Waveland $26,638 vs Bay St. Louis $25,594: Two Hancock Halls

Jacob Mishalanie
Aug 20
8 min read

Updated: 8 hours ago

Neighbor-market lodging exterior, labeled leftover, never the Waveland pin

Waveland printed about $26,638 from 93 listings, and bay St. Louis printed about $25,594 from 340. Those are two Hancock County halls, not one Gulf average. Louis as if it were this occupancy.

A guest who typed Ground Zero Hurricane Museum is not looking for Old Town Bay St. Louis, and photograph Ground Zero Hurricane Museum. Guests come for Ground Zero Hurricane Museum.

Building is. Port O'Connor's $21,172 is Texas, not this extract. Do not Keep Port O'Connor copy onto a Waveland address.

Waveland's $26,638 Is Not Bay St. Louis's $25,594

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 STR Rules and Waveland Shoulder6 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, and waveland printed about $26,638 from 93 listings. Guests come for Waveland Beach.

93 Listings on the Mississippi Gulf

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 Waveland Shoulder and Waveland Remote Stays6 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 guests come for Bayside Park. Those are two Hancock County halls, not one Gulf average.

Bay St. Louis's 340 Listings Sit Next Door

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.

Occupancy is 33.6 percent. Read more in Waveland Remote Stays and DIY vs Hire in Waveland6 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. A guest who typed Ground Zero Hurricane Museum is not looking for Old Town Bay St.

Port O'Connor's $21,172 Is Texas, Not This Extract

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.

Occupancy is 33.6 percent. Read more in DIY vs Hire in Waveland and Who Books 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 the fishing pier. Call the desk, and port O'Connor's $21,172 is Texas, not this extract. Guests come for the fishing pier.

Waveland Peaks in June, May, and October

The three strongest months are June, May, and October. June is the busiest on this market sample, and september is the hole. Price it as the hole. 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 Waveland Beach. Call the desk, and photograph the fishing pier. Louis printed about $25,594 from 340.

Bay St. Louis's Peak Months Are Not This File

The three strongest months are June, May, and October. June is the busiest on this market sample, and september is the hole. Price it as the hole. 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 Bayside Park. Call the desk, and keep the other town out of the title.

Bayside Park Is Not Old Town

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

Building Is Not Planning

Occupancy is 33.6 percent. Read more in Complete Visitor's Guide to Waveland, Mississippi published market year and Waveland STR Report 20266 percent occupancy.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Waveland's typical STR revenue compare with Bay St. Louis's?

AirROI puts Waveland at roughly $26,638 per year across 93 listings, versus Bay St. Louis at roughly $25,594 across a much larger sample of 340 listings, both for the August 2025-July 2026 window updated August 8, 2026. Waveland's per-listing revenue is a bit ahead, but the two towns are separate pins on the map — Hancock County holds both, and they shouldn't be averaged into one countywide number.

Why shouldn't Port O'Connor's figures be blended into this Waveland/Bay St. Louis comparison?

Because Port O'Connor is a different market entirely — a Texas town showing about $21,172 per year across 128 listings, with no connection to the Mississippi Gulf Coast pair being compared here. Folding it into a 'Gulf of Mexico' average would blur three distinct local markets into one misleading number. Each town's figure should stay cited on its own line.

When is Waveland's peak season, and when is the slow month?

June, May, and October are Waveland's three strongest months in the current sample, with June running as the single busiest month. September is the clear slow month and should be priced and marketed accordingly rather than treated like a second summer month. Year-round occupancy across the sample sits at 33.6%.

Where do most guests booking a Waveland stay come from?

New Orleans leads as the top origin market, with Baton Rouge close behind — both within a manageable weekend drive of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The typical stay runs about 4.6 nights, booked roughly 49 days out from arrival. Superhost status covers about 59.1% of the sampled listings.

How many Waveland listings run a 30-night-or-longer minimum stay?

About 32.3% of the sample — roughly 30 listings — are set to a 30-night-or-longer minimum. That's a booking-policy choice rather than an occupancy figure, so it shouldn't be read as a sign that nearly a third of Waveland's supply sits empty; it just means a meaningful slice of inventory is competing as a longer-stay product instead of a typical weekend rental.

Is Bay St. Louis really a bigger STR market than Waveland by listing count?

Yes, by a wide margin — Bay St. Louis carries roughly 340 tracked listings versus Waveland's 93, even though Waveland's average per-listing revenue runs slightly ahead at $26,638 versus $25,594. That combination (fewer listings, marginally higher average revenue) is worth knowing for anyone comparing the two towns as an acquisition target, since a smaller, tighter market can behave differently than a larger one even next door.

Does Waveland's $270 average nightly rate mean listings are earning close to that every night?

No — the $270 figure is the average nightly rate (ADR), not the amount each available night actually nets. Revenue per available night, which blends rate and the market's 33.6% occupancy together, works out to $95, a meaningfully lower figure. Quoting ADR alone without the occupancy context overstates what a typical night in this market actually returns.

What specific landmarks should a Waveland or Bay St. Louis listing name instead of generic Gulf Coast language?

For Waveland, name Waveland Beach, Bayside Park, the Ground Zero Hurricane Museum, or the fishing pier, whichever a guest can actually walk to from the property. For Bay St. Louis, Old Town Bay St. Louis is the equivalent draw. A guest who searched for one of these specific landmarks isn't looking for a generic 'Gulf of Mexico stay' caption, and naming the actual walkable landmark differentiates a listing more than regional charm language does.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Waveland's $26,638 on 93 listings and Bay St. Louis's $25,594 on 340 aren't interchangeable, and a listing that borrows either neighbor's peak months sells a season this specific driveway doesn't have.

We keep Waveland and Bay St. Louis on separate revenue, listing-count, and season lines so neither town's numbers drift into the other's copy. Reach out before the next peak-month push goes out.

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