The 2026 Gun Barrel City Short-Term Rental Market Report

Sep 2

13 min read

Cedar Creek Lake shoreline near Gun Barrel City, Texas. Wikimedia: Cedar Creek Lake.JPG

Two years sit next to each other in this sample, not inside each other, and the first job of a Gun Barrel City market report is keeping them that way. Typical listings in Gun Barrel City earned about $32,821 last year, from 71 active rentals on Air ROI's extract filed for the window running August 2025 through July 2026. Dallas listings earned about $24,382 last year from 4,675 active rentals on the same window, a real figure for a real market, filed on the same extract window but describing an entirely different city.

This report is built entirely from Gun Barrel City's own extract: active supply, typical revenue, ADR, occupancy, RevPAR, year-over-year movement, seasonality, guest origin, and remaining registration status. Where the underlying research file contains an unresolved discrepancy, that discrepancy is flagged directly rather than silently resolved by guesswork.

Independent hosts still write most of this 71-listing desk, and this report is built for exactly that host: someone underwriting a purchase, building a lender packet, or simply trying to understand what this specific town's short-term rental market actually did last year, sourced to this town's own numbers and nothing else. This is not legal advice.

Market Snapshot at a Glance

Gun Barrel City sits in Henderson County, Texas, under the City of Gun Barrel City's regulatory authority. On the August 2025 through July 2026 extract, this market produced about $32,821 in typical annual revenue across 71 active listings, at a $367 average nightly rate, 29.3 percent occupancy, and $112 RevPAR. Revenue moved plus 27.5 percent year over year while supply moved minus 14.5 percent, and August, June, and March stand out as the documented peak months while January is the clear revenue hole.

Most guests arrive from Dallas, then Fort Worth, for a typical stay of about 3.6 nights, with roughly 41 days of lead time before arrival. About 29.6 percent of listings currently set a 30-night minimum stay filter, and professionally managed listings make up 23.9 percent of the sample, meaning independent hosts still write most of this town's desk. Every figure in this snapshot is unpacked in detail across the sections that follow.

Active Supply: A Data Discrepancy Worth Flagging Directly

How much did typical Gun Barrel City listings earn last year? Typical listings earned about $32,821 last year, from 71 active rentals on Air ROI's extract filed for the window running August 2025 through July 2026. That 71-listing figure is stated repeatedly and consistently throughout the underlying research: as the active supply figure, as the base for the professionally managed share calculation, and as the sample size behind the ADR, occupancy, and RevPAR figures throughout this report.

One line in the underlying research file states a different figure, 33 active rentals, in a single instance describing the same $32,821 typical revenue figure. That figure appears exactly once, while 71 active rentals appears more than ten times across the same research file, including in the repeated summary block that closes out every related page on this town. Given that pattern, 71 is treated as the authoritative active-supply figure throughout this report, and the single 33-listing reference is flagged here as an unresolved discrepancy in the source data rather than silently corrected or ignored.

A host, lender, or buyer relying on this report should know that discrepancy exists in the underlying research and should independently confirm active supply count directly with Air ROI or an equivalent current listing count before treating 71 as a precisely audited figure, even though it is the number this report uses as authoritative based on its overwhelming consistency across the source material.

Typical Annual Revenue in this sample

Typical listings earned about $32,821 last year on 71 rentals, sourced to Air ROI's extract for the window running August 2025 through July 2026. That figure is the central data point of this report, and every other figure in this report, ADR, occupancy, RevPAR, and seasonal pattern, should be read as context for how that $32,821 typical figure was actually produced across the calendar.

File $32,821 on 71 listings next to Dallas's $24,382 on 4,675 listings as two separate, clearly labeled data points, never as a blended or averaged figure. A market report that combines the two produces a number that describes neither city accurately, and a reader relying on that blended figure would be underwriting a property against data that does not describe the market it actually sits in.

ADR, Occupancy, and RevPAR

The average nightly rate in this sample was $367, occupancy came in at 29.3 percent, and RevPAR worked out to $112. Those three figures, read together, describe a market with a comparatively strong nightly rate that has not yet translated into a high occupancy floor, a specific demand shape worth understanding fully before assuming this town behaves like a larger, more saturated metro market such as Dallas.

Occupancy of 29.3 percent is why a $367 average nightly rate still only produces about $112 RevPAR. That gap between the sticker rate and the realized RevPAR is the actual shape of demand across this town's calendar in this sample, and any revenue model built from this report should treat RevPAR, not ADR alone, as the more accurate baseline for what a typical listing is likely to earn on any given night.

Year-Over-Year Movement

Year over year, revenue is plus 27.5 percent while supply is minus 14.5 percent in this sample. That combination, rising typical revenue against a shrinking active listing count, is a distinct pattern worth naming directly and clearly: fewer listings are earning more per listing than they were a year earlier, on this specific extract's own internal comparison.

This report does not project that trend forward as guaranteed. It documents a comparison between two points on the same extract, and a reader should treat it as evidence of a documented shift rather than a promise that the same exact trajectory continues unchanged through the rest of 2026 or into future years.

Seasonality: Peak Months and the Revenue Hole

Gun Barrel City's peak months in this sample are August, June, and March. January is still the slow revenue month in this sample, the clearest seasonal signal available: the revenue hole and the occupancy low both land squarely in the same month, rather than being masked by an offsetting pattern elsewhere on the calendar.

A market report built around an even, monthly average of $32,821 divided by twelve would materially misstate what any single month is actually likely to produce. August, June, and March deserve pricing and marketing attention well ahead of the season, while January should be priced and described honestly as this town's documented low point, not smoothed over with recycled peak-season language borrowed from a stronger month.

Guest Origin and Booking Behavior

Most guests arrive from Dallas, then Fort Worth, for a typical stay of about 3.6 nights, with roughly 41 days of lead time between booking and arrival. That guest-origin data grounds this report's demand story in a specific, identifiable regional audience rather than a vague national tourism claim, and it should directly shape marketing, photography, and pricing decisions built from this report's revenue figures.

About 29.6 percent of listings in this market currently set a 30-night minimum stay filter. That figure describes a listing configuration choice on a minority of listings, not a documented pattern of long-stay bookings; typical stay length remains about 3.6 nights, and a 30-night filter setting should not be read as evidence of an extended-stay or remote-work guest segment this sample does not otherwise document anywhere else.

A report reader modeling turnover costs, cleaning schedules, or guest-communication staffing should build those assumptions around the 3.6-night typical stay documented here, not around the 30-night filter a minority of listings display. The shorter figure describes what this market's guests actually book; the longer figure describes a configuration choice a subset of hosts have made without clear evidence it changes underlying demand.

Professionally Managed Share

How many Gun Barrel City listings are professionally managed? Professionally managed share is 23.9 percent of the 71-listing sample in this sample, meaning independent hosts still write most of this town's desk. That figure describes how current active supply is currently split between independent hosts and professional management, not which approach produces stronger results in this specific market.

Reading the Supply Trend Alongside the Discrepancy

The minus 14.5 percent supply figure is worth reading alongside the active-supply discrepancy flagged earlier in this report. Whether the current base is 71 or, less likely given the source pattern, a smaller number, the direction of the trend, fewer listings than a year ago, is consistent across the underlying research regardless of which specific starting count is used, which is part of why this report treats the trend itself as more reliably documented than the precise current count.

A reader building a supply-side analysis from this report should focus on the direction and magnitude of change, a documented decline of roughly 14.5 percent, rather than anchoring too precisely to either the 71-listing or 33-listing figure as an exact, audited count. Both figures point toward the same broader conclusion: this is a market with fewer active listings than it had a year earlier, producing more typical revenue per listing across that same twelve-month comparison window.

Comparing This Report to Neighboring Market Data

A reader researching multiple markets in this region should treat each town's report as an independently sourced document, built from its own extract, rather than assuming figures transfer between neighboring towns. Gun Barrel City's $32,821 typical revenue, 71-listing supply, and August-June-March seasonal pattern describe this specific town and should not be used as a rough stand-in for a neighboring town's market absent that town's own equivalent report.

This discipline matters most for a reader comparing multiple potential markets side by side, since the temptation to average or blend nearby markets' figures for a quicker read is exactly the kind of shortcut that produces a number describing no actual market at all. Each town in this region deserves its own sourced figure, referenced by name and by extract window, rather than a convenient regional composite that flattens real local differences.

Remaining Registration and Tax Status

Do I need a Gun Barrel City registration before I advertise in 2026? Gun Barrel City sits in Henderson County and under the City of Gun Barrel City's remaining city files. Confirm remaining Chapter 119, remaining special-use files, and remaining 2026 city files at gunbarrelcity.gov, and confirm remaining 2026 tax and registration status with MuniServices at 866-240-3665.

This pass does not guess a remaining permit dollar figure that the city's own published pages did not state clearly. Remaining registration is ordinance, not occupancy, and should be confirmed directly with the City of Gun Barrel City rather than estimated from a listing count, a neighboring town's requirement, or a seller's verbal claim.

Why This Report Keeps Two Cities on Separate Lines

Two years sit next to each other, not inside each other. Gun Barrel City and Dallas both have data filed on the same August 2025 through July 2026 extract window, but that shared window is the only thing the two markets have in common in the numbers this report draws from. A reader treating the two as directly comparable, beyond the labeled comparison this report makes explicitly, risks drawing conclusions neither dataset actually supports on its own.

The desk sits with the deed, not with the neighboring city's listing count. A property in Gun Barrel City is underwritten, marketed, and regulated according to Gun Barrel City's own figures and its own City of Gun Barrel City regulatory desk, regardless of how much larger or more visible Dallas's market happens to be in casual conversation, a quick web search, or a generic regional pitch deck.

How This Report Should Be Used

This report is built to support three specific uses: a purchase or buying case built around this town's own $32,821 typical revenue figure, a lender packet built around the same figure paired with this town's tax and registration structure, and a marketing or listing strategy built around this town's documented seasonality and guest-origin data. Each of those uses draws on the same underlying extract, but each should cite only the specific figures relevant to its own purpose rather than restating the whole report indiscriminately in every document.

A reader using this report for any of those three purposes should treat every figure here as dated to the August 2025 through July 2026 window specifically, not as a permanently fixed description of this market. As later extracts become available, the figures in this report should be revisited and, where they have changed, updated rather than carried forward unchanged into a new year's decisions or a stale purchase or lending model.

How the Occupancy Cap Fits Into the Revenue Picture

Occupancy in this market is capped at two persons per bedroom plus two, with a total maximum of 16 persons. That cap is not a revenue figure itself, but it is a relevant boundary condition for anyone modeling revenue potential for a specific property from this report's figures, since a projection that assumes a guest count beyond this cap is projecting income the property could not legally host under current rules.

A buyer or lender evaluating a specific property against this report's $32,821 typical annual figure should confirm that property's bedroom count and corresponding legal occupancy cap before assuming it can scale proportionally with a larger property elsewhere in the market. A five-bedroom property and a two-bedroom property both drawing from the same $367 ADR figure will not produce comparable annual revenue if their respective occupancy caps differ meaningfully, since guest capacity is a real constraint on realized nightly rate.

What This Report Does Not Cover

This report does not cover individual property-level performance, since every figure here describes a typical or average outcome across the 71-listing sample, not any specific address. A host or buyer evaluating a particular property should treat these figures as a market-level baseline to compare a specific property's performance against, not as a guarantee of what that specific property will produce.

This report also does not resolve every open question in the underlying research. Beyond the active-supply discrepancy flagged above, a reader relying on this report for a financing or purchase decision should independently confirm any figure that carries meaningful financial weight, particularly registration status, tax rates, and current listing counts, directly with the relevant City of Gun Barrel City office or Air ROI's current data rather than relying solely on this single report's snapshot of a single extract window.

Putting the Full Report Together

The desk is the file, not a listing scrape: Gun Barrel City sits in Henderson County, produced about $32,821 in typical annual revenue on 71 active listings during the August 2025 through July 2026 window, at a $367 ADR, 29.3 percent occupancy, and $112 RevPAR, with revenue up 27.5 percent and supply down 14.5 percent year over year. August, June, and March are the documented peak months, January is the documented hole, and most guests arrive from Dallas, then Fort Worth, for a typical 3.6-night stay.

Gun Barrel City Short-Term Rental Investment: This Town's Year, Honest Case is the sibling file when a matching purchase-focused stay is needed alongside this report's revenue baseline. Whatever a reader builds on top of this report, a lender packet, a buying case, or a marketing plan, the same discipline applies: keep Gun Barrel City's own figures on Gun Barrel City, keep Dallas's separate figures on Dallas, and confirm remaining registration status directly at gunbarrelcity.gov before advertising or closing anything based on the numbers in this report, updating the figures whenever a newer extract becomes available.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much did typical Gun Barrel City listings earn last year?

Typical listings earned about $32,821 last year, from 71 active rentals on Air ROI's extract filed for the window running August 2025 through July 2026. That figure pairs with a $367 average nightly rate, 29.3 percent occupancy, and $112 RevPAR, all sourced to this town's own specific extract rather than a blended regional estimate or a neighboring city's separate figures.

Why does this report flag a discrepancy about active listing count?

One line in the underlying research states 33 active rentals in a single instance, while 71 active rentals appears more than ten times across the same source material, including in the repeated summary block that closes related pages. Given that pattern, this report treats 71 as authoritative but flags the discrepancy directly so a reader can independently verify current supply before relying on it as a precisely audited figure.

Can Dallas's revenue figures be used to describe the Gun Barrel City market?

No. Dallas listings earned about $24,382 last year from 4,675 active rentals on the same extract window, a separate market entirely, under a different regulatory desk. Filing Dallas's figures next to Gun Barrel City's as two clearly labeled, separate data points is appropriate; blending them into one number misrepresents both markets to whoever reads the resulting figure.

What does the year-over-year revenue and supply trend show?

Revenue moved plus 27.5 percent while supply moved minus 14.5 percent year over year in this sample, meaning fewer active listings earned more typical revenue per listing than a year earlier. This report documents that comparison between two points on the same extract rather than projecting the trend forward indefinitely as a guaranteed, permanently locked-in trajectory.

Which months are Gun Barrel City's documented peak season, and which is the hole?

August, June, and March are the peak months in this sample, and January is still the slow revenue month, the town's documented hole. Both the revenue low and the occupancy low land in January specifically, which is the clearest and most consistent seasonal signal available anywhere in this report's underlying source data on this specific extract.

Where do most Gun Barrel City guests come from, and how long do they stay?

Most guests arrive from Dallas, then Fort Worth, for a typical stay of about 3.6 nights, with roughly 41 days of lead time between booking and arrival. That regional guest-origin pattern should inform marketing, photography, and pricing decisions built directly from this report's revenue and seasonal figures rather than a generic statewide template unrelated to this specific town.

What share of Gun Barrel City listings are professionally managed?

Professionally managed share is 23.9 percent of the 71-listing sample in this sample, meaning independent hosts still write most of this town's desk. That figure describes the current supply split between independent and professional management, not necessarily which approach produces stronger results overall in this specific 71-listing market on this particular annual Air ROI extract.

Does a 30-night minimum filter indicate a documented long-stay guest segment?

No. About 29.6 percent of listings set that minimum, but typical stay length remains about 3.6 nights in this sample. A 30-night filter is a listing configuration choice on a minority of listings, not documented evidence of an extended-stay or remote-work guest segment that this report's underlying source data actually and consistently supports elsewhere in the file.

Where should remaining registration status be confirmed for a Gun Barrel City rental?

Confirm remaining Chapter 119, remaining special-use files, and remaining 2026 city files directly at gunbarrelcity.gov, and confirm remaining 2026 tax and registration status with MuniServices at 866-240-3665. This report does not guess a remaining permit dollar figure that the city's own published pages did not clearly and explicitly state anywhere on the current public record.

What is the single most important discipline for using this report correctly?

Keeping Gun Barrel City's own figures on Gun Barrel City, and Dallas's separate figures on Dallas, on their own clearly labeled lines throughout. Every figure in this report is sourced to this town's specific extract, and a reader building a purchase case, lender packet, or marketing plan should confirm remaining registration status directly before relying on any single number here as final.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

This town's own extract, not Dallas's bigger numbers, is the only honest starting point for a Gun Barrel City marketing or listing strategy. Every figure in this report traces back to that same extract.

Whatever you build on top of this report, a listing refresh, a seasonal pricing plan, or new photography, it deserves to be grounded in this town's own numbers and its own peak season. Let's turn this report's data into marketing that actually matches what Gun Barrel City's extract shows.

Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502.