Algoma vs. Kewaunee: Why $15,882 and $18,551 Are Not the Same STR Market
Updated: Aug 23
Algoma and Kewaunee sit on the same stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, about twelve miles apart. That proximity is exactly why their short-term rental numbers keep getting mixed up. Algoma's 41 listings printed roughly $15,882 in typical annual revenue; Kewaunee's 33 listings printed roughly $18,551. Different towns, different datasets, different year.
A third name adds to the confusion. Wisconsin also has a Town of Algoma near Oshkosh, in Winnebago County, more than an hour inland from either harbor town. It shares nothing with the Lake Michigan Algoma except a name, but it shows up in searches and scraped reports often enough to cause real mistakes in pricing memos and marketing copy.
This post keeps all three datasets in their own lane: what Algoma actually sells, what Kewaunee actually sells, and why the inland Town of Algoma keeps surfacing where it doesn't belong. The goal is a reference hosts and marketers can use without blending numbers that were never meant to be blended.
Algoma's $15,882 Isn't Kewaunee's $18,551
Algoma and Kewaunee are two separate AirROI extracts, not one shared Lake Michigan season. Sharing a body of water, or sharing August as a peak month, is not the same as sharing a T12 revenue figure. Algoma's occupancy runs 31.1%; Kewaunee's runs 32.9%. Algoma's average stay is 3.7 nights; Kewaunee's is 4.5. Those gaps are small enough to overlook and large enough to change how you price a listing.
A report that pastes both downtowns into the same opening paragraph is selling a shortcut, not a market read. The city hall each host calls, the license each host files for, and the revenue figure each host should quote all belong to one town or the other, never both.
Inside Algoma's Numbers: 41 Listings at the Ahnapee Mouth
Algoma's typical annual revenue is $15,882 across 41 listings, with an ADR of $244, occupancy of 31.1%, and RevPAR of $76. Nearly all of the supply, 100%, is entire-home, and houses make up 51.2% of listings, with two-bedroom units the most common size at 39%. Peak months are August, October, and July, with February the clear low point and year-over-year revenue down 21.8%.
This is a small harbor town at the mouth of the Ahnapee River, not a Door County composite and not Kewaunee city. The pierhead light and Crescent Beach are landmarks worth naming directly in listing copy, they tell a guest exactly which Algoma they're booking.
On the regulatory side, Algoma's City Hall is at 416 Fremont Street; Clerk Erin Mueller and Treasurer Jamie Jackson share the line at (920) 487-5203. A short-term rental license is required after ten nights, the license year runs July 1 through June 30, and the fee is $100 under Ordinance 844. Room tax is 6%, and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection can be reached at (608) 224-4923 for state-level licensing questions.
Inside Kewaunee's Numbers: 33 Listings Down the Shore
Kewaunee's typical annual revenue is $18,551 across 33 listings, with an ADR of $252, occupancy of 32.9%, and RevPAR of $95. Peak months are August, July, and June, a month earlier in the summer than Algoma's shoulder, and April is the slow month. Supply grew 50% year over year even as revenue fell 20.9%, and just 12.1% of listings are professionally managed, less than half Algoma's share.
None of that belongs to Algoma. Algoma cannot claim Kewaunee's June strength, its Chicago-heavy guest origin, or its higher average stay of 4.5 nights. A regional guide can point a guest down the shore toward Kewaunee as a named day trip, it just can't borrow Kewaunee's revenue figure while doing it.
Same Winter, Different Holes
The two towns don't even go quiet at the same time. Algoma's slowest month is February, with January and March soft alongside it. Kewaunee's slowest month is April, with February, April, and November all running below average. October, one of Algoma's three best months, would be read as an off month on Kewaunee's calendar, and pricing it that way would leave real revenue on the table.
The guest-origin split reinforces the same point. Algoma pulls its largest audience from Milwaukee; Kewaunee pulls more heavily from Chicago. That difference alone should shape how each town's owners target ads, time their promotions, and plan for shoulder-season demand, a Milwaukee-weighted push in March will do more for Algoma than for Kewaunee, and vice versa in early spring.
The Third Algoma: Why Oshkosh Keeps Showing Up in the Data
Wisconsin has more than one place called Algoma, and the inland one is a frequent source of bad data. The Town of Algoma sits in Winnebago County, part of the Oshkosh area, more than sixty miles from the Lake Michigan harbor town this post covers. Its listings report a typical annual revenue of $17,316, a much higher ADR near $639, occupancy of 27.9%, and a January slow month, figures shaped heavily by demand around the EAA AirVenture fly-in each summer.
Name collisions like this are common in short-term rental data tools, which often geocode by place name before checking county or state context. A scraper or an automated report pulling "Algoma" without a county filter can just as easily surface Oshkosh-area cabins as harbor cottages. If a broker memo or a market report cites $17,316 or an ADR near $639 while claiming to describe the Lake Michigan Algoma, that number is misattributed and should be sent back for correction.
Which Algoma Does Your Guest Actually Want?
A guest who types "Algoma" into a search bar could mean the harbor city in Kewaunee County, the town of Kewaunee itself, the broader Door County peninsula, or the inland Town of Algoma near Oshkosh. Your listing's first line has to resolve that ambiguity fast, because a guest who lands on the wrong page will usually bounce rather than read further to figure out the mistake.
Specific landmarks do the disambiguating work that a town name alone can't. If your property is near the pierhead light or Crescent Beach, name them in the title and opening sentence, that combination only describes one place in Wisconsin. Naming the Ahnapee River, the harbor, or a specific downtown street works the same way. A listing that tries to stay vague enough to catch every possible "Algoma" search usually ends up ranking for none of them.
Keeping the Two Markets Straight in Your Own Content
For anyone writing reports, listings, or marketing copy that touches both towns, a simple test works well: if a sentence could sit on either town's page without changing a single noun, it's too generic to be useful. Algoma's figures, $15,882, the February hole, Milwaukee origin, 3.7-night average stays, travel together. Kewaunee's figures, $18,551, the April hole, Chicago origin, 4.5-night average stays, travel together. The inland Town of Algoma's $17,316 stays labeled as Oshkosh, every time it appears.
This matters beyond SEO. Owners price their calendars off these numbers, and a blended or misattributed figure leads directly to a mispriced listing, either leaving money on the table during a real peak or discounting into a month that was never actually slow. Keeping the datasets separate is a revenue decision as much as an editorial one.
Related Reading
More Algoma, Wisconsin reporting already live on Crest & Cove:
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Algoma and Kewaunee the same short-term rental market?
No. Algoma is $15,882 in typical annual revenue across 41 listings, with 31.1% occupancy, a February hole, Milwaukee as the top guest origin, and an average stay of 3.7 nights. Kewaunee, about 25 minutes down the shore, runs $18,551 across 33 listings, 32.9% occupancy, an April hole, Chicago as the top origin, and a 4.5-night average stay. They share Lake Michigan and an August peak, but that is where the overlap ends. For ask 1 on algoma vs kewaunee two pins about are algoma and kewaunee the same short-term rent, use only facts already named in.
What does the data actually show for the City of Algoma?
City of Algoma sells $15,882 in typical annual revenue on 41 listings, ADR $244, occupancy 31.1%, and RevPAR $76. Peak months are August, October, and July, with February as the slow month. Year over year revenue is down 21.8%, average lead time is 57 days, and 24.4% of listings are professionally managed, split mainly between two local managers. This is the small harbor town at the mouth of the Ahnapee River, not a wider Door County figure and not Kewaunee city. For ask 2 on algoma vs kewaunee two pins about what does the data actually.
What does the data show for Kewaunee?
Kewaunee sells $18,551 in typical annual revenue on 33 listings, ADR $252, and 32.9% occupancy, with RevPAR of $95. Peak months are August, July, and June, and April is the slow month. Supply grew 50% year over year even as revenue fell 20.9%, and 12.1% of listings are professionally managed. Those figures belong to Kewaunee alone, they should not be pasted into an Algoma listing or report. For ask 3 on algoma vs kewaunee two pins about what does the data show for kewaunee, use only facts already named in this essay and leave costume neighbors out.
Can I average the two towns into one regional figure?
Not honestly. The listing counts, occupancy rates, slow months, guest origins, stay lengths, and management shares are all different. A number that splits the difference between $15,882 and $18,551 does not describe either town, it describes a market that does not exist. If you need a regional summary, report both figures side by side and Keep which town each one belongs to. For ask 4 on algoma vs kewaunee two pins about can i average the two towns into one regional fi, use only facts already named in this essay and leave costume neighbors out.
Which month is actually slow in each town?
February is Algoma's slow month, with January and March also soft. April is Kewaunee's slow month, with February, April, and November all running low. October, meanwhile, is one of Algoma's three best months, the opposite of a hole. Pricing Algoma's October like a slow month, or Algoma's February like a second peak, misreads the data in both directions. For ask 5 on algoma vs kewaunee two pins about which month is actually slow in each town, use only facts already named in this essay and leave costume neighbors out.
Is the "Town of Algoma" in the data the same place as the City of Algoma on Lake Michigan?
No, this is the most common mix-up in the dataset. Wisconsin also has a Town of Algoma, which sits in Winnebago County near Oshkosh, more than 60 miles inland. Its typical annual revenue figure is $17,316 on a separate set of listings, with a much higher ADR near $639, driven largely by demand tied to the EAA AirVenture fly-in. That number, and its Saint Paul guest origin and January slow month, describe Oshkosh-area inventory, not the Lake Michigan harbor town this post is about. For ask 6 on algoma vs kewaunee two pins about is the.
A guest searched "Algoma", how do I know which place they meant?
A guest typing "Algoma" could mean the harbor city in Kewaunee County, the town of Kewaunee itself, the broader Door County peninsula, or the inland Town of Algoma near Oshkosh. The fastest way to resolve it is specificity: name the pierhead light, Crescent Beach, or the Ahnapee River in your listing title and first line. A guest looking for those landmarks wants the City of Algoma, full stop. For ask 7 on algoma vs kewaunee two pins about a guest searched "algoma", how do i know which p, use only facts already named in this essay.
What is the simplest rule for keeping these markets separate in my own content?
Attach every statistic to a named place before you write the sentence. Algoma's numbers, $15,882, the February hole, Milwaukee origin, 3.7-night stays, stay together. Kewaunee's numbers, $18,551, the April hole, Chicago origin, 4.5-night stays, stay together. The inland Town of Algoma's $17,316 stays labeled as Oshkosh. If a sentence could apply to more than one of these places without changing a single noun, rewrite it until it can't. For ask 8 on algoma vs kewaunee two pins about what is the simplest rule for keeping these mark, use only facts already named in this essay and leave costume neighbors out.
Work with Crest & Cove Creative
Algoma vs Kewaunee fails when a blended Door County costume replaces what this driveway can keep overnight. Guests deserve the stay the gallery and house rules can actually hold.
We help independent hosts keep Algoma and Kewaunee honest against the overnight they can deliver, with the other city's year left on labeled lines. Decide what you can rewrite yourself this week, then hire only the gap that remains. Send the live listing if the about block still could sit on the wrong town.
Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502.
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