Airbnb’s Hospitality Index: America’s Most Hospitable Cities
Every day, Airbnb hosts across the US are practicing the ultimate form of hospitality: opening their homes to travelers from all over the world. Whether it’s a tour of their city, a home-cooked meal, or even just a bottle of wine in the fridge, hospitality is at the core of the Airbnb experience they offer.
This got us wondering: where are Airbnb hosts doing this the best? What are the most hospitable cities in America?
More than 4 million guests have stayed on Airbnb, and with hundreds of thousands of reviews, we’re in a unique position to find out. We filtered through those reviews and looked for cities with the highest percentages of five-star listings, signifying places where Airbnb hosts really go above and beyond to welcome their guests.
That left us with something we’re calling the Airbnb Hospitality Index—a guide to where Airbnb hosts bring that extra-special touch. (Head to our Nerds Blog for more on the methodology calculating the Hospitality Index across the USA.) Using the Hospitality Index, we are able to calculate the most hospitable cities in the USA.
America’s most hospitable cities
Tampa, FL
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Mendocino, CA
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Eugene, OR
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Bend, OR
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Raleigh, NC
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Memphis, TN
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Madison, WI
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Nashville, TN
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Tucson, AZ
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Tahoe, CA
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Trends
Southern Comfort
Tampa, Raleigh, Memphis & Nashville
Leading the charts with four of the top 10 slots is the American South. While its reputation of being neighborly precedes it, Southern hospitality thrives in Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee, where hosts welcome their guests as part of the family. Southern hosts take pride in their local communities, often spending evenings showing their guests around town, and 5-star hosts greet guests with personal touches like freshly baked treats and tea.
Great West Coast
Mendocino, Bend & Tahoe
With its proximity to urban hubs, the Great West Coast is an escape destination for city slickers. In California and Oregon, hospitality is about understanding guests’ desire to unwind from a long drive and busy city life. Hosts offer amenities like continental breakfast and leave bikes for local exploration. They provide guides to local hiking trails and favorite restaurants, but they know when to make themselves scarce to allow guests time to relax.
Almae Matres
Eugene, Madison, Tucson
Knowledge is power for hosts in these intellectual epicenters. Hosts near the Universities of Oregon, Michigan, and Arizona are deeply rooted in their academic communities and enjoy acting as local advisors for their guests. They typically rent private rooms or in-law apartments with shared central spaces like kitchens and living rooms where they often provide information, maps and tips about the surrounding city. Here, hospitality is defined by helping guests get assimilated as quickly as possible.