Vilano Beach vs. St. Augustine Beach: $63,182 vs $41,633 STR Revenue

Jacob Mishalanie
Aug 19
9 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

St. Augustine Beach pier house from the sand

Vilano Beach and St. Augustine Beach sit on opposite sides of the same inlet, and hosts mix them up constantly. Vilano is the unincorporated St. Johns County strand north of the Usina Bridge; St. Augustine Beach is the incorporated city south of it, closer to the historic pier and Anastasia Island. On an AirROI extract, Vilano's 161 active listings earned about $63,182 in a typical year, while St. Augustine Beach's much smaller pool of 42 listings earned about $41,633. Those numbers look close on paper, but the two markets run on different calendars, different guest mixes, and different city or county rulebooks.

This guide keeps the two markets separate: what each one earns, who books each one, when each one goes quiet, and which office actually handles STR registration for each address. A third, much larger market, the historic City of St. Augustine, with roughly 745 listings and $36,982 in typical annual revenue per listing, gets pulled into the same searches. It's a different market entirely and shouldn't be blended into either comparison below.

Vilano Beach vs. St. Augustine Beach: Revenue Snapshot

Vilano Beach's 161 listings pulled in about $63,182 per typical listing, with an average daily rate of $492, 40.0% occupancy, and RevPAR of about $199. Year over year, Vilano's revenue was down 10.5%, while active supply grew a moderate 20.1%. Entire-home listings make up 83.9% of the market, and houses account for 68.3% of the mix, this is a market built around whole-house beach stays, not urban condos.

St. Augustine Beach's 42 listings earned about $41,633 per typical listing, with a lower ADR of $380 but higher occupancy at 42.8%, giving a RevPAR of roughly $174. That market had a rougher year: revenue down 41.0% against supply that grew 320.0%, a small base where a handful of new listings can swing the percentages hard. Every listing here is entire-home, which fits a beach-town short-term rental market with almost no shared-space product.

The lesson isn't that one market beat the other, it's that a 161-listing county market and a 42-listing city market don't average into one number. Keep the two typical-year figures, $63,182 and $41,633, filed separately, and treat any blended average as a red flag that the data got mashed together.

Who Books a Vilano Rental vs. a St. Augustine Beach Rental

Guests booking either market skew heavily toward Jacksonville, less than an hour up I-95, these are largely regional weekend and week-long trips rather than long-haul fly-in vacations. Both markets share the same peak months: March, April, and June are the strongest three months on both sides of the inlet, driven by spring break, Easter travel, and early-summer beach weather before Florida's full summer heat sets in.

Where the two diverge is length of stay and how far out guests book. Vilano's average stay runs about 4.2 nights with a booking lead time near 93 days, closer to a planned beach-house vacation. St. Augustine Beach averages a longer 5.2-night stay but a shorter 60-day lead time, suggesting more last-minute and shoulder-season bookings tied to events in the historic district and along the pier.

Neither market's guest is looking for the other one. A Vilano guest wants the quieter county strand, the Vilano Beach Town Center, and easy Usina Bridge access. A St. Augustine Beach guest wants the pier, downtown proximity, and walkable beach-town energy. Listing photos and copy that borrow from the wrong side of the bridge send the wrong guest to the wrong driveway, and that shows up as cancellations and bad reviews, not bookings.

Shoulder Season: Two Different Off-Peak Months

Both markets share March as their strongest month, but their slow months don't line up. Vilano's weakest month is October, after summer traffic fades and before holiday travel picks back up. St. Augustine Beach's weakest month is January, once the historic district's Nights of Lights holiday crowds clear out and before spring break returns.

That six-month gap between the two off-peak months matters for pricing. A Vilano host who discounts January because that's when St. Augustine Beach goes quiet is discounting a month that's actually recovering on their own strand. The reverse is true for St. Augustine Beach hosts pricing around an October dip that belongs to Vilano, not to them. Pull the calendar for the specific address, not the general area.

Property Management Share and Housing Mix

Vilano Beach is a largely self-managed market: professional property managers hold only about 23.0% share, meaning independent hosts run the majority of the 161 listings. St. Augustine Beach flips that ratio, professional management covers about 57.1% of its 42 listings, a majority-managed market despite being the smaller of the two.

That split shows up in the housing stock, too. About 49.7% of Vilano's listings (roughly 80 properties) allow stays of 30 nights or more, and 42.2% can sleep eight or more guests, consistent with larger, independently owned beach houses. St. Augustine Beach has a similar share of 30-night-plus listings at 59.5% (about 25 properties), but with 100% entire-home inventory in a much smaller, more professionally managed pool.

A 30-night filter is a platform setting, not proof of demand, it doesn't mean either market is quietly running a remote-work or extended-stay business. Typical stays on both extracts are still short trips of four to five nights. Treat the long-stay filter as an option some hosts have turned on, not as a filled slow month.

STR Rules: County Registration vs. City Hall

Because Vilano Beach is unincorporated, short-term rentals there register through St. Johns County, not through any city hall, Vilano has no city government of its own. St. Augustine Beach, by contrast, is an incorporated municipality with its own city hall, and STR registration, business tax receipts, and any local occupancy rules run through that city office rather than the county.

Both markets fall under the same Florida county tourist development tax collected on short-term stays, so hosts on either side of the bridge still need to register with the St. Johns County Tax Collector for that piece regardless of which office handles their base STR registration. The difference is which desk issues the local permit: county planning and zoning for Vilano, city hall for St. Augustine Beach.

Before listing a property in either market, confirm current registration requirements directly with St. Johns County (for a Vilano Beach address) or the City of St. Augustine Beach (for an address inside city limits), local ordinances change, and getting the wrong office's rules can delay a launch by weeks.

What It Costs to Start a Legal Short-Term Rental Here

Budgeting for a legal launch in either market means planning for a handful of recurring line items rather than a single upfront number: county or city STR registration and any renewal fees, a business tax receipt, a fire or safety inspection where required, liability insurance sized for short-term rental use (standard homeowner's policies typically exclude it), and collection setup for the county tourist development tax on top of state sales tax.

On the operating side, budget for professional photography that actually shows the correct side of the bridge, a direct-booking or channel-management setup, and a cleaning and turnover system sized to the shorter 4-to-5-night average stay in both markets. None of this is optional in a market where entire-home listings compete on RevPAR as tight as $199 versus $174, a listing that looks generic loses bookings to one that's dialed into its specific market.

Don't Blend a Third Market Into This Comparison

Search traffic for "St. Augustine" short-term rentals frequently pulls in a third, much larger market: the historic City of St. Augustine itself, home to the Castillo de San Marcos and the downtown historic district. That market runs roughly 745 listings with a typical per-listing revenue near $36,982, a completely different scale and price point from either Vilano Beach or St. Augustine Beach.

Keep all three filed separately. Vilano Beach is the unincorporated county strand north of the bridge. St. Augustine Beach is the incorporated beach city south of it. The City of St. Augustine is the historic downtown across the Intracoastal, a different regulatory jurisdiction with its own STR rules entirely. Averaging any two of these into one number produces a figure that doesn't describe any real listing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Vilano Beach and St. Augustine Beach the same short-term rental market?

No. Vilano Beach is an unincorporated St. Johns County community north of the Usina Bridge, while St. Augustine Beach is an incorporated city to the south. They have separate listing pools (161 versus 42), separate typical-year revenue ($63,182 versus $41,633), and separate STR registration offices. Treat them as two different markets, not one blended beach strip.

How many listings are in each market, and what do they earn?

Vilano Beach has about 161 active listings earning roughly $63,182 per typical year, with an ADR of $492 and 40.0% occupancy. St. Augustine Beach has about 42 active listings earning roughly $41,633 per typical year, with a lower ADR of $380 but higher occupancy at 42.8%. The smaller St. Augustine Beach pool trades rate for occupancy compared to Vilano.

Why is Vilano's slow month October while St. Augustine Beach's is January?

Both markets peak in March, April, and June, but their off-seasons don't overlap. Vilano dips in October after summer traffic ends. St. Augustine Beach dips in January once holiday-season crowds around the historic district clear out. Pricing one market around the other's slow month leaves real money on the table.

Are these markets mostly self-managed or professionally managed?

Vilano Beach is majority self-managed, with professional property managers holding only about 23.0% share. St. Augustine Beach is the opposite: professional managers cover about 57.1% of its smaller listing pool. An independent Vilano host is competing against mostly other independents, while a St. Augustine Beach host is more often up against managed inventory.

What's the difference between STR registration in Vilano Beach and St. Augustine Beach?

Vilano Beach is unincorporated, so short-term rentals register through St. Johns County rather than a city hall. St. Augustine Beach is an incorporated city with its own city hall handling STR registration and local business licensing. Both still fall under the same county tourist development tax regardless of which desk issues the base registration.

Should the historic City of St. Augustine's numbers be blended into either comparison?

No. The historic City of St. Augustine is a much larger, separate market, about 745 listings and roughly $36,982 in typical revenue per listing, with its own regulatory jurisdiction. Blending its numbers into a Vilano Beach or St. Augustine Beach comparison distorts both smaller markets.

Do the 30-night-minimum listings in these markets mean they're extended-stay markets?

Not really. About 49.7% of Vilano listings and 59.5% of St. Augustine Beach listings allow stays of 30 nights or more, but that's a platform filter some hosts enable, not proof of actual demand. Typical stays in both markets are still short trips: 4.2 nights on Vilano and 5.2 nights on St. Augustine Beach.

How does RevPAR compare between the two markets?

Vilano Beach runs a RevPAR of about $199, built on its higher $492 ADR and 40.0% occupancy. St. Augustine Beach's RevPAR sits lower at roughly $174, despite higher occupancy, because its ADR is meaningfully lower at $380. Neither market's RevPAR should be used to estimate the other's performance.

What should I budget for before launching a legal rental in either market?

Plan for county or city STR registration and renewal fees, a business tax receipt, any required safety inspection, short-term-rental-specific liability insurance, and setup for collecting the county tourist development tax alongside state sales tax, plus professional photography and a cleaning system built around a 4-to-5-night average stay. The line items are similar; the office you file with is not.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Vilano Beach and St. Augustine Beach fail the same way when hosts blend two First Coast desks into one costume market. Guests deserve the town they typed, not a bridge-average overnight.

We help independent hosts keep Vilano Beach's $63,182 and St. Augustine Beach's $41,633 typical years on separate lines, never blended into one bridge-average.

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