Market
Every market pays for something different
There is no universal amenity list.
+85% top amenity
Based on
59,428 US listings
Key finding: Across 59,428 US listings, the single amenity that correlates with the most revenue is different in every market, and the top-correlated amenity in a market lines up with listings earning up to 85% more than their local peers.
The short version
There is no universal amenity list. What pays in one market barely registers in another. A crib correlates with more revenue in Disney country, a pool in the Smokies, beach essentials in San Diego, and wine glasses in LA. If you copy an amenity checklist from a blog or a different city, you are optimizing for the wrong guest. The amenity that moves money is the one your specific market actually books for.
The data
The pattern comes from 59,428 US listings. In each market, one amenity stands out as the strongest correlate of revenue, and that top amenity aligns with listings earning as much as 85% more than comparable ones nearby. The key detail is what changes and what does not. The 85% figure is consistent as a signal. The amenity behind it is not. It flips market to market:
Disney country: a crib.
The Smokies: a pool.
San Diego: beach essentials.
Los Angeles: wine glasses.
One caution from the data itself. In luxury high-rise markets, the top amenity is really just a marker of a premium building. It signals the building, not something you can go add to your unit.
Why it works
Amenities are signals of fit, not features in a vacuum. A guest booking near Disney is often a family, so a crib tells them this place was built for their trip. A guest in the Smokies is picturing a pool day. Beach essentials in San Diego and wine glasses in LA read the same way to their crowds. When the amenity matches the intent of the people who actually book that market, it lifts conversion and lets you hold price. When it does not match, it is just clutter on your listing. That is why the winning amenity changes with the market even though the size of the effect stays similar.
What to actually do
Figure out who your market actually books for. Families, couples, beach crowds, and business travelers want different things.
Find the amenity that signals fit for that guest and make sure you both have it and list it clearly. Do not assume the checklist from another city applies to yours.
Ignore amenities that are really building markers you cannot add. If the top signal in your market is a luxury high-rise trait, chasing it will not help a unit that is not in that building.
The honest caveats
This is a correlation, not a proof of cause. Listings with the top market amenity earn more on average, but we cannot say the amenity alone caused it. Better hosts often stock better amenities and also do many other things well. The luxury high-rise case makes this concrete: there the top amenity is a marker of the building, not a lever you can pull. Treat these amenities as strong hints about guest intent, not guarantees of an 85% lift.
Methodology
The finding draws on IntelliHost and Key Data across 59,428 US listings in 2026. For each market we looked at which amenity most strongly correlated with revenue, comparing listings against local peers rather than across the whole country, so the comparison holds market conditions roughly steady. The 85% figure reflects how much more the listings tied to a market’s top amenity earned relative to comparable local listings. The headline is the pattern itself: the winning amenity is market-specific, not universal.
Frequently asked questions
Is there one amenity list that works for every rental?
No. Across 59,428 US listings the top revenue-correlated amenity was different in every market. Copying a generic checklist means optimizing for the wrong guest.
Does adding the top amenity guarantee I will earn 85% more?
No. The 85% is a correlation, not a promise. Listings tied to their market’s top amenity earned up to 85% more than local peers, but many other factors move with that, so treat it as a strong signal of guest fit rather than a guaranteed return.
What if my market’s top amenity is a luxury high-rise feature?
Then it is likely a marker of a premium building, not something you can add. Focus on the amenities that actually signal fit for your guest and that you can realistically provide.