Waveland vs Bay St. Louis Desks: Live Clerk, Not a blend

Thomas Garner
Aug 20
8 min read

Updated: 10 hours ago

Hosted stay living room, Waveland independent desk

Most Waveland listings get marketed as a generic Gulf of Mexico stay. That pitch could describe a dozen other towns, and it wastes what actually sets City of Waveland, Hancock County, Mississippi apart. Guests who typed Waveland are looking for Waveland Beach, Bayside Park, Ground Zero Hurricane Museum, the fishing pier , not Port O'Connor, and not Bay St. Louis, and 93 active listings sit on this market sample. Keep the town you can actually walk, and keep the listing specific. A vague water caption loses the booking.

Typical listings here earned about $26,638 last year from 93 active rentals, AirROI trailing twelve months through July 2026. The average night was $270, and occupancy was 33.6 percent. Revenue per available night was $95, and year over year is plus 13.4 percent. Active supply moved 0.0 percent. in Port O'Connor at $21,172 on 128 listings is a different market. That is a different town, and leave Bay St. Louis as a different market, and do not mix those towns.

The three strongest months are June, May, and October. June is the busiest, and september is the slowest. Most guests arrive from New Orleans, then Baton Rouge. Typical stay is 4.6 nights, booked about 49 days ahead. Building at 228-466-2549, and city STR permit. Confirm the live fee at hall, and bay St. Louis Planning is another municipality. AirROI Low is a scrape Evolve holds still show up in this sample. Confirm the live desk before you advertise.

Pick the Clerk the Driveway Actually Has

Guests come for Waveland Beach, and say that in the listing. Do not bury it under a generic Gulf of Mexico caption. Do not Keep Port O'Connor copy onto a Waveland address. Do not use Bay St, and louis as if it were this occupancy. Be specific about the walk. A vague caption loses the guest who typed this town. Keep the other town out of the title.

Occupancy is 33.6 percent. Read more in Waveland Remote Stays and DIY vs Hire in Waveland6 percent occupancy.

Year over year is plus 13.4 percent, and supply moved 0.0 percent. Keep Bay St, and louis ($25,594 a year) on its own line. A 32.3-percent share of listings uses a 30-night minimum. That is a stay rule, not occupancy, and photograph Waveland Beach. Call the desk. That pitch could describe a dozen other towns, and it wastes what actually sets City of Waveland, Hancock County, Mississippi apart.

City Zoning Sits on the Live File

Guests come for Bayside Park, and say that in the listing. Do not bury it under a generic Gulf of Mexico caption. Do not Keep Port O'Connor copy onto a Waveland address. Do not use Bay St, and louis as if it were this occupancy. Be specific about the walk. A vague caption loses the guest who typed this town. Keep the other town out of the title.

Occupancy is 33.6 percent. Read more in DIY vs Hire in Waveland and Who Books a Waveland Rental6 percent occupancy.

Year over year is plus 13.4 percent, and supply moved 0.0 percent. Keep Bay St, and louis ($25,594 a year) on its own line. A 32.3-percent share of listings uses a 30-night minimum. That is a stay rule, not occupancy, and photograph Bayside Park. Call the desk, and active supply moved 0.0 percent. Typical listings here earned about $26,638 last year from 93 active rentals, AirROI trailing twelve months through July 2026.

License Is City, Not a Residential blend

Guests come for Ground Zero Hurricane Museum, and say that in the listing. Do not bury it under a generic Gulf of Mexico caption. Do not Keep Port O'Connor copy onto a Waveland address. Do not use Bay St, and louis as if it were this occupancy. Be specific about the walk. A vague caption loses the guest who typed this town. Keep the other town out of the title.

Hours change. Confirm 2026 at the desk the map names before you promise a walk. Leave out unverified a town permit fee this page did not confirm. Read more in Who Books a Waveland Rental and Buying a Waveland Rental6 percent occupancy.

Keep Bay St, and louis ($25,594 a year) on its own line. A 32.3-percent share of listings uses a 30-night minimum. That is a stay rule, not occupancy, and photograph Ground Zero Hurricane Museum. Call the desk. Guests who typed Waveland are looking for Waveland Beach, Bayside Park, Ground Zero Hurricane Museum, the fishing pier , not Port O'Connor, and not Bay St.

Bay St. Louis Hall Is Another Permit

Guests come for the fishing pier, and say that in the listing. Do not bury it under a generic Gulf of Mexico caption. Do not Keep Port O'Connor copy onto a Waveland address. Do not use Bay St, and louis as if it were this occupancy. Be specific about the walk. A vague caption loses the guest who typed this town. Keep the other town out of the title.

Hours change. Confirm 2026 at the desk the map names before you promise a walk. Leave out unverified a town permit fee this page did not confirm. Read more in Buying a Waveland Rental and Waveland Tourism Data6 percent occupancy.

Keep Bay St, and louis ($25,594 a year) on its own line. A 32.3-percent share of listings uses a 30-night minimum. That is a stay rule, not occupancy, and photograph the fishing pier. Call the desk. Most Waveland listings get marketed as a generic Gulf of Mexico stay. Louis as if it were this occupancy.

District Caps Are City, Not a blend

Occupancy is 33.6 percent. Read more in Waveland Tourism Data and Complete Visitor's Guide to Waveland, Mississippi Pin6 percent occupancy.

Keep Bay St, and louis ($25,594 a year) on its own line. A 32.3-percent share of listings uses a 30-night minimum. That is a stay rule, not occupancy, and photograph Waveland Beach. Call the desk, and guests come for Waveland Beach. in Port O'Connor at $21,172 on 128 listings is a different market.

Do Not File AirROI Low as This Hall

Hours change. Read more in Complete Visitor's Guide to Waveland, Mississippi published market year and Waveland STR Report 20266 percent occupancy.

Keep Bay St, and louis ($25,594 a year) on its own line. A 32.3-percent share of listings uses a 30-night minimum. That is a stay rule, not occupancy, and photograph Bayside Park. Call the desk, and guests come for Bayside Park. AirROI Low is a scrape Evolve holds still show up in this sample.

Confirm the Parcel Before You Advertise

Hours change. Read more in Waveland STR Report 2026 and Market a Waveland Stay6 percent occupancy.

Keep Bay St, and louis ($25,594 a year) on its own line. A 32.3-percent share of listings uses a 30-night minimum. That is a stay rule, not occupancy, and photograph Ground Zero Hurricane Museum. Call the desk, and guests come for Ground Zero Hurricane Museum.

What to Bring to the Desk

Occupancy is 33.6 percent. Read more in Market a Waveland Stay and Waveland STR Rules6 percent occupancy.

Keep Bay St, and louis ($25,594 a year) on its own line. A 32.3-percent share of listings uses a 30-night minimum. That is a stay rule, not occupancy, and photograph the fishing pier. Call the desk, and guests come for the fishing pier. Typical stay is 4.6 nights, booked about 49 days ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a typical Waveland STR year on this market sample?

AirROI shows Waveland STR listings earning about $26,638 per year on average, based on 93 listings sampled from August 2025 through July 2026 and updated as of August 8, 2026. That's up 13.4% year over year, while listing supply held roughly flat. Treat this as a directional market figure rather than a guarantee for any individual property.

Is Bay St. Louis the same market as Waveland?

No — the two towns are tracked separately in AirROI's data. Bay St. Louis shows roughly $25,594 per year across 340 listings, compared with Waveland's $26,638 across a much smaller sample of 93 listings. The two figures shouldn't be blended into one Hancock County number; each town's data should be quoted and cited separately.

Should Port O'Connor's numbers be averaged into a Waveland market estimate?

No. Port O'Connor is a separate Texas market showing about $21,172 per year across 128 listings, and it has no bearing on Waveland, Mississippi's own figures. Hosts and buyers researching Waveland specifically should cite the $26,638/93-listing Waveland figure on its own, not blend in a different state's market.

Which months are strongest for Waveland short-term rentals?

The three strongest months are June, May, and October, based on the current AirROI sample, with September running as the slowest month of the year. Year-round occupancy across the sample sits at 33.6%. That gives Waveland hosts a fairly clear pricing calendar to build around, even without a precise month-by-month ADR breakdown in this data.

Where do most Waveland STR guests come from?

New Orleans is the top origin market, followed by Baton Rouge — both a relatively short drive from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Typical stays run about 4.6 nights, and guests tend to book roughly 49 days ahead of arrival. Superhost status covers about 59.1% of the sampled listings, which is a notably high share for a market this size.

Is a 30-night minimum stay common in Waveland?

Yes, to a meaningful degree — about 32.3% of listings in the sample (roughly 30 of them) run a 30-night-or-longer minimum stay. That's a booking-policy choice, not a reflection of actual occupancy, so it shouldn't be read as evidence that a third of the market is running long-term rentals instead of short-term stays. It does mean a meaningful slice of Waveland's inventory is competing on a different product than a typical weekend rental.

What is Waveland's revenue per available night compared to its overall ADR?

AirROI's sample shows Waveland at $270 average nightly rate but only $95 revenue per available night, a gap driven by the market's 33.6% occupancy. Revenue per available night blends rate and occupancy into one figure, so it's a more honest way to compare markets than ADR alone, since a high nightly rate on a mostly-empty calendar still nets a modest per-night return.

Is there a specific local contact for confirming Waveland's actual STR permit fee?

The city Building Department is reachable at 228-466-2549 for confirming the current city STR permit and its fee. A specific dollar figure for that permit fee wasn't confirmed on a primary town source in this research pass, so hosts should call and confirm the live fee directly rather than quoting a number from a scrape or a neighboring town's schedule.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Waveland and Bay St. Louis get pitched as one interchangeable Gulf Coast stretch, yet Waveland's 93-listing year and Bay St. Louis's 340-listing year run on entirely separate numbers.

We rewrite listing copy so each town keeps its own occupancy, rate, and guest-origin facts instead of borrowing the neighbor's stronger file.

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