Anacortes vs. Wellfleet: Two Harbor Towns, Two Different Rental Markets

Jacob Mishalanie
Aug 21
8 min read

Updated: 16 hours ago

Empty fishing boats at Anacortes harbor docks, no people

Anacortes, Washington and Wellfleet, Massachusetts turn up in the same spreadsheet more often than they should. Both are working harbor towns on saltwater, both draw a summer crowd, and both get pitched to hosts as "coastal small-town" comps. That's where the resemblance ends. Anacortes sits on Fidalgo Island in Washington's San Juan Islands region; Wellfleet sits on the outer arm of Cape Cod, more than 3,000 miles away. Typical listings in Anacortes earned about $28,766 last year across 164 active rentals. Typical listings in Wellfleet earned about $31,996 across 246 active rentals. Those are two different markets, two different seasons, and two different guest bases, not one blended "harbor town" number.

The Anacortes figures come from AirROI's trailing twelve months, August 2025 through July 2026. Average nightly rate was $257. Occupancy ran 43.0 percent. Revenue per available night was $110. Year over year, Anacortes revenue was down 4.1 percent, while active supply held roughly flat. Those are Anacortes-specific numbers, tied to a specific window, not a figure a host should stretch to cover Wellfleet, Avila Beach, or any other harbor town with a similar postcard.

The rest of this piece breaks each market out on its own, then covers the practical side: what to photograph, who actually books each town, and how to keep your listing description, your comp set, and your regulatory research from bleeding across a market line that guests can see even if a spreadsheet can't.

Two Harbor Towns, Two Different Rental Markets

Anacortes is the gateway to the San Juan Islands ferry terminal, a working fishing and refining town that still moves seafood and shipping traffic alongside tourism. Guests come for whale watching, kayaking, and easy island-hopping, with Cap Sante Park's overlook above the marina as the town's signature view. Wellfleet, by contrast, is a Cape Cod Bay and Atlantic-facing town built around oystering, the Cape Cod National Seashore, and a long-running summer art colony. Guests come for beaches, dune walks, and a raw bar, not ferry access to a larger island chain.

Those differences show up directly in the numbers. Wellfleet's larger listing count (246 versus 164) reflects a bigger, more built-out vacation rental market with more competition per guest search. Anacortes's smaller, tighter supply means less competition but also a narrower audience pulling mostly from the Pacific Northwest. A host managing a listing in one town gains nothing by studying pricing, seasonality, or regulatory pages built for the other, the guest, the season, and the local rules are all different.

Anacortes by the Numbers: $28,766 on 164 Listings

Anacortes is $28,766 in typical annual revenue across 164 active listings, per AirROI's trailing twelve months, August 2025 through July 2026. Average nightly rate was $257, occupancy 43.0 percent, and revenue per available night $110. Year over year, revenue was down 4.1 percent while active supply stayed essentially flat, a softening market, not a growing one.

Seasonality is sharp: August, June, and May are Anacortes's three strongest months, with August the clear peak. January is the slowest month of the year and the weakest for occupancy. Typical stays run 5.6 nights, booked about 70 days in advance, guests are planning a real Pacific Northwest trip, not booking a last-minute weekend.

Short-term rentals in Anacortes are addressed under Anacortes Municipal Code 19.44.050. City Hall is at 904 6th Street, Anacortes, WA 98221, with planning department hours Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. A specific STR permit fee was not confirmed on a primary city page as of this writing, hosts should confirm current 2026 fees directly with the city rather than assume a number from a market report.

Wellfleet by the Numbers: $31,996 on 246 Listings

Wellfleet is $31,996 in typical annual revenue across 246 active listings on the same trailing-twelve-month basis. That's a higher per-listing average than Anacortes on a much larger comp set, nearly 50 percent more active listings competing for bookings in the same town.

Wellfleet's calendar runs on the classic Cape Cod pattern: a hard summer peak from roughly Memorial Day through Labor Day, driven by beach access to Cape Cod National Seashore, oyster season, and the town's status as one of the Outer Cape's most walkable village centers. Late-season events like Wellfleet OysterFest extend interest into fall, but the core booking window is still summer, a different rhythm than Anacortes's broader spring-through-fall spread.

Because Wellfleet carries a larger active listing count, an Anacortes-specific occupancy or ADR figure applied to a Wellfleet listing will misprice it in either direction. Treat the two revenue figures, $28,766 and $31,996, as separate benchmarks tied to separate towns, not as two data points on the same trend line.

Why Blending the Two Markets Misleads Hosts

It's tempting to build one "harbor town" content packet or one pricing model and reuse it across every waterfront listing in a portfolio. But a packet that averages Anacortes's $28,766 with Wellfleet's $31,996 produces a number that describes neither town, guests searching Anacortes see Wellfleet's oyster-shack photos and bounce; guests searching Wellfleet see San Juan Islands ferry references and bounce just as fast.

The same logic applies to seasonality. Anacortes peaks in August with a slow, spread-out shoulder season; Wellfleet peaks even harder in a tighter Memorial-Day-to-Labor-Day window. A pricing calendar built for one town and copied to the other will underprice peak weeks in one market and overprice shoulder weeks in the other.

Cap Sante vs. Wellfleet Harbor: Photograph What Guests Can Actually Walk To

Cap Sante Park is Anacortes's signature vantage point, a short climb above the marina with views across Fidalgo Bay toward the San Juan Islands. It belongs in an Anacortes listing's photo set only if a guest staying there can actually walk to it. Wellfleet Harbor, the town pier, and the walk out to Mayo Beach belong in a Wellfleet listing for the same reason, proximity, not aesthetic similarity.

Guests who click into a listing expecting one town's walkable landmarks and see the other town's harbor in the gallery have already been sold the wrong place before they ever ask a question. Keep each listing's photography, captions, and title tied to the town the guest will actually wake up in.

Where Anacortes Guests Actually Come From

On this data set, Anacortes's top guest origin markets are Seattle first, then Portland, a regional, drive-and-ferry audience rather than a national one. That matters for marketing: an Anacortes listing benefits more from Pacific Northwest-focused search terms and seasonal PNW road-trip content than from generic "New England harbor town" language borrowed from a Wellfleet comp.

Typical Anacortes stays run 5.6 nights and get booked roughly 70 days out, consistent with a planned regional vacation rather than an impulse booking. Hosts writing listing copy or blog content for Anacortes should speak to that Seattle-and-Portland audience directly, ferry logistics, island-hopping itineraries, and PNW summer weather, rather than generic coastal-town language that could describe any harbor on either coast.

Avila Beach Is a Different Coast, Not Part of This Comparison

Avila Beach, California sits on the Central Coast, a third market entirely, and it isn't part of this Anacortes-Wellfleet data set. It's worth naming here only to head off a common mistake: don't blend Pacific Northwest, Cape Cod, and Central California revenue figures into one invented "coastal corridor" number. Each of those three markets has its own supply, season, and guest base, and each deserves its own report.

If a future comparison covers Avila Beach directly, it will carry its own sourced figures on its own trailing-twelve-month window, not a number backed into from Anacortes's $28,766 or Wellfleet's $31,996.

How to Keep Your Listing and Your Data Straight

Practically, that means treating Anacortes and Wellfleet as two files, not one folder. File the Anacortes number, $28,766 on 164 listings, August 2025 through July 2026, as that town's host year. File Wellfleet's $31,996 on 246 listings on its own separate line. Don't average them, and don't stretch either one to describe a third market like Avila Beach.

The same split applies to regulations and local contacts. Anacortes short-term rentals fall under Anacortes Municipal Code 19.44.050, with City Hall at 904 6th Street; Wellfleet has its own zoning and permitting process through its own town hall. Confirm current 2026 rules and fees directly with each town rather than assuming they carry over from a neighboring market, or from a market three thousand miles away that just happens to share the word "harbor."

Frequently Asked Questions

Why compare Anacortes, WA and Wellfleet, MA at all if they're not really comparable?

Because hosts and marketers keep grouping them under a generic 'harbor town' label. This comparison exists to show why that grouping doesn't hold up: Anacortes and Wellfleet have different revenue, different seasons, and different guest bases, and treating them as one market leads to bad pricing and bad marketing copy.

What is Anacortes's typical annual host revenue?

About $28,766 per listing across 164 active listings, per AirROI's trailing twelve months (August 2025 through July 2026). Average nightly rate was $257, occupancy 43.0 percent, revenue per available night $110, and revenue was down 4.1 percent year over year. Keep neighboring town figures on their own labeled lines when you quote them.

What is Wellfleet's typical annual host revenue?

About $31,996 per listing across 246 active listings on the same trailing-twelve-month basis, a larger, more competitive comp set than Anacortes with a higher per-listing average. Confirm rules and fees directly with Wellfleet's own town hall before promising a specific figure in marketing.

Should I average the two towns' numbers into one coastal benchmark?

No. File each town's revenue figure separately. Averaging $28,766 and $31,996 produces a number that doesn't describe either market accurately, since the towns differ in season, supply, and guest origin. Treat visitor traffic as demand color, not booked occupancy, for either listing year.

What should I photograph for an Anacortes listing versus a Wellfleet listing?

Only what the guest can actually walk to. Cap Sante Park and the Anacortes marina belong in an Anacortes listing; Wellfleet Harbor and Mayo Beach belong in a Wellfleet listing. Mixing the two towns' landmarks in one gallery sells guests the wrong place before they ever ask a question.

Where do most Anacortes guests come from?

Seattle first, then Portland, based on this data set, a regional Pacific Northwest audience. Typical stays run 5.6 nights, booked about 70 days ahead. Listing copy should speak to that Seattle-and-Portland audience directly rather than generic coastal-town language that could describe any harbor on either coast.

Is Avila Beach part of this Anacortes-Wellfleet comparison?

No. Avila Beach, California is a separate Central Coast market not covered in this data set. It's named here only as a caution against inventing a combined 'coastal corridor' figure out of three unrelated markets, Pacific Northwest, Cape Cod, and Central California each have their own supply, season, and guest base.

What's the single biggest mistake hosts make comparing towns like these?

Treating shared geography, both are working harbor towns on the water, as shared identity. Keep each town's revenue figure, season, regulations, and photography separate, even when marketing copy wants to lump them together. A listing's title and about section should stay tied to the specific town a guest will actually wake up in.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Anacortes stay marketing fails when a San Juan costume corridor replaces what this driveway can keep overnight. Guests deserve the stay the gallery and house rules can actually hold.

We help independent hosts keep Anacortes positioning honest against the overnight they can deliver, with ferry and harbor facts the house cannot keep 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.