Ste. Genevieve, MO Short-Term Rental Market Report 2026

Ste. Genevieve, Missouri runs its own short-term rental desk, and it is a small one: the current AirROI extract counts 38 active listings across the whole town, producing a typical year of $15,405, an average daily rate of $161, occupancy of 30.6%, and RevPAR of $49. Year over year, that figure is down 3.2% - a real signal on a small sample, worth taking seriously rather than shrugging off as noise.

This is a French colonial river town roughly an hour south of St. Louis, not a satellite of the metro's tourism economy. That distinction matters more here than in most markets, because the temptation to borrow a bigger, more flattering number from a neighboring desk is real, and every neighboring number available - Farmington's $20,290, Perryville's $17,031 - belongs to a different town with a different visitor base.

This report walks through what the 38-listing sample actually supports, why entire-home and professional-management shares matter for a town this size, which months genuinely carry the calendar, and why blending in a St. Louis-adjacent number would misrepresent what a Ste. Genevieve property can realistically expect to earn.

None of this is a criticism of the town's appeal - Ste. Genevieve's historic district is a genuine draw, and a small listing count can just as easily reflect an under-supplied market as a weak one. The point of this report is narrower: read the 38-listing number for what it is, price against it honestly, and resist the pull of a bigger, more flattering figure that belongs to a different town entirely. This is not legal advice.

$15,405 Is the Live Year - Not a Blended Regional Figure

The AirROI extract for Ste. Genevieve prints $15,405 as the typical year across 38 listings, with an ADR of $161 and occupancy of 30.6%. On a town-level sample this size, every one of those figures is a real, specific measurement of this town's panel - not a regional average dressed up as a town number.

The year-over-year change is minus 3.2%, which on 38 listings is a meaningful move rather than statistical rounding. A host or buyer looking at this market in 2026 should treat that decline as a genuine signal to investigate - new supply, a softer festival calendar, or pricing drift - rather than something to explain away.

RevPAR of $49 is the number that actually reflects blended nightly performance across booked and unbooked nights alike, and it is the figure worth watching quarter to quarter more than ADR alone, since ADR without occupancy context tends to overstate what a typical night in this town is actually worth. A buyer comparing this market to a larger market should anchor on RevPAR first, then layer ADR and occupancy in as the supporting detail.

38 Listings Is a Tiny market - Read It Like One

A 38-listing sample is small enough that a handful of new entries or exits can move the town-level average meaningfully. That is not a reason to distrust the number; it is a reason to treat any single month's reading as noisier than it would be in a market with a few hundred listings.

Entire-home share sits at 68.4% of the market, which tells a buyer that the bulk of Ste. Genevieve's listing stock competes as whole-house stays rather than private rooms - the more typical structure for a heritage-tourism town where guests come for a weekend in the historic district, not a business-travel room night.

Professionally managed share is 2.6%, meaning almost every listing in this sample is run by an independent host. That is a real opportunity for a host willing to do the work a management company would otherwise charge for: a listing that names the actual walk to the historic district, the actual parking situation, and the actual river access reads as more credible than a generic template precisely because so few competitors are professionally polished.

Keep Farmington and Perryville Off this market

Farmington's AirROI figure of $20,290 and Perryville's figure of $17,031 both sit meaningfully above Ste. Genevieve's $15,405 - and both belong to towns with different visitor bases, different listing stock mixes, and different drive-time relationships to St. Louis and the broader region.

A report or a listing description that blends any of these three numbers into a single "this region earns X" claim is misrepresenting the source. Each town's figure describes that town's market, on that town's sample size, for that town's listing stock - full stop.

For a buyer evaluating a Ste. Genevieve acquisition specifically, the discipline is straightforward: underwrite against $15,405 on 38 listings, note Farmington and Perryville as labeled neighboring watches worth tracking for regional context, and never let those larger numbers creep into the actual pro forma for a Ste. Genevieve property.

St. Louis Is a One-Hour Drive, Not this sample's Demand Engine

St. Louis sits roughly an hour north, and it is real, valid context for a listing description - a guest weighing a Ste. Genevieve stay against a St. Louis hotel room is a legitimate audience to write for. But the drive-time relationship does not mean St. Louis's tourism volume or pricing power transfers onto this town's market.

The extract's $15,405 and 30.6% occupancy describe a French colonial river-town overnight: a walkable historic district, wine and river-adjacent recreation, and a heritage-tourism calendar that peaks around specific events rather than a year-round metro draw. That is a genuinely different demand pattern from a St. Louis suburb commuter market.

A listing or a market report that implies St. Louis-scale demand because of the one-hour drive is setting expectations a Ste. Genevieve property's actual booking calendar will not meet. The honest pitch is the town itself - not a costume version of a bigger metro's tourism story.

October, May, and November Carry This Desk

The seasonal pattern in this sample points to October, May, and November as the months carrying the bulk of demand - a fall-foliage-and-harvest-season and spring pattern consistent with a heritage river town whose draw leans on walking the historic district and outdoor river-adjacent time rather than summer beach or lake recreation.

January, February, and July read as the weaker months on this sample - winter's obvious seasonal lull, plus a July reading that suggests peak-summer heat may work against, rather than for, a walking-heavy historic-district product in this specific town.

A host pricing a Ste. Genevieve property for 2026 should build the calendar around that October-May-November spine, treat January and February as genuine off-season requiring its own rate plan rather than a discounted copy of peak pricing, and watch whether July's softness holds or shifts as more data accumulates on this still-small sample.

What a Host Should Actually Do With a 38-Listing Number

Independent hosts still hold nearly all of this desk - 97.4% of it, given the 2.6% professionally managed share - which means the competitive bar here is set by other independent operators, not a polished management company's template. A host who names the specific gallery, the specific historic-district walk, and the specific house rules a guest will actually encounter has a real edge in a market this thin on professional competition.

That edge disappears the moment a listing borrows language, numbers, or seasonal framing from Farmington, Perryville, or a St. Louis-adjacent pitch instead of describing what this specific 38-listing town market actually supports. Guests booking a Ste. Genevieve stay are choosing this town on purpose; the listing should read like it knows that.

The underwriting takeaway for 2026: model against $15,405, 30.6% occupancy, and the October-May-November calendar - and treat the year-over-year decline of 3.2% as a real trend to investigate, not dismiss, before setting next year's pricing strategy.

Why a Small market Punishes Generic Listing Copy Faster

In a 400-listing market, one generic, template-driven listing barely registers against the competitive set. In a 38-listing market, it stands out immediately - for better or worse. A guest searching Ste. Genevieve on any platform is scrolling through a genuinely short list, and a listing that reads like it was written for a different river town gets noticed as off almost instantly.

That same small-sample dynamic cuts the other way for a host willing to do the specific work: naming the actual distance to the historic district's brick sidewalks, the actual walk to the wine tasting rooms, the actual river access point, and the actual parking situation on a specific street. In a market with only 38 competitors, that specificity is a bigger relative advantage than it would be anywhere larger.

The occupancy gap between a generic listing and a specifically-written one is not something this sample measures directly, but the underlying logic holds across small heritage-tourism markets broadly: guests choosing a niche historic-district stay are actively filtering for authenticity, and a listing that fails that filter loses bookings to the handful of competitors that pass it.

Building a 2026 Pricing Calendar Around the Real Numbers

A defensible 2026 pricing calendar for a Ste. Genevieve property starts with the $161 average daily rate as a baseline, not a ceiling - a well-differentiated, specifically-written listing in October, May, or November has room to price above that town-wide average during the months the extract shows carrying real demand.

January, February, and July call for a different strategy entirely: rather than running a flat discount off peak pricing, a host should treat those months as genuine off-season and price to fill nights that would otherwise sit empty, since 30.6% occupancy town-wide already implies a meaningful share of unbooked nights even across the stronger months.

The year-over-year decline of 3.2% is the number to revisit again once the next extract cycle lands. If the decline continues, that is a signal worth acting on - new supply pressure, a softening festival calendar, or a pricing environment that needs a fresh look - rather than a one-time blip to explain away with last year's assumptions.

Any host comparing notes with an owner in Farmington or Perryville should expect a genuinely different conversation - different ADR, different occupancy, different seasonal rhythm - because those are different market on the same regional map, not variations on one shared number.

Related Reading

More Ste. Genevieve, Missouri reading already live on Crest & Cove.

• Market a Ste. Genevieve Stay: NPS Town, Not St. Louis

• Ste. Genevieve STR Rules: Heritage CoA, No guessed Cap

• Ste. Genevieve Shoulder: October Peak, January Hole

• Ste. Genevieve Remote Stays: Five listings Set 30-Plus

• DIY vs Hire in Ste. Genevieve: Evolve Is One Listing

• Who Books a Ste. Genevieve Rental: Park, Weekend Drive

• Buying a Ste. Genevieve Rental: $15,405, Census 4,999

• Ste. Genevieve Tourism Data: The Park Is Not Occupancy

• Complete Visitor's Guide to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri

• What It Costs to Start a Legal Ste. Genevieve MO STR

• Financing a Ste. Genevieve Rental Without a Costume Year

• Ste. Genevieve City Desk and County STR city desk registrations

• Jour de Fete vs October Peak: Festival Is Not Extract

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the current AirROI extract show for Ste. Genevieve, Missouri?

A typical year of $15,405 across 38 active listings, with an average daily rate of $161, occupancy of 30.6%, and RevPAR of $49. Year over year, that figure is down 3.2%, a real move worth investigating on a sample this small rather than dismissing as noise.

Why shouldn't Farmington's or Perryville's numbers be applied to a Ste. Genevieve property?

Farmington shows $20,290 and Perryville shows $17,031 - both meaningfully higher than Ste. Genevieve's $15,405, and both describe a different town's listing stock and visitor base. Blending any of these figures into one regional number misrepresents what each specific town's market actually supports.

How much of Ste. Genevieve's short-term rental listing stock is entire-home?

Entire-home listings make up 68.4% of the market, reflecting a heritage-tourism town where guests typically book a whole house for a weekend in the historic district rather than a single room for a business trip.

What share of Ste. Genevieve listings are professionally managed?

Just 2.6% - meaning independent hosts run essentially all of this market. That leaves real room for a host who writes specific, credible listing copy to stand out against thin professional competition.

Does Ste. Genevieve's proximity to St. Louis mean it earns St. Louis-level revenue?

No. St. Louis is roughly a one-hour drive and legitimate context for a listing, but it does not transfer the metro's demand volume or pricing power onto Ste. Genevieve's listing set, which runs its own distinct, smaller river-town booking pattern.

Which months carry the most demand in Ste. Genevieve?

October, May, and November read as the strongest months on the current extract, consistent with a heritage river town whose draw centers on fall foliage, spring weather, and walkable historic-district time rather than peak-summer beach or lake demand.

Which months are weakest for Ste. Genevieve short-term rentals?

January, February, and July read as the softer months on this sample. Winter is an expected seasonal lull; the July reading suggests summer heat may work against this walking-heavy historic-district product rather than boosting it.

How should a buyer underwrite a Ste. Genevieve acquisition for 2026?

Model against the town's own figures - $15,405 typical year, 30.6% occupancy, $161 ADR - on 38 listings, factor in the 3.2% year-over-year decline as a trend to watch, and build pricing around the October-May-November demand spine rather than a borrowed neighbor number.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Ste. Genevieve's own extract shows $15,405 on 38 listings, not the $20,290 Farmington number some reports quietly borrow. Confusing the two sets a buyer's pro forma up to miss by thousands.

We build Ste. Genevieve listings and market reports around this town's own listing set instead of a St. Louis-adjacent number that never belonged to it. Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502. Send the live listing draft and the facts you can actually cite.

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