Long Beach vs. Huntington Beach: Two Years, Not One Average

Jacob Mishalanie
18 hours ago
9 min read

Updated: 8 hours ago

Empty Huntington Beach California residential street, no people

Long Beach and Huntington Beach both sit on the Southern California coast, both draw beach-focused visitors, and both show up in the same regional search results, which is exactly why it's tempting to treat their short-term rental numbers as roughly interchangeable. They aren't. Long Beach's typical listing earned about $35,478 last year across 1,288 active rentals. Huntington Beach's typical listing earned about $44,625 across 534 active rentals. Those are two real, separate years, not two data points that average into a useful regional figure.

This page keeps them apart deliberately, city by city, so a host writing copy or a buyer underwriting a purchase in either market is working from that market's own actual numbers rather than a blended average that overstates one city and understates the other.

Signal Hill, a much smaller city bordering Long Beach, gets its own separate treatment too, since folding a 26-listing extract into either larger city's average would distort both. This is not legal advice.

Long Beach: $35,478 on 1,288 Listings

Long Beach's own AirROI extract, trailing twelve months from August 2025 through July 2026, shows typical annual revenue of about $35,478 across 1,288 active rentals. Average night runs $267, citywide occupancy sits at 45.0 percent, and revenue per available night lands at $124. Year over year, revenue moved down 5.6 percent while active supply grew 9.7 percent.

1,288 listings is a genuinely large sample, giving real confidence in the shape of this figure. Superhost share runs 59.3 percent and professionally managed listings make up 7.8 percent of the market, with the largest single operator, Greta, holding nine listings. This is Long Beach's own market, and it should be cited as such, not as a stand-in for a broader Southern California coastal average.

June, August, and March are the three strongest months in this sample, with June the single busiest. January is the slowest revenue month, and occupancy dips lowest in July despite July's elevated summer rates holding revenue up reasonably well. This seasonal pattern is specific to Long Beach's own data and shouldn't be assumed to carry over to Huntington Beach without separate confirmation.

Huntington Beach: About $44,625 on 534 Listings

Huntington Beach listings earned about $44,625 last year across 534 active rentals on the current extract, a genuinely different market at a different price point from Long Beach. The roughly $9,000 gap in typical annual revenue between the two cities is large enough to meaningfully change an underwriting model, and it's not a gap that a shared regional average would preserve.

That figure describes Huntington Beach specifically, its own guest base, its own seasonal pattern, and its own competitive set of listings, not a version of Long Beach's market with a different name attached. Treating the two as the same market with different price points, rather than as genuinely separate markets, misses the structural differences that actually explain the gap.

534 active listings is a smaller sample than Long Beach's 1,288, which is worth keeping in mind when comparing the two figures directly. A smaller sample doesn't make the Huntington Beach number wrong, but it does mean slightly more caution is warranted before treating $44,625 as an equally precise citywide baseline the way the larger Long Beach sample supports.

Why the Gap Exists, Not Just That It Exists

It's worth resisting the urge to explain the roughly $9,000 revenue gap with a single simple story, since neither city's dataset here fully explains the underlying cause. What's clear is that the two markets carry different average nights, different active-listing counts, and different competitive dynamics, and a host or buyer should treat that gap as a real, documented fact rather than something to be smoothed over in a regional pitch.

The practical takeaway matters more than the explanation: a property's location, specifically which of these two cities it sits in, is itself a meaningful variable in what it can be expected to earn. A listing description or an investment packet that treats the two cities as roughly equivalent coastal opportunities is quietly erasing a real, measurable difference in the underlying data.

It's worth being honest about the limits of this comparison too. Neither city's extract explains why guests are willing to pay more for a comparable Huntington Beach stay versus a comparable Long Beach one, whether that's about beach access, brand association with surf culture, housing stock differences, or something else entirely. Resist the urge to guess a tidy narrative reason for the gap when the data itself doesn't support one; the gap is real and worth planning around, even without a confirmed explanation for its cause.

Signal Hill Sits at a Third, Smaller Scale

Signal Hill listings earned about $23,738 last year across just 26 active rentals on the current extract, a much smaller sample than either Long Beach's 1,288 listings or Huntington Beach's 534. That smaller sample size means more statistical noise, and Signal Hill's figure shouldn't be treated as equally reliable evidence, let alone blended into either larger city's average.

Signal Hill is also its own separate municipality, administratively distinct from Long Beach despite sitting almost entirely surrounded by it geographically. A host or manager with a Signal Hill property needs that city's own separate data and separate registration confirmation, not a borrowed Long Beach or Huntington Beach figure.

It's tempting to round Signal Hill's smaller number down as evidence the city is simply a weaker market, but 26 listings is too thin a sample to support that conclusion confidently. A handful of unusually strong or weak individual listings can swing a 26-listing average significantly more than they would swing a 1,288-listing average. Treat the Signal Hill figure as directional, not definitive, and rely on individual listing performance data where it's available for a specific Signal Hill property.

Guests Who Typed the Wrong City Aren't the Guests to Chase

A guest who specifically searched "Long Beach" is not the same as a guest who searched "Huntington Beach," even though both are broadly shopping the same stretch of Southern California coast. Writing generic regional copy to try to catch both searches at once tends to convert worse than writing sharply for the guest who actually typed the city a listing sits in.

This applies just as much to a listing's photos and headline as it does to the body copy. A Long Beach listing photographed and described to emphasize Belmont Shore or downtown specifically will read as more credible to a guest who searched Long Beach than a listing that hedges with vague "Southern California beach" language trying to also appeal to Huntington Beach searchers.

Most guests booking a Long Beach stay actually arrive from Los Angeles, with Long Beach residents themselves as the second most common origin, at a typical stay of 7.5 nights and about 46 days of lead time. Whatever Huntington Beach's own guest-origin pattern turns out to be, it isn't documented in this dataset, and a host shouldn't assume it matches Long Beach's just because both cities pull from the same broad Southern California region.

Building Two Separate Marketing and Pricing Files

A host or manager operating in both cities should build two entirely separate rate calendars, two separate sets of listing copy, and two separate underwriting models, each grounded in that city's own data. Long Beach's $35,478 figure, its June-August-March seasonal peak, and its Chapter 5.77 registration structure belong in the Long Beach file. Huntington Beach's roughly $44,625 figure and its own separate ordinance belong in a file of their own.

The temptation to build one shared regional template is understandable, since it's less work upfront. But it produces weaker copy and weaker underwriting for both properties, papering over exactly the kind of city-specific detail that determines whether a listing or a purchase actually performs the way it's projected to.

This matters just as much for pricing software and automation as it does for hand-written copy. A dynamic pricing tool configured off a single blended assumption for both cities will systematically misprice one of them, since the two markets don't move together. Two separate pricing profiles, each calibrated to that city's own extract, protect against exactly this kind of quiet, ongoing revenue loss.

What a Buyer Comparing Both Markets Should Do

A buyer weighing a purchase in either city should start from each city's own actual revenue figure rather than a regional average that doesn't correspond to either market. Long Beach's $35,478 on 1,288 listings, with revenue down 5.6 percent year over year against 9.7 percent supply growth, tells a specific competitive story. Huntington Beach's roughly $44,625 on 534 listings tells a different one, and its own year-over-year trend should be confirmed independently rather than assumed to mirror Long Beach's.

The strongest comparison a buyer can make between the two cities isn't which one has the higher headline number, it's which market fits the buyer's own strategy, risk tolerance, and property type best, using each city's own real data rather than a blended figure that flattens the actual differences between them.

A supply-growth story is part of that picture too. Long Beach's active listing count grew 9.7 percent year over year while revenue fell 5.6 percent, a market absorbing new competition. Whether Huntington Beach shows a comparable supply trend isn't documented in this dataset, and a buyer should confirm that trend independently for Huntington Beach rather than assuming it mirrors Long Beach's, since a market with a different supply trajectory carries a different competitive risk profile going forward.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Long Beach's typical revenue compare to Huntington Beach's?

Long Beach's typical listing earned about $35,478 last year across 1,288 active rentals. Huntington Beach's typical listing earned about $44,625 across 534 active rentals. That's a roughly $9,000 gap between two genuinely separate markets, not a range to average together.

Should I average Long Beach and Huntington Beach's numbers for a regional pitch?

No. Averaging the two invents a market that doesn't actually exist. Each city has its own guest base, its own seasonal pattern, and its own competitive set of listings. Cite each city's own figure separately in any listing copy or underwriting model.

What's Long Beach's occupancy and revenue per available night?

Citywide occupancy runs 45.0 percent with revenue per available night at $124. The average night is $267. Year over year, revenue moved down 5.6 percent while active supply grew 9.7 percent.

How does Signal Hill fit into this comparison?

Signal Hill earned about $23,738 last year across just 26 active rentals, a much smaller and noisier sample than either Long Beach or Huntington Beach. It's a separate municipality with its own data and shouldn't be blended into either larger city's average.

Why is Huntington Beach's typical revenue higher than Long Beach's?

The two markets show different average nights, different active-listing counts, and different competitive dynamics, and no single simple explanation fully accounts for the gap in this dataset. What's clear is that it's a real, documented difference worth building into underwriting rather than smoothing over.

Should a host write one shared regional listing description for properties in both cities?

No. A guest who searched "Long Beach" specifically responds better to copy that names Long Beach's own neighborhoods, like Belmont Shore or downtown, than to generic regional language trying to also catch Huntington Beach searchers. Write sharply for the city a listing actually sits in.

What share of the Long Beach market is professionally managed?

Professionally managed listings make up 7.8 percent of the Long Beach extract, with the largest single operator, Greta, holding nine listings. Superhost share runs 59.3 percent, meaning independent hosts still set the competitive bar in this market.

Should I build one pricing calendar for properties in both cities?

No. Build separate rate calendars grounded in each city's own seasonal data. Long Beach's own extract shows June, August, and March as the strongest months and January as the slowest; Huntington Beach's seasonal pattern isn't documented in this same dataset and shouldn't be assumed to match.

What should a buyer compare when weighing Long Beach against Huntington Beach?

Compare each city's own actual revenue figure, $35,478 on 1,288 listings for Long Beach versus roughly $44,625 on 534 listings for Huntington Beach, alongside each city's own year-over-year trend and supply growth, rather than a blended regional average that doesn't represent either market accurately.

Is a higher headline revenue number always the better investment choice?

Not automatically. The stronger comparison weighs which market fits a buyer's specific strategy, property type, and risk tolerance using each city's own real data, rather than simply choosing whichever city shows the higher number without accounting for price point, supply growth, and competitive dynamics.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

If a coastal listing pitch still quotes one blended number for Long Beach and Huntington Beach, it's describing a market that doesn't actually exist. Name the failure mode the guest can check on the listing.

We write separate, city-specific marketing for Long Beach and Huntington Beach properties, built off each market's own real numbers rather than a shared regional average. Name the failure mode the guest can check on the listing.

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