Airbnb hosts in Suffolk County earned $42.1M in 2018

According to numbers released by Airbnb, about 3,600 hosts across Suffolk County earned $42.1 million in 2018. Throughout the year, 114,200 guests checked into Suffolk listings, according to Long Island Business News. Meanwhile, neighboring Nassau County had only 560 registered hosts last year, who earned $5.3 million from their homes. Between May 25 and Sept. 3, 2018, during the height of the rental season, Airbnb had 81,700 guest arrivals across Long Island. The $47 million that visitors earned their Airbnb hosts last year represented a 38 percent increase over 2017, according to the company. Airbnb, whose East End use has been controversial, remains in talks about the collection of hotel taxes with officials in Nassau and Suffolk counties. In 2018, Suffolk Comptroller John Kennedy got about 1,000 hosts to pay the county’s 3 percent occupancy tax. A federal judge recently blocked a New York City law designed to crack down on Airbnb and other short-term rental sites. [LIBN]