Vacancy rate calculator: stress test how vacancy impacts rental cash flow and lost rent each year. Free, editable rates, runs in your browser, no signup.
Fixed costs continue during vacancy — mortgage, taxes, insurance.
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Calculation details
Every figure above is calculated locally in your browser from the assumptions shown. No inputs are sent anywhere. See the methodology section below for how this tool works.
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Worked example: a 6 percent vacancy haircut on a $1,800 unit
Take a unit renting for $1,800/month with $250 in operating costs and $75 in management or platform fees. At a 6% vacancy rate, the calculator computes occupied rent as 1800 x 0.94 = $1,692. Lost rent is 1800 x 0.06 = $108 per month, which the tool shows as a separate metric so you can see the vacancy drag in dollars rather than percentages.
Net after vacancy is then 1,692 - 250 - 75 = $1,367 per month. For comparison, the zero-vacancy net is 1,800 - 325 = $1,475. That $108 gap looks small until you annualize it: 108 x 12 = $1,296 per year, roughly 0.7 months of rent gone. If the same unit sat at 10% vacancy, occupied rent drops to $1,620 and net to $1,295, a $180 monthly hit or $2,160 a year.
This is also why the calculator subtracts full costs from reduced rent rather than scaling costs. A vacant month still accrues taxes, insurance, and most fixed fees, so 6% vacancy does not cut your cost burden by 6%. Netting costs against occupied rent is the honest version of the math.
Edge cases where the monthly model misleads
The formula treats vacancy as a steady percentage, but real vacancy is lumpy. A 5% annual vacancy rate on a single unit is not 5% off every month; it is roughly 18 days vacant per year (0.05 x 365), likely one continuous gap. During that gap your monthly net is rent minus costs with zero rent coming in. Budgeting from the averaged figure hides the cash-flow trough, so size your reserve to cover at least one full month of costs plus lost rent, not one-twelfth of the annual shortfall.
Fixed costs can also exceed reduced rent. Enter rent of $900, vacancy of 8%, costs of $700, and fees of $150: occupied rent is $828 and net is 828 - 850 = negative $22. The calculator will show that negative number rather than flooring it at zero, which is correct: a thin deal goes negative before vacancy even enters the picture.
Finally, the inputs ignore turnover costs like repainting, listing fees, or a lease-up commission of 50% to 100% of one month's rent, which a 10% management fee input only partially captures. The decision-context note about reserves exists for this reason: the printed net assumes steady state, not the turn.