What your Airbnb estimate actually leaves you in coastal SC and GA after every tax
Got a revenue estimate from AirDNA or Rabbu? Paste it below. Those numbers are gross: before the Airbnb fee, cleaning, management and taxes. This STR take-home calculator takes them all out.
Most Airbnb calculators stop at revenue minus a guess. This one stacks the state, county and town taxes for 18 coastal towns, says which ones Airbnb sends in and which ones land on you, charges South Carolina property tax at the 6% rate a rental really pays, and gives you the number that is left each month.
Your take-home
Track every booking and the tax you owe by town in the Keel & Charter Airbnb Host Tracker ($19)
Worked example: a Folly Beach two-bedroom
Say you bought a $600,000 two-bedroom on Folly Beach with $240,000 down, so the loan is $360,000 at 6.75% over 30 years: $2,335 a month in principal and interest. You list it at $295 a night, book 62% of nights, and the average guest stays 4 nights. You charge a $195 cleaning fee and pay your cleaner $150.
- Booked nights: 365 / 12 x 62% = 18.9 a month, or 4.71 stays.
- Bookings: $5,563 rent plus $919 in cleaning fees = $6,483 a month.
- Airbnb's 15.5% host fee on that: $1,005. Cleaners: $707.
- Property tax: $600,000 x 6% x 248.6 mills / 1,000 = $8,950 a year, $746 a month. Folly's 2025 combined millage is 248.6 on the Charleston County Auditor's millage card.
- Fixed costs: mortgage $2,335, property tax $746, insurance $3,600 / 12 = $300, HOA $650, utilities $350, supplies $90, maintenance $250. Total $4,721.
- Guests also pay $908 a month in tax on top of your price. On Folly, Airbnb collects and remits all of it, so none of it is yours to send.
- Left for you: $6,483 minus $1,005 minus $707 minus $4,721 = $50 a month. Break-even occupancy is 61.4%.
This clears $50 a month after taxes and fees. That is thin for a $600k property. One slow month at half your occupancy loses $2,336, which is more than 3 years of take-home.
That is the default in the calculator above, so you can change one number and watch what moves. Put the same house on Kiawah Island and the taxes stay the same for the guest, but the Charleston County and Town fees become yours to file, because Airbnb only collects the state taxes there.
Why an AirDNA or Rabbu estimate is not what you keep
Revenue estimators show gross booking revenue: what guests pay you before anything comes out. Their own help pages say so.
- AirDNA: Rentalizer's projected revenue "includes the cleaning fee; however, it does not include the host fee, other fees or taxes" (AirDNA Help: Rentalizer revenue calculator). AirDNA revenue is "the sum of nightly rates and cleaning fees minus host discounts and OTA service fees", and "Airbnb host fees and any other additional fees are not included" (AirDNA Help: how AirDNA calculates revenue).
- Rabbu: its calculator figures "are gross revenue figures" and are "not inclusive of cleaning fees, Airbnb's fees, other service fees, or property management fees" (Rabbu Airbnb calculator). Its FAQ: "Our estimates only include income from nightly rates" (Rabbu frequently asked questions).
So before an estimate is money in your account, take out the Airbnb host fee (15.5% for most hosts), what each clean costs you, any manager cut, the mortgage, insurance, HOA and South Carolina property tax at the 6% rental rate. Guest taxes are on top of the estimate, but on Kiawah, Seabrook, Sullivan's Island, Summerville, Bluffton and Surfside Beach some of them are yours to file. Paste the annual figure in the box at the top: with AirDNA the calculator takes the cleaning fees back out to find your nightly rate; with Rabbu it adds your cleaning fees on top. Rates for every town: coastal SC and GA short-term rental tax rates.
Sources checked Oct 27, 2026. Keel & Charter is not affiliated with AirDNA or Rabbu.
Which taxes Airbnb sends in, town by town
On a direct booking you collect and remit everything yourself. On Airbnb, this is what is still on you. "Rate to verify" means the rate is the figure the town or county reported to the state, not yet confirmed by its own ordinance; the calculator counts it in full.
| Town | County | You remit on Airbnb bookings |
|---|---|---|
| City of Charleston | Charleston (part Berkeley) | Nothing. Airbnb collects and remits every tax on Airbnb bookings. |
| Charleston County (unincorporated) | Charleston | Nothing. Airbnb collects and remits every tax on Airbnb bookings. |
| Mount Pleasant | Charleston | Nothing. Airbnb collects and remits every tax on Airbnb bookings. |
| Folly Beach | Charleston | Nothing. Airbnb collects and remits every tax on Airbnb bookings. |
| Isle of Palms | Charleston | Nothing. Airbnb collects and remits every tax on Airbnb bookings. |
| Sullivan's Island | Charleston | Charleston County accommodations fee; Sullivan's Island accommodations fee |
| Kiawah Island | Charleston | Charleston County accommodations fee; Kiawah Island accommodations |
| Seabrook Island | Charleston | Charleston County accommodations fee; Seabrook Island accommodations tax |
| North Charleston | Charleston, Dorchester, Berkeley | Berkeley County accommodations fee (Berkeley County Treasurer); Dorchester County local accommodations tax (rate to verify) |
| Summerville | Dorchester, Berkeley, Charleston | Berkeley County accommodations fee (Berkeley County Treasurer); Charleston County accommodations fee; Dorchester County local accommodations tax (rate to verify); Town of Summerville local accommodations tax (rate to verify) |
| Edisto Beach | Colleton | Colleton County accommodations |
| Hilton Head Island | Beaufort | Nothing. Airbnb collects and remits every tax on Airbnb bookings. |
| Bluffton | Beaufort | Town local accommodations tax (Town of Bluffton) |
| Myrtle Beach and Horry County | Horry | Nothing. Airbnb collects and remits every tax on Airbnb bookings. |
| North Myrtle Beach | Horry | Nothing. Airbnb collects and remits every tax on Airbnb bookings. |
| Surfside Beach | Horry | Town hospitality tax (Town of Surfside Beach) |
| Tybee Island | Chatham | Nothing. Airbnb collects and remits every tax on Airbnb bookings. |
| Savannah | Chatham | Nothing. Airbnb collects and remits every tax on Airbnb bookings. |
How it works
Booked nights a month = 365 / 12 x occupancy. Stays = booked nights / average stay. Bookings = nightly rate x booked nights + cleaning fee x stays. The Airbnb fee and the manager cut are percentages of bookings. Guest taxes are each rate times rent (plus cleaning fees when the fee is mandatory); Georgia adds $5 a night for the first 30 nights of each stay. They are paid by guests, so they only reduce your take-home if you tick the box saying you absorb the ones you remit. South Carolina property tax = market value x assessment ratio x millage / 1,000. Take-home = bookings minus fees, cleaning cost, absorbed tax and fixed costs. Break-even occupancy = fixed costs / what one month at 100% leaves before fixed costs. The slow-month line reruns everything at half your occupancy.
Everything is before income tax. It does not count vacancy between seasons separately: occupancy is your yearly average, so use a real number from booked comps, not a peak month.
FAQ
Does Airbnb collect the accommodations tax for me?
In most of these towns, yes: Airbnb collects and remits the state taxes and the local ones. The exceptions are real money. On Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island and Sullivan's Island Airbnb collects only the state taxes, so the Charleston County fee and the Town fee are yours to charge and file. In Summerville the County and Town taxes are yours. In Bluffton the Town's 3% is not on Airbnb's list, and in Surfside Beach the Town's 1% hospitality tax is not either. The calculator marks every line.
What fee does Airbnb take from hosts?
Airbnb's Help Center says most hosts pay 15.5% under the host-only fee, taken from the nightly price plus cleaning and other host fees, not from guest taxes. Some hosts still have the split fee, where the host pays about 3% and the guest pays the rest. Pick yours in the calculator or type your own.
Is the cleaning fee taxed?
It depends on whether the guest can decline it. Under the SCDOR Sales Tax Manual (Chapter 11, Questions 6 to 9), a mandatory cleaning fee is part of the taxable rent, even when it is listed as a separate line. An optional cleaning service the guest can choose or decline is not taxed. Tick the mandatory box in the calculator to include your cleaning fee in the taxable amount.
Why is my property tax so much higher than my neighbor's?
South Carolina taxes a legal residence on 4% of its value and everything else, including a rental, on 6% (SC Code 12-43-220). A home rented out more than 72 days a year loses the 4% rate. The 4% home also gets the school operating exemption, so the real gap is often bigger than 6 versus 4.
Is this my profit for income tax?
No. It is cash left after taxes your guests pay, platform fees, operating costs and your mortgage payment. Income tax, depreciation and the principal part of your mortgage are separate questions for your tax preparer.
Does it work for stays of 30 nights or more?
It is built for stays under 30 nights. South Carolina accommodations tax stops at 90 days and Georgia's $5 fee covers the first 30 nights, so long stays need a different setup.
Sources
- Airbnb Help: Airbnb service fees (checked Oct 27, 2026)
- SC Code of Laws, Title 12 Chapter 43 (Section 12-43-220) (checked Oct 27, 2026)
- Charleston County Auditor, 2025 millage rates (checked Oct 27, 2026)
- Charleston County Local Accommodation Tax FAQ (checked Oct 27, 2026)
- Airbnb Help: tax collection in South Carolina (checked Oct 27, 2026)
- Airbnb Help: tax collection in Georgia (checked Oct 27, 2026)
- SCDOR Sales Tax Manual, Chapter 11, Accommodations (cleaning fee rule, Questions 6 to 9)
- Town tax rates: the SC accommodations tax and Georgia hotel-motel tax pages, each rate with its official source.
Airbnb fee: "Most hosts pay 15.5%" under the host-only fee, which "exclude[s] the guest service fee and taxes". Split fee: "Most hosts pay a 3% service fee". Property tax: rental and second homes "shall be taxed on an assessment equal to six percent of the fair market value"; a legal residence is taxed at four percent and loses it if rented more than 72 days a year.
Zoning, permits and occupancy limits by town: Coastal SC STR rules tracker, with a printable host checklist for each of its 12 Charleston area, Edisto and Myrtle Beach areas. Every rule for those 12 areas as a spreadsheet with sources, a renewal deadline calendar and a listing fix kit come in the $49 Coastal SC Host Bundle.
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Estimates, not tax or financial advice. Confirm rates with SCDOR, the Georgia Department of Revenue and your local tax office, and check your Airbnb statement for what was collected.