Little Compton, RI STR Market Report 2026: $31,744 Average Revenue

Thomas Garner
Aug 20
15 min read

Updated: 9 hours ago

South Shore Beach, Little Compton Rhode Island

Little Compton doesn't need a coastal-New-England mood board to sell itself. It's a farm town on the Sakonnet peninsula with a working shoreline, a handful of named landmarks guests already search by name, and a rental market small enough that one slow August moves the whole average. AirROI's trailing-twelve-month extract through July 2026 puts the typical Little Compton short-term rental at $31,744 in revenue across 71 active listings, down 15.1 percent from the year before on flat supply. That's the number this report unpacks, along with what's driving it, who's booking, what registration costs, and how it should and shouldn't be compared to the town next door.

None of what follows is a generic coastal template. Every figure below comes from AirROI's Little Compton sample, and every comparison to Jamestown or Tiverton is labeled as a separate market with its own permit desk, because that's what these towns actually are. A market this small rewards precision: a host or buyer who treats Little Compton's numbers as interchangeable with a neighboring town's numbers is going to misprice a purchase or a rate calendar, and this report exists to prevent exactly that.

It also rewards restraint. It would be easy to pad a Little Compton market report with borrowed statistics about Rhode Island tourism broadly, or with generic beach-town advice that could apply to any coastal listing on the East Coast. This report doesn't do that. Every claim below either comes directly from the AirROI extract for this town, or is a reasoned interpretation of that extract clearly marked as analysis rather than as a separate data point, so a reader can tell the difference between what the numbers say and what a host should do about them.

What follows walks through the headline revenue figure, the occupancy-and-rate math behind it, the calendar that actually pays the bills, where guests come from and how far ahead they book, what registration costs in town, how the 30-night-minimum segment works, and how Little Compton's numbers stack up against Jamestown's without collapsing the two into one regional average. This is not legal advice.

The Number Behind the Headline: $31,744 Across 71 Listings

The typical Little Compton short-term rental earned about $31,744 over the twelve months ending July 2026, based on AirROI's extract of 71 active listings. Average daily rate across that sample was $442, occupancy ran 38.3 percent, and revenue per available night came out to $185. Year over year, revenue is down 15.1 percent while active supply held essentially flat at 0.0 percent growth. Read those two figures together and the story is simple: the same number of listings pulled in meaningfully less money than the year before, which points toward softer demand or rate pressure rather than a flood of new competition diluting the pool.

A market this size moves on small inputs. Seventy-one listings is not enough volume to smooth out a single slow week in August or a run of cancellations after a rainy Fourth of July weekend, so a host reading this report should treat the $31,744 figure as a directional benchmark for the town, not a guarantee for any specific property. A well-located house near South Shore Beach or Sakonnet Point, marketed with real photos of the actual walk to the water, has room to sit well above that average. A property leaning on generic "coastal New England" language competing on the same $442 rate does not have the same room.

It's worth sitting with why a 15.1 percent decline matters more in a 71-listing market than it would in a market with several hundred active properties. In a larger market, a double-digit year-over-year drop can sometimes be explained away by a wave of new low-performing listings entering the sample and pulling the average down. That explanation doesn't hold here, because supply barely moved. When revenue falls on flat supply, the more likely explanations are softer guest demand, rate compression as owners chase bookings, or some mix of both, and a buyer or host should plan around that read rather than assuming next year automatically bounces back.

Why Occupancy Sits at 38.3 Percent While Rates Climb to $442

A 38.3 percent occupancy rate paired with a $442 average daily rate is a classic low-volume, high-rate coastal pattern. Owners here are not trying to fill the calendar twelve months a year; they're pricing a short run of peak summer weeks high enough to carry a property that sits empty more than 60 percent of the time. That's a rational strategy in a farm-and-beach town with limited winter draw, but it also means every additional booking outside the three strongest months drops close to straight profit, since the property's fixed costs are already being carried by the peak-season rate.

The practical lever for a Little Compton host is not chasing a higher rate on already-strong weeks. It's pulling nights out of the 60-percent-empty stretch of the calendar without cannibalizing the peak. A host who can add a week of bookings in late May or early October, at a rate that still clears the property's costs, is doing more for annual revenue than one squeezing another $20 a night out of an August Saturday that was already going to book.

Consider two hosts running comparable properties in this market. Host A holds a firm $442 ADR through the summer and leaves the shoulder calendar largely closed, betting that scarcity protects the brand. Host B holds the same summer rate but opens May and October at a lower, still-defensible nightly rate aimed at the exact guest this market already attracts: a New York or Boston weekender looking for a shorter, quieter trip. Host B is the one more likely to close the gap between the market's 38.3 percent annual occupancy and what a well-marketed listing can realistically fill, because the added nights come from a segment of demand the property was already positioned to capture, not from discounting the peak.

The Calendar That Actually Pays: August, June, and July

August, June, and July are the three strongest months in this sample, with August the clear peak. February is the slowest month of the year by a wide margin, consistent with a town that draws almost entirely on summer beach and farm-stand tourism rather than winter visitors. Given that concentration, cancellation policy and minimum-stay rules matter more in Little Compton than they would in a market with steadier year-round demand.

A host who requires a full week during August but allows shorter weekend stays in June and September typically captures more total booked nights than one applying the same rule across all three peak months, because June and September guests are often testing the town before committing to a full week the following summer. February and the surrounding winter months are generally better served by a monthly or seasonal rental approach aimed at remote workers or long-term tenants than by competing for the same short-stay leisure guest the summer listing is built around.

The calendar logic also affects how a listing should be marketed month to month, not just how it's priced. Photos and copy built around August imagery, full beach days, farm stand produce at its peak, long golden-hour evenings, do the heaviest lifting during the booking window for June, July, and August itself. But a listing that swaps in shoulder-appropriate imagery, quieter beach mornings, fewer crowds at the Commons, cooler evening walks, ahead of the May and September booking windows tends to convert better with guests who are specifically choosing the shoulder season rather than settling for it because peak weeks were already booked.

Where Guests Come From and the 83-Day Booking Lead

New York is the top origin market for Little Compton guests, followed by Boston, which fits the town's role as a weekend and vacation-week escape from both metro areas rather than a fly-in destination. The typical stay runs 5.7 nights, and guests book about 83 days ahead on average. Superhost status covers 36.6 percent of the sample, which is a healthy share and suggests an experienced host base already competing on service rather than just on price.

An 83-day lead window gives a host real time to set pricing signals before the calendar fills. A listing that opens its August dates in May at a defensible rate, backed by specific photos of South Shore Beach, Sakonnet Point, or the walk into the Commons rather than a stock dock shot, tends to attract better-fit guests before last-minute discount shoppers show up. Given the New York and Boston skew, copy that speaks to a weekend drive, an easy Friday-afternoon check-in, and proximity to the city outperforms language written for a guest flying in from somewhere else entirely.

The 5.7-night typical stay is also a useful planning number on its own. It sits comfortably above a standard two-night weekend but well short of a full week, which suggests a meaningful share of Little Compton guests are booking a long weekend plus a few extra weekday nights rather than a strict Saturday-to-Saturday week. A host whose check-in and check-out policy is rigidly built around a seven-night Saturday turnover may be leaving demand on the table from guests who want a Wednesday-to-Monday stay instead, particularly outside the tightest weeks of August.

Little Compton's STR Registration Costs and Tiverton's Separate Desk

Little Compton requires town STR registration at $250 a year, reduced to $125 for owners claiming a homestead exemption, in addition to registering with the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation. That's the fee structure a Little Compton host should budget against, not a number borrowed from a neighboring town's ordinance.

Neighboring Tiverton is a separate municipality with its own registration desk. A Little Compton permit does not cover a Tiverton property, and a Tiverton registration does not cover a Little Compton one, even though the two towns sit next to each other on the map. AirROI's regulation labels are built from a scrape of active listings rather than the town's live permit file, so a host or buyer should confirm current fees and requirements directly with the Little Compton town clerk before listing a property, rather than treating a third-party classification as the final word.

This distinction matters most at the buyer stage, before a property closes. A buyer comparing a Little Compton listing to a Tiverton listing a few miles away needs two separate registration budgets, two separate compliance checklists, and two separate points of contact at town desk, not one shared assumption carried across the town line. Getting this wrong doesn't just risk a fine; it risks a listing going live without valid registration in the town where the property actually sits, which is a far more disruptive problem to fix after the fact than before.

The same care applies to anyone hiring outside help to manage the registration process. A property manager or marketing partner working across both towns should be able to state, specifically, which town a given property sits in and which fee schedule applies to it, rather than defaulting to a single generic "Sakonnet-area registration" answer that doesn't actually exist as a shared category between the two municipalities.

The 30-Night-Minimum Segment: 28 of 71 Listings

Separately from the occupancy figure, 39.4 percent of listings in this sample, 28 of 71, carry a 30-night-or-longer minimum stay. That's a booking-policy choice a subset of owners have made, not a measurement of how full the market actually runs, and the two figures shouldn't be conflated. A market can carry a high share of long-minimum listings and a low annual occupancy rate on its short-stay listings at the same time, which is exactly what this sample shows.

A listing with a 30-night minimum is effectively competing in the extended-stay or remote-work segment rather than the weekend leisure market the rest of this report describes. For an owner deciding between the two strategies, the choice comes down to whether the property is better positioned near the landmarks weekend guests search for, or better suited to a quieter month-long stay away from the peak-season noise. Both can work in Little Compton; they just shouldn't be measured against each other's numbers.

It's also worth noting what a 28-of-71 share implies about the rest of the market: the remaining 43 listings, roughly 60 percent of the sample, are the ones actively competing for the short-stay leisure guest this report otherwise describes, the 5.7-night average stay, the 83-day booking lead, the New York and Boston origin mix. A host benchmarking their own short-stay listing against the town's overall numbers should mentally narrow the comparison set to that smaller group rather than the full 71, since the extended-stay listings are playing a different game with a different revenue shape entirely.

Little Compton vs. Jamestown: Reading Regional Numbers Correctly

For context inside Rhode Island, nearby Jamestown posted $29,691 in average revenue across 92 listings on a comparable AirROI extract. That's a larger, lower-revenue-per-listing market on a different peninsula, with its own permitting desk and its own guest base. The two towns share a general coastline, but they don't share a booking calendar, a regulatory office, or a demand pattern, so a Little Compton report should never blend Jamestown's numbers into a single Sakonnet-area average.

The comparison is useful for exactly one thing: showing that Little Compton's smaller, tighter market ($31,744 across 71 listings) is currently outperforming its larger neighbor ($29,691 across 92 listings) on a per-listing basis, even while both markets sit inside the same state and roughly the same regional demand pool. Anyone citing both figures in the same document should label them as two separate markets on two separate lines, not average them into one regional number that doesn't describe either town accurately.

This kind of side-by-side comparison shows up often in buyer packets and investor memos covering the broader Rhode Island coast, and it's exactly where blended averages tend to creep in. A packet that quotes a single "Sakonnet-area average" combining Little Compton's 71 listings and Jamestown's 92 listings would understate what a well-run Little Compton property can earn and overstate what a comparable Jamestown property typically brings in. The correct approach, and the one this report follows, is to cite each town's figures on their own line, with their own listing count and their own year-over-year trend attached.

What a Buyer or Current Host Should Do With This Report

A buyer evaluating a Little Compton property should underwrite to the town's own figures: $31,744 typical revenue, 38.3 percent occupancy, $442 ADR, and $185 revenue per available night, across a 71-listing sample. The 15.1 percent year-over-year decline is worth building into a conservative first-year projection, particularly for a buyer financing the purchase against expected rental income rather than paying cash. Importing a cap rate or revenue assumption from Jamestown, Newport, or any other South County market will misstate what this specific property is likely to earn.

A current host's highest-leverage move is protecting the August, June, and July rate structure while actively marketing the May, September, and October shoulder weeks rather than treating them as afterthoughts to discount at the last minute. Pair that calendar strategy with listing copy and photography built around the landmarks guests are already searching for, South Shore Beach, Sakonnet Point, the Commons, and Wilbor House, and a property in this 71-listing market has real room to sit above the town average rather than tracking it.

Put plainly, the hosts and buyers who do best with this report are the ones who use it as a floor to beat rather than a ceiling to match. The town average reflects a mix of well-marketed properties and generic ones competing on the same coastline; a listing built around Little Compton's specific geography, priced with the shoulder-season strategy this report lays out, and registered correctly with the town rather than guessed at from a third-party label starts from a stronger position than the $31,744 headline number alone suggests.

Setting Up the Next Twelve Months From This Baseline

The most useful way to carry this report into next year's planning is to treat each figure as a checkpoint rather than a target. A host who closes 2027 with revenue flat against this year's $31,744 baseline, on a market that's already down 15.1 percent year over year, has effectively lost ground against where the town sat two years ago. Beating the baseline means either recovering some of that lost occupancy in the shoulder months, holding the $442 peak-season rate without discounting it away, or both at once, and a host should pick a specific target for each before the August calendar opens for next year's bookings.

The registration and minimum-stay decisions covered above aren't one-time choices either. A homestead exemption on the $250 registration fee needs to be reconfirmed on whatever schedule the town requires, and a host weighing a switch from short-stay to a 30-night-minimum listing, or the reverse, should revisit that decision annually against how the short-stay segment of the market is performing, not lock it in permanently based on a single year's numbers. Little Compton's market is small enough that a host paying close attention to it, rather than running it on autopilot, has a real chance to outperform a $31,744 town average built on a mix of listings that aren't paying the same attention.

None of this requires a large operation or a professional management contract to execute. It requires a host who reads this report, checks their own calendar and rates against the specific figures above, and makes two or three deliberate changes rather than none. In a market this small, that's often the difference between tracking the town average and beating it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did the typical Little Compton short-term rental earn in the past year?

AirROI's trailing-twelve-month extract through July 2026 puts average revenue at $31,744 across 71 active listings. That figure is down 15.1 percent year over year while active supply held essentially flat, which points to softer demand or rate pressure on the same set of properties rather than new competition thinning out the pool.

What was the average daily rate and occupancy in this sample?

Average daily rate was $442, occupancy ran 38.3 percent, and revenue per available night worked out to $185. That combination is a classic low-volume, high-rate coastal pattern, where owners price a short peak season high enough to carry a property that sits empty for the majority of the year.

Which months are strongest for Little Compton bookings?

August, June, and July are the three strongest months in this sample, with August the clear peak. February is the slowest month by a wide margin, consistent with a farm-and-beach town that draws almost entirely on summer tourism and has limited winter demand beyond long-term stays.

Where do most Little Compton guests come from?

New York is the top origin market, followed by Boston, which fits the town's role as a weekend and vacation-week escape for both metro areas. The typical stay runs 5.7 nights and guests book about 83 days ahead on average, giving hosts real lead time to set pricing and messaging before the calendar fills.

What share of hosts in Little Compton are Superhosts?

Superhost status covers 36.6 percent of the listings in this sample, a healthy share that suggests an established host base competing on service and consistency rather than purely on rate.

What does STR registration cost in Little Compton?

Town registration costs $250 a year, reduced to $125 for owners claiming a homestead exemption, in addition to registering with the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation. Because third-party regulation labels are built from listing scrapes rather than the town's live permit file, a host should confirm current fees directly with the town clerk before listing.

Does a Little Compton STR registration cover a property in Tiverton?

No. Tiverton is a separate municipality with its own registration desk. A Little Compton permit only covers a Little Compton property, and a Tiverton registration only covers a Tiverton property, even though the two towns border each other.

Is a 30-night minimum stay the same thing as high occupancy?

No. In this sample, 39.4 percent of listings, 28 of 71, set a 30-night-or-longer minimum stay, which is a booking-policy decision. Annual occupancy across the sample is a separate figure at 38.3 percent. A market can have a large share of long-minimum listings and a low short-stay occupancy rate at the same time, and this extract shows exactly that.

How does Little Compton compare to Jamestown, Rhode Island?

Jamestown posted $29,691 in average revenue across 92 listings on a comparable extract, a larger market with lower revenue per listing than Little Compton's $31,744 across 71 listings. The two towns sit on different peninsulas with separate registration desks and separate guest demand, so their figures should be cited on separate lines rather than blended into a single regional average.

What numbers should a buyer packet cite for a Little Compton property?

Cite the town's own figures directly: $31,744 average revenue, 38.3 percent occupancy, $442 ADR, $185 revenue per available night, across 71 active listings, with a 15.1 percent year-over-year decline. Do not substitute Jamestown's $29,691-across-92-listings figures, or any other town's numbers, for Little Compton's own market data.

What should a current Little Compton host prioritize to grow revenue?

Protect rates during August, June, and July while actively marketing the May, September, and October shoulder weeks instead of discounting them as an afterthought. Pairing that calendar approach with listing copy and photography built around specific landmarks like South Shore Beach, Sakonnet Point, and the Commons gives a property real room to outperform the town's $31,744 average.

Should the roughly 28 extended-stay listings be included when benchmarking a short-stay property?

Not directly. Those listings, set to a 30-night-or-longer minimum, are competing in the extended-stay or remote-work segment rather than the weekend leisure market. A short-stay host benchmarking performance should narrow the comparison to the remaining short-stay listings in the sample, since the two segments have different occupancy patterns and different revenue shapes.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

A market small enough for 71 listings to set the average is also small enough for one well-marketed property to beat it by a wide margin. Name the failure mode the guest can check on the listing.

If you're weighing a Little Compton purchase or trying to grow a listing that's already sitting there, Crest & Cove Creative builds marketing around the town's actual numbers, not a borrowed coastal template. Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502.

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