Occupancy Rate Calculator

Occupancy rate calculator measures % of available units rented vs total. 95 occupied of 100 units = 95% occupancy. Critical metric for income property analysis - occupancy directly translates to revenue. 5% vacancy means 5% revenue loss before any other expenses. Strong markets: 95-98% occupancy. Weak markets: 80-85% occupancy.

Example: 100-unit apartment building, 95 currently occupied. Occupancy = 95%. Annual vacancy loss = 5% of gross rent. 1,500 average rent × 100 units × 12 months = 1.8M gross potential. 5% vacancy = 90k lost annually. Pricing slightly aggressively to maintain 95%+ usually nets more than chasing 5% rent premium with 90% occupancy.

Occupancy benchmarks: Class A (luxury urban): 92-96%. Class B (standard): 90-95%. Class C (working class): 85-92%. Class D (distressed): 75-85%. Hotels: 60-85% (very different from residential). Self-storage: 80-90%. Office: 80-95% pre-COVID, 70-85% post. Always compare against local market - one property's 95% might be exceptional in declining area or mediocre in hot market.

Quick example

With occupied units of 95 and total units of 100 (plus or: total days occupied of 0 and or: total days in period of 30), the result is 95.00%. Change any figure and watch the output shift — it's often more useful to see the pattern than to memorise the formula.

Which inputs matter most

You enter Occupied Units, Total Units, OR: Total Days Occupied, and OR: Total Days in Period. Not every input has equal weight. Adjusting one input at a time toward extreme values shows which ones move the result most.

What's happening under the hood

Unit-based: occupied units / total units. Time-based: occupied days / (total units × total days). The formula is listed in full below. If the number looks off, you can retrace the calculation by hand — that's the point of showing the working.

Where this fits in planning

This is a "what-if" tool, not a forecast. Use it to test ideas before committing: what happens if the rate is 2% lower than hoped, what happens if you add five more years. The value is in the scenarios you run, not the single answer you get from the defaults.

What this doesn't capture

Steady-rate math ignores real-world volatility. Actual returns are lumpy; sequence-of-returns risk matters most in drawdown; fees and taxes drag on compound growth; and behaviour changes in drawdowns can reduce outcomes below the projection. The number represents one scenario rather than a forecast.