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How to Make Big Money Renting your RV in 2024

| Updated Mar 4, 2024

If you have ever thought about renting your RV, now is the time to start.

It was inevitable that with RVs in such huge demand for road trips and camping vacations, the same peer-to-peer businesses would arise that came in the vacation home rental industry.

That demand has increased exponentially ever since people turned to RVing during the pandemic. For no other way to vacation or getaway is as safe as RVing. RVers, as we used to say, were socially distant before it was cool.

An entire side industry has developed over the past few years: Rental companies that facilitate private RV owners who want to earn extra cash with their RVs.

Those companies – new ones are forming every day – list the RV, usually help in providing insurance, and offer marketing to promote them.

RVers get to use their RVs when they want but, when the RV is usually in storage or sitting in the driveway, they then get to earn cash by renting it out.

Some RVers, even get to buy their RV with little out-of-pocket expenses because the rental fees more than cover their payments.

Private RV owners are sometimes making five-figure incomes a year just by renting out their RVs. Some have actually started their own businesses doing so, buying multiple RVs and renting them all out.

EXTRA: See our newest ebook The Complete Guide to Renting Your RV
(If you prefer to buy through Amazon Kindle or Apple Books go here.)

If you buy something through our links, we may get a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps keep our lights on so we can continue to provide helpful resources for RVers. Read our full affiliate disclosure here.

Pros and Cons of Renting Your RV 

The path to renting out your RV can be a perilous one for many people.  Whatever your motivation is for renting out your RV, there are some risks. There’s the additional wear and tear, extra maintenance, time spent dealing with customers, cleaning, and so on.

Of course, there are also numerous advantages to renting out your RV. 

Chief among them: You’ll receive extra money to cover the RV’s payments, which might help you afford a better unit. 

And it doesn't matter if you have a Class B, Class C motorhome, a couple of Class A RVs, fifth wheels, or a truck camper.  Demand is unprecedented!

Reasons for Renting your RV

Here are some reasons WHY YOU SHOULD rent out your RV.

1) Monetize the downtime

Unless you are a full-time RVer, the chances are high that you only get a few good days each month using your RV. Maybe even a full week or two each summer. 

The rest of the time, the rig is sitting in storage or your driveway.

Renting out your RV allows you to generate some additional revenue covering a large part – if not the entire – monthly payment. Knowing that your schedule (for now) doesn’t accommodate using your RV full-time, you can rent it out when it suits you. 

Have a week between trips this summer? Rent it out for an extra $500-$1,000. 

2) Buying and using a unit before retirement or going full-time

Most people are quickly looking forward to retiring and hitting the road. But what can happen is that even when you’re dreaming from the office, you don’t have the time or finances to fully commit to the RV Lifestyle. 

Buying and renting out your RV before you retire is a great way to get involved without the full financial commitment. You can offset some, if not most, of the cost of your rig by renting it out. This allows you to start enjoying the lifestyle now!

Renting your RV will let you take the trips you want and rent out your unit the other times you’re busy. 

Now you can start enjoying the RV lifestyle before you sell your “sticks and bricks” home or start collecting on retirement. Buying an RV before you want to go full-time or on a longer trip will also help you get familiar with how all of the systems on your RV run and what features you like or dislike in a rig. 

3) Being able to afford that extra nice unit  you’ve been wanting

Due to having an extra rental income, you can offset between 25-100% of the cost of your RV, depending on how often and how much you rent it for. That opens up additional options when deciding which unit to purchase.

Maybe you’d rather have a nicer motorhome, or go for that Airstream you’ve always wanted. If the deciding factor was the monthly payment and whether or not you should stretch that far, then renting out your rig for the first few years of ownership can be a great option. 

With rentals, you can offset some of that cost if not the total difference between what you want and what you really want. Newer and nicer units will typically rent for a higher cost too. So you can get something a little nicer in the long run and know that it’ll offset some of the total cost of the RV.

4) Starting a business

There are enough tools to allow you to start a bonafide rental business. Especially if you are located within a short distance of major attractions, sporting events, entertainment destinations (think Disney), or beautiful nature. 

Done properly, each rental unit can become a little profit center. It’s not uncommon for people to start with one unit and realize it’s viable to have a couple more.  Depending on the unit/location, each full-time rental can pull in between $30,000 and $60,000/yr each. Warmer climates with a longer rental period and can even be rented year-round. 

This can make your ROI on each RV roughly 3-4 years, if not sooner. Plus depreciation. Plus asset value of a unit only a couple of years old. Whether you keep it, trade it in, or sell it off. This can become a viable business for someone willing to manage all of the moving pieces.  With business scale, you can also improve margins. Instead of all your booking coming from an online booking site with a 25% commission fee you can manage your own book of business and recover those margins. 

RVers get to use their RVs when they want but, when the RV is usually in storage or sitting in the driveway, they then get to earn cash by renting it out for extra money.

Private RV owners are sometimes making five-figure incomes a year just by renting out their RVs with these RV share programs. Some have actually started their own businesses doing so, buying multiple RVs and renting them all out.

Understanding the RV Rental Industry

The RV Rental boom shows no signs of slowing, even as COVID restrictions are being lifted.

Besides, even if your potential customers wanted to buy a brand new RV or are maybe considering camper vans, or some other type of RV, some manufacturers are reporting one and two-year waits for new orders to be completed.

Used RVs are often snapped up hours after being listed for sale. 

The bottom line – which is so good for the RV rental business – is the only way some folks will be able to get out there and experience the RV Lifestyle for the first time is by renting one!

Tens of thousands of people are interested in the RV Lifestyle and as we always tell them, a good way to experience it before buying is to rent an RV for a camping getaway.

How much can you make renting your RV?

We went to two of the largest RV Rental marketplaces (RV Share and Outdoorsy) and looked at average RV rental prices across several different types of RVs in 5 different metropolitan areas across the US.  

These are the average rental prices from 75+ units across 5 locations (Atlanta, San Diego, Denver, Chicago, and Boston) with a 100-mile radius from each city.  

Class A RVs

  • Nightly rate – $266 (-25% for RV Share cut) = $200 net
  • Nightly rate – $266 (-20% for Outdoorsy Share cut) = $213 net

Class B RVs

  • Nightly rate – $222 (-25% for RV Share cut) = $167 net
  • Nightly rate – $222 (-20% for Outdoorsy Share cut) = $177 net

Class C RVs

  • Nightly rate – $205 (-25% for RV Share cut) = $154 net
  • Nightly rate – $205 (-20% for Outdoorsy Share cut) = $164 net

Travel Trailer 

  • Nightly rate – $124 (-25% for RV Share cut) = $93 net 
  • Nightly rate – $124 (-20% for Outdoorsy Share cut) = $99 net

Toy Hauler 

  • Nightly rate – $164 (-25% for RV Share cut) = $123 net
  • Nightly rate – $164 (-20% for Outdoorsy Share cut) = $131 net

How the Seasons affect Renting your RV

The number of rentable days you have each year is also largely dependent on your location.  You can expect to rent your unit during peak summer months in the northern portion of the US and the rental period is almost year-round in the south. 

Using a 3rd Party platform like RV Share (25% commission) or Outdoorsy (20% commission), here is the maximum you could expect to make renting out your RV. 

Class A Units

Warm climates – 175 days x $266/night average = $46,534 maximum revenue potential

  • With a 25% commission, the max revenue to you is $34,901.
  • With a 20% commission, the max revenue to you is $37,227

Cool climates – 120 days x $266/night average = $31,909 maximum revenue potential.  

  • With a 25% commission, the max revenue to you is $23,932.
  • With a 20% commission, the max revenue to you is $25,527.

Class B Units

Warm climates – 175 days x $222/night average = $38,790 maximum revenue potential

  • With a 25% commission, the max revenue to you is $29,093.
  • With a 20% commission, the max revenue to you is $31,032.

Cool climates – 120 days x $222/night average = $26,599 maximum revenue potential.  

  • With a 25% commission, the max revenue to you is $19,949
  • With a 20% commission, the max revenue to you is $21,279.

Class C Units

Warm climates – 175 days x $205/night average = $35,844 maximum revenue potential

  • With a 25% commission, the max revenue to you is $26,883.
  • With a 20% commission, the max revenue to you is $28,674.

Cool climates – 120 days x $205/night average = $24,578 maximum revenue potential.  

  • With a 25% commission, the max revenue to you is $18,434.
  • With a 20% commission, the max revenue to you is $19,662

Travel Trailers Units

Warm climates – 175 days x $124/night average = $21,678 maximum revenue potential

  • With a 25% commission, that max revenue to you is $16,258.
  • With a 20% commission the max revenue to you is $17,342.

Cool climates – 120 days x $124/night average = $14,865 maximum revenue potential.  

  • With a 25% commission, the max revenue to you is $11,148
  • With a 20% commission, the max revenue to you is $11,891.

Toy Hauler Units

Warm climates – 175 days x $164/night average = $28,723 maximum revenue potential

  • With a 25% commission, the max revenue to you is $21,542.
  • With a 20% commission, the max revenue to you is $22,978.

Cool climates – 120 days x $164/night average = $19,696 maximum revenue potential.  

  • With a 25% commission, the max revenue to you is $14,772
  • With a 20% commission, the max revenue to you is $15,756.

Know ALL the details about renting your RV

renting your rv book image
See our ebook for a step-by-step guide to renting your RV

If you are seriously interested in renting your RV, our new ebook, The Complete Guide to Renting Your RV will really help. (If you prefer to buy through Amazon Kindle or Apple Books go here.)

In this ebook, you will learn all the ins and outs of choosing which firms to list with (you can sign up with multiple rental companies!)

We help you navigate the confusing world of RV rental insurance and learn how to equip your RV, vet potential renters, handle emergencies and easily earn extra income with surprisingly little work.

We cover everything you should consider before you begin renting your RV. It includes some of the pros and cons of renting, talking about the risks and rewards involved.

Then it dives into the specifics of how much money you can expect to make renting out your RV, how to pick the best RV for you (if you don't already own one), and a great way to find/navigate an RV Rental insurance policy.

We have rent your RV checklists, too

renting your rv

We explain the specifics of “dummy-proofing” and stocking your RV for renters, best practices for listing your RV on the best rental sites, vetting potential renters, how much of a security deposit, your liability coverage, the whole rental marketplace, how you should conduct your rental communication to see if the renter is a good fit, and what your standard operating procedure should be for each rental.

We also discuss if it's in your best interest to register your RV for an LLC and the accounting/tax ramifications that you'll run into when renting. And where there might be some additional costs.

Then, we talk about how to optimize the renting process and best practices if you want to turn the process into a real business rather than just something you do on the side. How will this affect your bank account, insurance coverage for yourself, and all those small things you might not have thought about yet.

There is a significant amount of information here and we've broken it down by chapter so that you have time to digest and think about each topic before you dive into the next one.

Click HERE for info on our ebook about Renting your RV
(If you prefer to buy through Amazon Kindle or Apple Books go here.)

There you go!

As experienced RV owners ourselves, we hope you will find this guide informative, and get you thinking seriously about whether or not renting out an RV is right for you!

Let us know if this sounds right for your particular situation. It's not for everyone, but maybe this will open up more possibilities for you.

Happy Trails!

Mike Wendland

Published on 2021-04-06

Mike Wendland is a multiple Emmy-award-winning Journalist, Podcaster, YouTuber, and Blogger, who has traveled with his wife, Jennifer, all over North America in an RV, sharing adventures and reviewing RV, Camping, Outdoor, Travel and Tech Gear for the past 12 years. They are leading industry experts in RV living and have written 18 travel books.

One Response to “How to Make Big Money Renting your RV in 2024”

April 06, 2021at3:14 pm, B Travis said:

Renting a RV is like any other vacation rental property including condos, homes, boats etc.etc. It always looks great on paper, but usually ends up a gigantic headache. Taxes, insurance, increased maintenance, time spent, markets crashing, loss of resale value and I can go on and on. It is not for the feint of heart, especially if you think you are going to make money. Just think three times on it before proceeding and only if you can afford the losses.

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