Source: Quartz
AirDNA's ranking of Finger Lakes as the top sub-$250K short-term rental market reflects a shift in host economics away from saturated coastal metros—where acquisition costs and competition have eroded margins—toward secondary markets where unit economics work. Individual operators can now find real arbitrage by trading location prestige for profitability, outside the venture-backed model that has dominated STR platforms. The ranking also exposes a gap between leisure travel patterns and where platforms have concentrated supply, pointing to underserved demand in wine-country and rural destinations that traditional hospitality has overlooked.