guarantees.