How much can you earn on Airbnb in Copenhagen in 2026? Realistic numbers, area by area

Updated 8 September 2026. Written by Nico Rossetti, Arnor.

Ask Google what an Airbnb earns and you get either dream figures from homes rented all year round, or numbers so cautious they help no one. Here is the honest calculation for Copenhagen in 2026, with figures for each area and the full path down to what you actually keep after tax.

The frame: 70 nights, not 365

If you live in the home yourself, you can rent it out for up to 70 nights a year in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. That is the rule for primary residences, and it changes the whole calculation. The right question is not what your apartment could earn in a year, but what it can earn on its 70 best nights. If the rules are new to you, start with our guide to Copenhagen's Airbnb rules.

There is a practical consequence many people miss: you do not need to fill the calendar. You need to sell the right nights, meaning summer, the big events and the weeks around Christmas, when prices peak. That is why an ordinary two-room flat can easily beat a bigger home rented out at random through the year.

What does a night cost in your area?

Industry data from analytics firms like Airbtics and AirDNA puts the average nightly rate in Copenhagen at roughly 1,350 kr in 2026, across everything from single rooms to large apartments. That average hides big differences between areas. Converted to kroner and rounded, the picture looks like this:

Two important caveats. First, these are averages across all listings all year, including rooms and basic flats. A whole apartment that is presented well typically sits above its area's average. Second, the average covers the whole year, while you only need your 70 strongest nights. Homes near Nyhavn or Strøget earn 40 to 50 percent more than comparable homes further out according to the same industry data, and in August or during a major event even a Nørrebro flat can sell nights at prices that look like Indre By in February.

In short: treat the table as a floor, not a ceiling. Our guide to pricing within the 70 nights shows how to place them well.

The calculation: from gross rent to money in your account

Let us take a concrete, completely ordinary home: a two-room flat in Vesterbro, rented for 70 nights at an average of 1,300 kr. That gives 91,000 kr in rental income. Cleaning is usually paid by the guest on top through a cleaning fee, so we let that cancel out against the actual cost of cleaning.

From the 91,000 kr we subtract what really comes off:

• Airbnb's host fee of about 3 percent: approx. 2,700 kr
• Electricity, water, heating, small repairs and supplies: approx. 5,000 kr
• Tax: see below, around 11,700 kr for an owner

The tax is milder than most people expect. In 2026 the first 35,100 kr are tax free when you rent through a platform that reports to the Danish Tax Agency, which Airbnb does automatically. Of the amount above the allowance, only 60 percent is taxable. For an owner it is taxed as capital income, typically around 35 percent. The math for our Vesterbro flat: 91,000 minus 35,100 leaves 55,900. Of that, 60 percent, or 33,540 kr, is taxable, and the tax comes to about 11,700 kr. That is an effective tax of roughly 13 percent on the whole income.

Result: about 71,000 kr net to the owner. Money earned in weeks when the home would have stood empty anyway, while you were in the summer house, on holiday or at your partner's place.

One important detail: for short-term rental the taxable 60 percent is capital income whether you own, hold an andel share or rent with permission to sublet. The net result in our example is the same for all three. Only longer leases of 12 months or more follow different rules for andel holders and tenants. The whole tax model is explained step by step in our guide to Airbnb tax in Copenhagen.

What about the other areas?

Same method, quickly told, for an owner with 70 rented nights:

• Indre By: 126,000 kr gross leaves about 97,000 kr net after fees, utilities and tax.
• Frederiksberg: 98,000 kr gross typically leaves 70,000 to 80,000 kr net. We have a dedicated guide to Airbnb in Frederiksberg, since the municipality has rules of its own.
• Nørrebro and Amager: 80,000 to 84,000 kr gross leaves roughly 62,000 to 66,000 kr net.

Notice how close the areas actually sit after tax. The gap between an expensive and a cheap area is wide in gross terms, but the tax-free allowance evens part of it out. In practice, the biggest factor is not your address. It is how well your 70 nights are sold.

What moves the number most

After a few hundred turnovers in Copenhagen, our experience is that four things decide whether a home lands at the low or high end of its range:

1. Photos and the listing. Professional photos lift both click rate and price. That is why we offer professional photography.
2. Pricing. Fixed prices are expensive. Rates should follow season, events and how far out the date is. Eight out of ten guests in Copenhagen are international, most of them from Germany, and they book the summer well in advance.
3. Reviews. A steady run of five-star reviews lifts your search ranking and lets you charge more for the same nights.
4. Response time and operations. Fast replies, flawless check-in and a home that is spotless. Boring, but this is where the five stars come from.

Want to test the numbers on your own home? Our free Airbnb calculator runs nightly rate, nights and tax for you.

More than 70 nights? Think in months

If your goal is higher than what 70 nights can deliver, for example because you are being posted abroad or have a forældrekøb apartment standing empty, the answer is not to break the cap. It is to switch track to renting by the month to professionals, researchers and families between homes. Mid-term rental is not covered by the 70-night rule, and demand in Copenhagen is strong. We describe it in our guide to mid-term rental.

What your home can earn, concretely

The numbers here are averages and estimates. Your home is not an average. Size, floor, light, balcony, condition and the exact location move the number more than any table can show. Send us the address and a few lines about the home, and you will get a free, no-obligation estimate of what it can realistically earn over 70 nights, before and after tax. Then you have a number to decide on, not a headline.

Sources: Danish Tax Agency, skat.dk (35,100 kr allowance and the 60 percent rule, 2026). The Danish Planning and Rural Districts Agency (Plan- og Landdistriktsstyrelsen) (the 70-night rule). Nightly rates: industry data from Airbtics and AirDNA, 2026, converted to kroner and rounded; all amounts are estimates. This is general information, not personal tax advice.

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