What Airbnb listings in El Cajon & Santee earn, how often they're booked, and how that compares with the rest of San Diego, CA.
This area is part of the broader San Diego, CA rental market. The map below defines the area used for these figures; market boundaries may include neighboring cities and towns.
El Cajon & Santee is one of 23 areas BNBCalc tracks in the San Diego, CA market. Over the past 12 months, regularly available listings here earned $69,165 on average, were booked for 56% of the nights they were open, and averaged $616 a night. The median gross yield, before expenses, is 9.2%.
Yearly revenue
$69,165
Occupancy
56%
Nightly rate
$616
Gross yield
9.2%
before expenses
Median of 128 listings
Active listings
167
Regularly available Airbnb listings in El Cajon & Santee earned an average of $69,165 over the past 12 months. That is 6% more than the San Diego, CA average of $65,317. That is booking revenue including cleaning fees, before Airbnb fees, operating costs and taxes.
Listings in El Cajon & Santee were booked for an average of 56% of the nights they were open for booking over the past 12 months. That is 2 points lower than the San Diego, CA average of 58%. Nights a host blocked off don't count.
The average nightly rate in El Cajon & Santee was $616 over the past 12 months, including cleaning fees. That is 14% higher than the San Diego, CA average of $542.
For homes with a matched home value, the median room-revenue potential in El Cajon & Santee is $63,269 a year and the median gross yield is 9.2%. Gross yield is 2.0 points higher than the San Diego, CA median. Gross yield is measured before expenses, financing and taxes, so profit depends on what you pay for a home and what it costs to run. Analyze the exact property before you buy.
Reveal any property's Airbnb profitabilityHomes with four or more bedrooms have the highest gross yield in El Cajon & Santee, at 10.0%. The table shows average yearly revenue and median gross yield for each home size, with the San Diego, CA figure for the same size under each one.
| Bedrooms | Yearly revenue | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|
| Studio 11 listings | $38,676 San Diego, CA: $34,633 | – |
| 1 bedroom 31 listings | $20,676 San Diego, CA: $34,891 | 9.7% San Diego, CA: 8.1% |
| 2 bedrooms 26 listings | $30,771 San Diego, CA: $51,417 | 9.1% San Diego, CA: 7.0% |
| 3 bedrooms 23 listings | $44,841 San Diego, CA: $72,770 | 7.9% San Diego, CA: 6.4% |
| 4+ bedrooms 76 listings | $113,852 San Diego, CA: $119,904 | 10.0% San Diego, CA: 7.3% |
Every row uses the same method and data date. Nearby areas link to their own pages.
| Area | Yearly revenue | Occupancy | Nightly rate | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Cajon & Santee This area 167 listings | $69,165 | 56% | $616 | 9.2% |
| San Diego, CA market 8,646 listings | $65,317 | 58% | $542 | 7.2% |
| La Mesa & Mount Helix 306 listings | $58,646 | 59% | $488 | 8.3% |
| Allied Gardens & San Carlos 74 listings | $69,160 | 60% | $546 | 9.1% |
| Lemon Grove & Spring Valley 86 listings | $42,883 | 56% | $367 | 7.1% |
| Mid-City 303 listings | $39,961 | 59% | $329 | 7.1% |
BNBCalc splits the San Diego, CA market into 23 areas drawn from local neighborhood and city boundaries, and counts each listing in the area that contains it. This area combines El Cajon and Santee, so BNBCalc reports one set of figures for all of it.
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It is the average booking revenue a regularly available listing earned over the past 12 months, including cleaning fees and before Airbnb fees, operating costs and taxes. It is an estimate, not verified host payouts.
For each listing, BNBCalc divides the nights booked by the nights it was open for booking over the past 12 months, then averages the results. Nights a host blocked off are left out.
It is the average price per booked night over the past 12 months, including cleaning fees.
It estimates what a listing would earn in a year from its nightly rates if it were available all year at its expected occupancy, based on its last 12 months of bookings. It excludes cleaning fees. It is an estimate, not income a host received.
For each listing, BNBCalc divides its room-revenue potential by an estimated value for a home with the same ZIP code and bedroom count, then reports the median. It is measured before expenses, financing and taxes, so it is not profit or a full return on investment.
Yearly revenue, occupancy and nightly rate cover listings of every type and size that were open for booking at least 127 nights over the past year (167 in El Cajon & Santee). Room-revenue potential and gross yield cover entire homes with one to five bedrooms that were also booked for at least 30% of their open nights and have a matched home value. BNBCalc shows no figure for an area with fewer than 5 qualifying listings.
These figures use BNBCalc's listing data as of October 6, 2026. They update when BNBCalc refreshes its market data each month.
The market page summarizes all of San Diego, CA from a separate monthly market dataset. This page averages the individual listings in each area, so the two can differ. Use this page to compare areas with each other.
They don't include operating costs, financing, taxes, insurance or the price of a specific home, and they don't show whether short-term rentals are allowed. Check local rules and analyze the exact property before you buy.
With BNBCalc Markets, compare El Cajon & Santee by bedroom count and performance level, see home prices, and browse its listings on the map.