As the U.S. gears up to host millions of visitors for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, short-term rental bookings are surging with double digit annual growth.
Nationally, June reservations are pacing 15.2% above last year, and July is up 17.1%, supported by peak-season travel and the upcoming World Cup, according to data analytics company AirDNA’s March 2026 report.
Some U.S. host cities have seen bookings for June and July surge up to 58%, an early indicator of the massive travel demand spurred by the international soccer tournament, according to AirDNA data shared exclusively with Realtor.com®.
“The U.S. World Cup is probably the biggest short-term rental event that’s ever happened,” Bram Gallagher, director of economics and forecasting at AirDNA, which compiles and analyzes Vrbo and Airbnb data, tells Realtor.com. “That is the primary driver of this booking bump we’re seeing.”
Eleven cities in the United States have been selected by FIFA to host matches for the 2026 World Cup. FIFA estimates that more than 5 million fans will attend one or more of the 104 matches scheduled between June 11 and July 19, 2026.
“There’s domestic fans, international fans, and those that will just go see the final [on July 19] because they know they’re going to see a world class sport,” says Gallagher.
The tournament will be the first FIFA World Cup to be cohosted by three nations (the U.S., Canada, and Mexico), and the first to include 48 teams (up from 32) battling it out over 104 matches for the 18-karat gold trophy.
The qualifying teams, representing the countries, are listed here. All three cohost countries (including the U.S., currently ranked 16th) automatically qualify. France is ranked No. 1.
The tournament is expected to create 185,000 full-time jobs in the U.S., while contributing $17.2 billion to the economy and $3.4 billion in direct and indirect tax revenue, according to FIFA’s World Cup 2026 Socioeconomic Impact Analysis report.
At a webinar sponsored by Tourism Economics, economist Laura Baxter called the global sporting event the equivalent of “10 Super Bowls.”
According to AirDNA, year-over-year booked rates during the event are commonly 10% to 90% higher than the same dates on a nonevent year, depending on the host city and match round.
In the U.S., the host cities are Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle.
Where World Cup visitors are booking rentals
AirDNA says demand is up an average of 66% for all host cities across the World Cup play dates, indicating a surge of travel interest in the tournament despite rising airfare prices from higher jet fuel costs.
The 10 U.S. markets/host cities and adjacent cities with the highest occupancy rates across June and July are: Miami (up 58.4% YoY); Fort Worth, TX (58.2%); Kansas City, MO (48.5%); Houston (45.2%); Dallas (44.3%); Jersey City/Newark, NJ (39.7%); Fort Lauderdale, FL (33.4%); Philadelphia (32.9%); Atlanta (31.5%); and Los Angeles (31.4%).
But these numbers can really surge on the date of a highly anticipated matchup. For example, the day of the Brazil vs. Scotland game on June 24, bookings are up an astounding 244% in Miami.
Kansas City has seen the biggest gain in vacation rental listings solely for the World Cup, with 11% of its new listings tied exclusively to the tournament.
New York, thanks to its crackdown on short-term rentals of 30 days or fewer, isn’t seeing as much of an uptick in future bookings. Demand has redirected to nearby markets, resulting in increased occupancy in Jersey City and Newark, according to AirDNA.
Each of those NYC-adjacent cities is seeing big bumps of 125% on the game days of June 25 and June 27, compared with only 31% for New York.
The final—deciding which country takes home the World Cup—will take place on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in Rutherford, NJ.
On that date, Jersey/Newark is so far seeing a 108% bump in bookings. And the most popular neighborhood is Paterson, which has seen a 175% increase in STR bookings.
World Cup months aren’t the only ones experiencing growth in STR bookings this year.
Warmer weather signals a boost in summer travel and, nationwide, April (+2.8%) and May (+2.9%) future bookings are both pacing slightly ahead of March’s 2% increase.
