Fayetteville, WV short-term rental market report (2026)
Fayette County, West Virginia. Rules, revenue, home values, demand, climate, reach and risk, each figure with its source.
- RulesLight-touch (2/5)
- 4-BR typical value$214K
- FEMA riskRelatively Low
- Demand drivers within 50 mi2
- People within 300 mi58.0 million
- ClimateFour-season
Everything STR HUB holds on Fayetteville, WV in one place, in the order an investor needs it: whether you can operate, what the numbers are, why and when people come, who can reach it, and what could go wrong.
Every figure comes from a named dataset listed under Sources and method, dated September 21, 2026. Where we do not hold a figure, that part of the report is left out rather than estimated. The Opportunity Score here is partial: it was calculated without revenue data, with the cash-flow component assumed to be below average, so it can understate the market.
Can you operate in Fayetteville?
| Rule | What we hold on file |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Fayette County Health Department (health permit, confirmed); Town of Fayetteville (business license/zoning — current ordinance status not fully confirmed); WV State Tax Department (business registration). |
| Permit or licence | Fayette County Health Department annual health permit (per West Virginia's General Sanitation Rule), fee scaled by bedroom count, valid January 1 – December 31; a change of ownership or major remodel requires a new application. A Town of Fayetteville business license/permit for STRs has been discussed publicly, but the current ordinance text and status could not be confirmed from available sources (the only located reporting on a town ordinance dates to 2016). |
| Permit fee | Health permit fee is bedroom-count-based; exact dollar figures are not published in the source reviewed. Any town-level permit fee is unconfirmed. |
| Lodging and sales taxes | West Virginia's combined state sales/lodging excise tax (roughly 12%) applies; any Fayette County hotel occupancy tax rate was not confirmed for this market. |
| Permit transfers on sale | A change of ownership requires a new health-permit application. |
Rules for Fayetteville last verified September 20, 2026. Rules change, and a city rating does not cover HOA or deed restrictions. Confirm current requirements with the jurisdiction before you buy or list.
The numbers
We have not verified revenue figures for this market yet.
Home values in Fayette County
Zillow Home Value Index: county-wide typical values for Fayette County, not list prices. A specific property can sit well above or below them.
What it costs to own
Screening figures, not a bill or a quote. The tax rate is a county-wide median for owner-occupied homes (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2018-2022); second homes and rentals are often taxed more heavily, and a purchase usually resets the assessed value. Expected annual loss is from the FEMA National Risk Index.
Housing market momentum
County-level, for-sale housing market: it says nothing directly about STR bookings. A relative ranking among tracked markets, not a forecast. Sources: Realtor.com Economic Research, U.S. Census Bureau, Zillow Home Value Index.
Why people come
2 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of Fayetteville. Ordered by published attendance. Attendance appears only where a source publishes it.
Parks and public lands
- New River Gorge National Park and Preserve
- When
- Year-round; peaks June, August, October (by recreation-visit volume, 2025).
- Attendance
- 1,958,440 (NPS recreation visits, full calendar year 2025)
- STR angle
- Newest national park (2020) already reshaping Fayetteville into a whitewater/climbing cabin-rental boomtown.
Outdoor activities
- Gauley River ("Gauley Season")
- When
- Scheduled dam releases on six successive weekends each fall.
- Attendance
- 213,596 (Gauley River National Recreation Area visitation per the Wikipedia infobox (2025).)
- STR angle
- A concentrated, calendar-certain surge of expert paddlers and rafting customers in September and October, on top of New River Gorge traffic (tracked separately). Large cabins for rafting groups near Fayetteville and Summersville Lake are the fit.
- Source
- Wikipedia: Gauley River
When they come
Four-season climate: comfortable months are spread across the year without one dominant season. 7 of 12 months have an average high between 60°F and 88°F, and 1 month averages six inches or more of snow. Warmest month: July (average high 83°F). Coldest: January (average low 27°F).
- Jan43°27°ColdSnow
- Feb49°30°Cool
- Mar56°35°Cool
- Apr63°42°Comfortable
- May71°52°Comfortable
- Jun77°59°Comfortable
- Jul83°65°Comfortable
- Aug81°64°Comfortable
- Sep76°58°Comfortable
- Oct66°48°Comfortable
- Nov54°35°Cool
- Dec49°32°Cool
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high (°F) | 43 | 49 | 56 | 63 | 71 | 77 | 83 | 81 | 76 | 66 | 54 | 49 |
| Average low (°F) | 27 | 30 | 35 | 42 | 52 | 59 | 65 | 64 | 58 | 48 | 35 | 32 |
| Precipitation (in) | 4.4 | 5.7 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 2.3 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 3.9 |
| Snowfall (in) | 7.2 | 4.2 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 3.7 |
| Sunshine (hours a day) | 4.5 | 5.6 | 7.6 | 8.8 | 10.1 | 11.2 | 11.6 | 10.8 | 10.2 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 5.4 |
This is climate and events, not booking data. Monthly normals are 2019-2023 averages from the Open-Meteo Historical Weather API (ERA5 reanalysis) at the market pin. We do not hold monthly occupancy or rate data for this market.
Who can reach it
Largest counties within 150 miles
| County | Population |
|---|---|
| Forsyth County, NC | 383,739 |
| Kanawha County, WV | 179,895 |
| Fairfield County, OH | 159,371 |
County populations (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2018-2022) summed for every county whose centre lies within each straight-line radius. Straight lines are shorter than roads, so read these as generous upper bounds, not drive-time counts.
What could go wrong
| Hazard | FEMA rating | Score (0-100) |
|---|---|---|
| River flooding | Relatively Low | 72.9 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 61.0 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 52.3 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 49.5 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 42.0 |
| Hail | Very Low | 30.2 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 10.7 |
This is a county-level index, not an insurance quote or a flood-zone determination. A coastal or wildfire-fringe rental can carry far more exposure than its county average suggests. FEMA does not model coastal flooding for this county, which is not the same as zero risk. Get property-level flood, wind and wildfire quotes before you buy.
Market context
Housing and jobs in Fayette County
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2018-2022. Vacation-home share is housing units held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use. All three describe the whole county, not one town or neighbourhood.
What is within 15 km of the Fayetteville pin
Counts of features mapped in OpenStreetMap within 15 km of the market pin. A fixed radius favours dense metros, and map coverage varies by area.
Similar markets
The 4 tracked markets whose numbers sit closest to Fayetteville's. Each links to its own report.
Closest by normalised distance across the figures both markets hold (typical 4BR value, revenue, occupancy, regulation rating, vacation-home share, tourism job share, 4+ bedroom share, amenity score, population within 300 miles, comfortable months and FEMA risk score). At most 2 of the 4 come from West Virginia, so the list is not just the neighbours. Similar numbers do not mean similar rules: check each market's regulation section.
See Fayetteville on the map
Open Fayetteville on the National STR Map to see it against its neighbours, switch overlays and run the deal calculator on your own assumptions.
Fayetteville STR questions, answered from the data
Is Airbnb legal in Fayetteville?
STR HUB rates Fayetteville's short-term rental rules 2/5 (Light-touch) on a scale from 1 (relaxed) to 5 (very strict). That rating was derived from the regulation text we hold and has not yet been reviewed by a person. Permit rule on file: Fayette County Health Department annual health permit (per West Virginia's General Sanitation Rule), fee scaled by bedroom count, valid January 1 – December 31; a change of ownership or major remodel requires a new application. A… Rules change, so confirm current requirements with the local jurisdiction before you buy or list.
How much does a 4-bedroom home cost in Fayetteville?
The typical 4-bedroom home in Fayette County is valued at $214,105 (Zillow Home Value Index), and the typical home of any size at $139,999, with all-home values up 3.8% over the past year. These are county-wide typical values, not list prices.
What brings visitors to Fayetteville?
2 demand drivers sit within 50 miles of Fayetteville: New River Gorge National Park and Preserve (1,958,440 published attendance) and Gauley River ("Gauley Season") (213,596 published attendance). Attendance is shown only where a source publishes it, and each driver's source is linked in the report.
What natural hazards affect Fayetteville?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Fayette County "Relatively Low" overall, with a score of 53.4 out of 100 (a national percentile). The highest-scoring hazards we track there are river flooding and winter weather. It is a county-wide index, not an insurance quote or a flood-zone determination.
When is the weather best in Fayetteville?
7 of 12 months have an average high between 60°F and 88°F (April, May, June, July, August, September and October). Four-season climate: comfortable months are spread across the year without one dominant season. These are 2019-2023 climate normals, not booking data.
Sources and method
- Regulation summary and strictness rating: STR Agent HUB regulation research (official source: fayettehealth.org).
- Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), county level. Data provided by Zillow Group.
- Housing, employment and population figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2018-2022.
- Natural hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, county level.
- Amenity counts: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
- Climate normals: Open-Meteo Historical Weather API (CC BY 4.0), 2019-2023 averages.
- Park visitation: National Park Service, NPS Visitor Use Statistics.
- Demand drivers: each entry links its own published source in the list above.
Figures come from the STR HUB national dataset dated September 21, 2026 and this page is regenerated whenever that dataset is rebuilt. County-level figures describe Fayette County as a whole, not one street or neighbourhood. The Opportunity Score (0-100) is a screening heuristic that weighs revenue (35%), regulatory climate (25%), tourism employment (15%), nearby amenities (15%) and large-home supply (10%) relative to the other tracked markets.
Confirm before you act. Short-term rental rules change. Confirm current requirements with the jurisdiction, and work with a licensed local agent who knows which properties can legally operate. This report is screening data, not investment, legal or tax advice.
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