Updated 6 November 2026

In short

• According to AirDNA data (Breva extract, September 2026), in Como a 2-bedroom listing earned on average €37,604 gross in a year; with a lake view €49,242; in the luxury lake-view tier €60,915. In Cernobbio the average across all listings is about €36,700.

• These are gross figures: before platform commissions, cleaning, utilities, maintenance, any manager and tax.

• In this article’s example, on €40,000 gross about €15,400 is left before IMU (local property tax) if you manage it yourself (flat tax at 21%), and about €7,400 with a manager at 20% of gross. With your own costs the result changes.

• Italy taxes this income also if you live abroad. The flat tax (cedolare secca) is calculated on the gross, without subtracting commissions, cleaning or the manager’s fee: 21% on one home, 26% on the others.

• Within the same segment the gaps are large: among luxury lake-view apartments in Como, a quarter of listings earn less than €33,075 and a tenth more than €105,867.

“How much does a holiday home on Lake Como earn?” is the right question, but the answer that matters is what is left, not what comes in. Here you find gross revenue by area from market data first, then an example from gross to net. For the basic rules, see how short-term rentals work on Lake Como.

Where the numbers come from

We use two sources, which should not be mixed.

• AirDNA, an extract made by Breva in September 2026, covering 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026. According to AirDNA’s methodology page, its data come from listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com; direct bookings are not included. Revenue is annual per listing, before host commissions and tax.

• AirROI, public reports we read on 23 October 2026, covering October 2025 to September 2026. They cover Airbnb listings only; AirROI measures in dollars and shows amounts in euros at €0.86 per dollar. Revenue includes cleaning fees paid by guests and is before commissions, management costs and tax.

The two sources use different methods, platforms and periods: do not compare an AirDNA figure with an AirROI one. Both are estimates built from public listings, not certified income.

What listings earn, area by area

Como, Cernobbio and nearby towns (AirDNA)

Source: AirDNA data (Breva extract, September 2026), September 2025 to August 2026. ADR rounded to the euro. “n/a”: not in the extract.

ADR (average daily rate) is the average income per booked night; occupancy is the share of available nights that were booked (AirDNA definitions). In AirDNA’s general definitions the market ADR includes cleaning fees; the extract does not specify this.

How to read the table:

• The pool segment has only 7 listings: too small a sample to draw conclusions.

• For 2-bedroom homes in Cernobbio we have the median, the listing in the middle: half earn more, half less. The top 25% earn more than about €44,200, the top 10% more than about €60,200.

• Annual revenue is lower than ADR × occupancy × 365. One reason: occupancy is calculated on the nights the home was available, not on every day of the year.

Bellagio, Tremezzina, Menaggio and Varenna (AirROI)

Source: AirROI reports, October 2025 to September 2026, read on 23 October 2026.

AirROI notes that the annual average also counts listings active for only part of the year, and that monthly values refer to listings active in that month.

What drives income

• Location. Even between neighbouring towns, averages differ by thousands of euros: about €32,500 in Blevio, about €41,500 in Carate Urio.

• Lake view. In Como, among 2-bedroom listings, lake-view ones earn on average about €11,600 more (€49,242 against €37,604), mainly thanks to a higher ADR.

• Tier and furnishing. In the luxury lake-view tier the ADR rises to €382, but occupancy is lower (54%).

• Bedrooms. Our data are almost all for 2-bedroom homes: we do not use them to estimate larger or smaller homes.

• Season. In Como’s luxury lake-view segment, averaged over three years, occupancy ranges from 25.5% in January to 70.8% in September.

• Management. Pricing, photos, reviews and open days matter. In the same luxury lake-view segment in Como, 25% of listings earn less than €33,075, the median is €56,674, the top 25% earn more than €79,689 and the top 10% more than €105,867. The data do not say how much of this gap comes from the home and how much from how it is run.

From gross to net: an example

Example. A 2-bedroom apartment in Como or Cernobbio earning €40,000 gross a year, including cleaning fees paid by guests and excluding tourist tax. All bookings come from Airbnb. Cleaning, utilities and maintenance are our assumptions, not market averages: replace them with the quotes and bills for your home.

Behind the lines:

• Airbnb fee. According to Airbnb’s help centre, most hosts now pay a single host-only fee of 15.5%; Airbnb’s resource pages say it also applies to cleaning fees. On Booking.com the commission is the one in your contract, plus 1.1% to 3.1% if you use Payments by Booking.com with bank transfer.

• Manager. Italian operators that publish prices, among those we found, charge 10% to 25%, on different bases (gross or net), sometimes plus VAT. The 20% of gross is an assumption. How to read a quote is in Lake Como property management fees.

• Left out of the example: IMU, insurance, accountant, furnishing and the days you use the home yourself.

• Tourist tax. It is not income: you collect it from guests on behalf of the Comune (municipality) and pay it over.

Tax is calculated on the gross

Rent from a home in Italy is taxed in Italy, whether or not you live there. With the flat tax on short-term rentals you pay 26%, reduced to 21% for one home you choose in your return. The base is the gross rent: as the Department of Finance of the Italian Ministry of Economy writes, “no reduction can be applied” to the rent. Platform fees, cleaning and the manager’s fee are not subtracted. That is why the flat tax is €8,400 in both columns. Details, including which return non-residents file, are in Italy’s flat tax on short-term rentals.

Two more things:

• Airbnb withholds 21% from non-professional hosts on the gross payout for listings in Italy. It is not an extra cost: it is an advance you deduct in your return.

• From 2026, if you let short-term more than two apartments, the activity is presumed to be a business and the flat tax no longer applies.

The 2027 budget bill (A.C. 3174, presented to the Chamber of Deputies on 30 October 2026 and now continuing as A.C. 3174-bis) is not yet law. In the official summary of its measures and in its flat-tax articles we found no changes to short-term rental tax; it can still change before approval (our article on it, in Italian).

Rental yield

Net yield is what is left in a year divided by the value of the home. Example: if the home is worth €400,000, €15,400 is 3.85% of its value (€7,400 with a manager: 1.85%), before IMU and the other costs left out of the example. Do the calculation with your home’s value and the net based on your own costs.

Better than a long-term let?

Compare what is left, not the gross. In an example from our Italian comparison of lease types, a long-term lease at €1,000 a month leaves €9,480 after a 21% flat tax, and with operating costs at 40% of gross a short-term let beats it only above about €24,300 gross a year. In our example, costs before tax are €16,200, about 40% of €40,000: €15,400 is left, more than the long-term lease. With a manager they rise to €24,200, about 60%: €7,400 is left, less than that long-term lease.

What the numbers do not show matters too: with short-term lets you can still use the home for your own holidays; with a long-term lease the home is committed for years, but the work is much less.

What the data do not tell you

• Your home. An average or median describes a group of listings, not a specific apartment.

• The net. AirDNA and AirROI measure gross revenue: you have to subtract costs, commissions and tax.

• All channels. AirDNA data come from Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com, AirROI data from Airbnb only. Direct bookings appear in neither: a home with many direct bookings may earn more than the data show.

• Open days. Averages mix homes open all year with homes open a few months.

• The future. These are 12 past months. AirDNA’s market score for Como is 80, on a scale from 40 to 100: it is AirDNA’s own index, which compares markets in the same country on demand, revenue growth, seasonality and signs of regulation. It does not forecast what your home will earn.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a holiday home on Lake Como earn?

It depends on location, view and management. According to AirDNA data (Breva extract, September 2026), in Como a 2-bedroom listing earned on average €37,604 gross in a year, €49,242 with a lake view. That is gross: the net, after commissions, costs and flat tax, can be less than half.

How much can I make with Airbnb on Lake Como?

In our example, on €40,000 gross all from Airbnb, about €15,400 is left if you manage it yourself and pay the 21% flat tax, about €7,400 with a manager at 20% of gross. With your home’s real costs the result changes.

What is the rental yield on Lake Como?

Divide what is left in a year by the value of the home. In our example, €15,400 on a €400,000 home is 3.85%, or 1.85% with a manager, before IMU and other costs. Your figure depends on your price, your costs and how the home is run.

How much does a short-term rental in Cernobbio earn?

According to AirDNA data (Breva extract, September 2026), about €36,700 a year on average per listing, with an ADR of €239 and occupancy of 56%. For 2-bedroom homes the median is about €30,000; the top 25% earn more than about €44,200.

How much does a home in Bellagio or Varenna earn?

According to the AirROI reports read on 23 October 2026 (Airbnb listings only), the annual average per listing is €33,559 in Bellagio and €39,992 in Varenna. Do not compare these with the AirDNA figures: the methods differ.

I live abroad. Is the income taxed in Italy?

Yes. Italian rental income is taxed in Italy, with the flat tax on the gross (21% on one home, 26% on the others) or ordinary income tax. If Airbnb withholds 21%, it is an advance you deduct in your Italian return.

Sources

• Market data: AirDNA, Breva Collections extract of September 2026 (internal document), September 2025 to August 2026, Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com listings: Como (2 bedrooms; lake view; luxury lake view; pool), Cernobbio, Moltrasio, Carate Urio, Blevio; Como luxury lake-view segment, three-year average, for seasonality.

• AirROI, Bellagio, Tremezzina, Menaggio, Varenna (read on 23 October 2026)

• AirDNA, How our data works (platforms analysed)

• AirDNA, The top 11 metrics every short-term rental owner should know (ADR and occupancy)

• AirDNA, Glossary: ADR

• AirDNA, How is Market Score calculated?

• Airbnb Help Centre, Airbnb service fees (article 1857)

• Airbnb Resource Center, How much does Airbnb charge Hosts? (13 October 2026)

• Airbnb Help Centre, Italy income tax withholding overview for hosts

• Booking.com Partner Hub, Understanding our commission

• Booking.com Partner Hub, How much Payments by Booking.com costs

• Agenzia delle Entrate (English), Personal income tax: what it is

• Agenzia delle Entrate, Circular 10/E of 10 May 2024, short-term rentals

• Agenzia delle Entrate, Circular 24/E of 12 October 2017, short-term rentals (full text on the Ministry of Economy portal)

• Ministry of Economy and Finance, IRPEF regulatory changes, tax year 2011 (flat tax)

• Law 30 December 2025, no. 199 (2026 budget law), art. 1, par. 17 (Normattiva)

• Long-term lease comparison: Affitto breve, transitorio o 4+4 a Como (Italian)

• Chamber of Deputies, A.C. 3174, 2027 budget bill (record and progress) and text of the articles, Tomo II

Own a home on Lake Como?

If you want to know what your home could earn, starting from the data for its segment and its real costs rather than an average, we can do the numbers with you. Ask Breva Collections for a free evaluation, or read about our short-term rental management in Como.

This article is for information only and does not replace advice from an Italian accountant (commercialista) or tax adviser.