Vacancy Rate Calculator
Compute rental vacancy rate (%), occupancy rate and monthly + annual lost income, with the US Census national rate for comparison. For landlords, property managers and REITs.
Vacancy Rate Calculator
How to use the Vacancy Rate Calculator
Count your total rentable units
This is every unit you OWN OR MANAGE that's intended for rental, including units currently vacant. For a single-family rental, that's 1. For a 24-unit apartment building, that's 24. For a portfolio, sum across all properties. Don't include: owner-occupied units, units held off-market for renovation longer than 60 days (those are "out of service," tracked separately), or non-rental spaces (laundry rooms, offices).
Count units vacant right now
Units that are listed for rent but have no signed lease + no current tenant. Include: units in turnover between tenants (cleaning, repair), units actively being marketed, units where the previous lease ended but new tenant hasn't moved in. Exclude: units with a signed lease that hasn't started yet (those are leased, not vacant). Use the same snapshot date — point-in-time vacancy is more meaningful than averages for tactical decisions.
Enter average monthly rent
The market rent per unit, NOT the discount rent you might offer to fill quickly. This drives the "lost income" calculation. For mixed properties (studios + 2BR), use a weighted average or run the calculation per unit type. The dollar figure is what makes vacancy actionable — "12% vacancy" is abstract; "$18,000/year of lost rent" is a board-room conversation.
Read the comparison
The label compares your rate with the US national rental vacancy rate, 7.3% in Q2 2026 (Census Bureau): near means within a point of it. It is a reference, not a grade — compare with your local market for the same kind of property, and track the figure monthly, because the trend tells you more than a single snapshot.
Vacancy rate — what it measures and what to compare it with
Vacancy rate is the share of your rentable units that are empty at a point in time: vacant units divided by total units, multiplied by 100. The arithmetic is trivial; the value is in measuring it on the same basis every month and comparing it with the right market. For scale, the US Census Bureau's Housing Vacancy Survey put the national rental vacancy rate at 7.3% in the second quarter of 2026, against 7.0% a year earlier. A national figure mixes every city and building type, so your local market for the same kind of property is the better comparison. In time terms, a unit that sits empty one month in every year is 8.3% vacant; at 6%, the average unit is empty about 22 days a year.
Why vacancy feeds every other return figure
Gross rental yield and any cap rate built on "potential" rent assume every unit is let. Vacancy converts potential to actual, and because most operating costs do not fall when a unit empties, it hits net income harder than gross rent. Take a USD 1,000,000 property with USD 100,000 of potential rent and USD 30,000 of operating costs: fully let, net operating income is USD 70,000, a 7% cap rate. At 10% vacancy it collects USD 90,000 and nets USD 60,000, 6%; at 18% vacancy it nets USD 52,000, 5.2%. Underwrite with a vacancy figure you can defend from the local market, not the full-occupancy number.
When a tenant leaves, the rent stops but the costs stay, so vacancy takes a bigger share of net income than of gross rent.
When vacancy rises: price, presentation, then concessions
Start with price: compare your asking rent with current listings for similar units nearby, because a rent set above the market is the most common reason a unit sits. Then presentation — photographs, the listing text, and the unit's condition. Concessions come next: a free month on a 12-month lease is an 8.3% discount in the first year that leaves the headline rent, and the base for renewal, unchanged, while a permanent cut keeps costing every year until rent rises again. Weigh both against the cost of waiting: at USD 1,500 a month, each empty month loses USD 1,500, more than a 5% cut costs over a whole year (USD 900).
Where vacancy figures come from
Official series differ in what they count. The US Census Bureau publishes the national rental vacancy rate quarterly. Other countries' statistics or property agencies publish their own series, often for particular segments such as private residential; read how each defines a vacant unit before comparing it with yours, and with another country's.
Physical against economic vacancy, and why an 18% vacancy costs more than 18% of net income
US rental vacancy was 7.3% in Q2 2026 and 7.0% in Q2 2025 (Census Bureau, Housing Vacancy Survey).
A one-point reduction in vacancy on a 100-unit portfolio at $1,500/mo rent recovers $18,000/year — one unit's rent for twelve months.
One empty month a year is 8.3% vacancy; 6% vacancy is about 22 empty days per unit per year.
On the defaults, 6 of 100 units empty at $1,500 is $9,000 a month and $108,000 a year of rent not collected.
Vacancy rate is the inverse of occupancy rate — same metric, two framings. Operators usually quote occupancy ("we're at 94%"); analysts usually quote vacancy ("running 6%").
Physical vacancy ≠ economic vacancy. Physical = empty units; economic = concessions + late payments + bad debt as % of GPR. Track both for true picture.
Costs do not empty with the unit: on $100,000 of rent and $30,000 of costs, 18% vacancy cuts net income from $70,000 to $52,000, 26% lower.
Price before concessions, concessions before cuts: a free month leaves the headline rent unchanged; a permanent cut lowers every later year too.
One month free = 8.3% effective discount in year one, but 0% from year two onward. Concessions are tactically smarter than permanent rent cuts.
Waiting is expensive too: at $1,500 a month, one empty month costs more than a 5% rent cut over a full 12-month lease ($900).
Frequently Asked Questions
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There is no single good rate; there is the rate for your market. For scale, US rental vacancy was 7.3% in the second quarter of 2026 (Census Bureau). Single-family rentals, apartments and commercial space each run differently, and so do cities, so compare with recent figures for the same kind of property where you are, and watch your own trend from month to month.
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This calculator computes physical vacancy — units actually empty. Economic vacancy adds three other types of lost income: (1) concessions (free months given to fill units), (2) bad debt (rent that's billed but never collected), (3) units occupied at below-market "loss-leader" rents. A property at 95% physical occupancy with 3% concessions + 2% bad debt is really at 90% economic occupancy. Sophisticated operators track both; the gap between them reveals how aggressively the asset is being pushed to "look full" at the cost of real income.
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Short-term rentals are measured by occupancy, the share of available nights that are booked, rather than vacancy, and by revenue per available night, which combines occupancy with the nightly rate. Because every stay involves cleaning and turnover, an occupancy level that is normal for a short-term rental would be a very high vacancy for a long-term lease, so the two are not comparable. This calculator is for long-term rentals.
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Compare the costs. At $2,000 a month, one empty month loses $2,000. A 5% cut on a 12-month lease costs $1,200 over the year and keeps costing at renewal unless rent goes back up. A free month costs $2,000 once — more than the cut in the first year — but leaves the headline rent, and the base for renewals, where it was. Which is cheaper depends on how long the unit would otherwise sit empty and how long the tenant stays.
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Because supply, demand and the type of housing differ. A city that has added many new units of one kind in a short period will see vacancy in that segment rise until they are absorbed, while a market with tightly controlled supply can stay full. Compare a building with others of the same type and age in the same area, and check how the agency you are quoting defines a vacant unit.
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Listed REITs report occupancy, the complement of vacancy, in their periodic results, often by property and segment. Occupancy that is high and stable means something different from occupancy that is high but falling, so the trend across reports is as informative as the level, and a REIT's figure covers its own portfolio, not the market.
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Possibly, but it is a signal to check rather than proof. Zero vacancy over a long period can mean rent below market, an unusually strong location, or simply long-staying tenants. Compare your rent with current listings for similar units; if yours is clearly lower, a modest increase at renewal is the way to test it, weighed against the cost of an empty month if the tenant leaves.
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Cap rate uses net operating income: rent actually collected minus operating costs. Most costs do not fall when a unit empties, so vacancy cuts NOI by more than its own percentage. Example: a $1,000,000 property with $100,000 of potential rent and $30,000 of costs earns $70,000, a 7% cap rate, when fully let. At 10% vacancy it collects $90,000 and nets $60,000, 6%; scaling the cap rate down by the vacancy (7% × 0.9 = 6.3%) overstates it. Underwrite with a vacancy rate you can support from the local market.
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No. All calculations run in your browser via JavaScript. Open DevTools → Network and confirm zero outbound requests with your data. Total units, vacant units, and rent figures all stay on your device. Safe for confidential portfolio reviews and board-prep work.
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In the US, the Census Bureau's Housing Vacancy Survey publishes the national rental vacancy rate every quarter, free. Elsewhere, national statistics offices and property agencies publish their own series, often for particular segments. Private research firms and listing platforms publish more detailed local figures, usually with different definitions, so compare like with like.
Method & sources
How it computes
Vacancy rate = vacant units / total units x 100 (vacant capped at total); occupancy = 100 - vacancy; monthly lost rent = vacant x rent; annual = x12. Compared with the US Census national rental vacancy rate (7.3%, Q2 2026), not graded. RecaProperty.vacancy, tested.
What this tool implements
- Verdict replaced: rates were graded 'Excellent' to 'Critical' against an unsourced 'US average ~6% across decades'. The Census Housing Vacancy Survey gives 7.3% for Q2 2026 (7.0% Q2 2025); the label now says only whether a rate is near, above or below that.
- Arithmetic corrected: 6% vacancy is about 22 empty days a unit a year, not 'one month' (that is 8.3%); a 7% cap rate at 18% vacancy is 5.2% on the page's own cost example (USD 100,000 rent, USD 30,000 costs), not 5.7%, because operating costs do not fall with occupancy, and the FAQ's '7% x (1 - vacancy)' formula contradicted its own worked example.
- Removed as unsourced: ASEAN vacancy rates (HDB ~3%, KL 15-25%, Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta, HCMC), NAPIC figures, REIT occupancy ranges, short-term-rental benchmarks, underwriting vacancy ranges, '90% of inquiries start with photos', and 'landlords leave 5-10% of rent on the table'.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau. Quarterly Residential Vacancies and Homeownership, Second Quarter 2026 (released 28 July 2026): rental vacancy 7.3%, 7.0% in Q2 2025. https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/current/index.html
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