RV Park Cap Rates by State: Data from 9,614 Parks (2026)

We analyzed 9,614 RV parks with financial data in our database and calculated a cap rate for each one. The national average is 9.7% — right in line with what the industry expects, and consistent with benchmarks from CBRE, Marcus & Millichap, and Parks & Places Realty, which place RV park cap rates in the 8–12% range for most property types. The range runs from 2.0% at the low end to 24.8% at the top.

This is not a generic overview. Every number below comes from actual park data: real site counts, industry-standard per-site valuations, and occupancy assumptions calibrated to park type. The state table below is the most detailed public breakdown of RV park cap rates available anywhere. Florida has 4,719 parks in our dataset. New York has 2,543. We have data on parks in 47 states.

What that 9.7% national average tells you: this market runs in two clear tiers. Higher cap rates (10–12%+) are concentrated in smaller, rural, and mom-and-pop parks — exactly the value-add opportunity that individual investors and creative finance buyers target. Lower cap rates (6–8%) reflect stabilized institutional assets priced on tight income multiples. The spread between these tiers is where the strategy lives. A small-town park at 11% cap that’s charging $20/night when the market supports $45 can look like a 20%+ deal once you normalize rates — without touching a single piece of infrastructure.

What Is a Cap Rate? (Quick Refresher)

Cap Rate = Net Operating Income (NOI) ÷ Property Value

If an RV park generates $200,000 in NOI and is worth $2,000,000, the cap rate is 10%. It represents the annual return on the property’s full value, assuming an all-cash purchase with no debt. NOI is revenue minus operating expenses — before debt service and before depreciation.

Two things move cap rate: NOI goes up → cap rate goes up. Property value goes up → cap rate goes down. Premium properties in high-demand locations carry lower cap rates because buyers pay more per dollar of income, pricing in stable occupancy and long-term appreciation. High-cap-rate parks reflect a market judgment that the income stream is riskier, more seasonal, or requires more work.

Cap rate is a point-in-time yield metric. It doesn’t capture debt service, capital expenditures, or appreciation. For a complete picture of actual investor returns, see our analysis of RV park ROI and cash-on-cash returns. For operating cost benchmarks and margin data, see our breakdown of RV park profit margins.

National Numbers at a Glance

Here’s the summary across all 9,614 parks with cap rate estimates in our database:

The 9.7% national average is exactly what the industry predicts. CBRE’s commercial real estate research, Marcus & Millichap’s net lease data, and Parks & Places Realty’s transaction reports consistently place RV park cap rates in the 8–12% range for operating properties. Our database — covering both institutional-quality assets and smaller mom-and-pop parks — lands squarely in that range at 9.7%.

The distribution across cap rate tiers tells the real investment story. Of 9,614 parks analyzed:

• 865 parks (9%) — below 6%: premium, institutional-grade assets
• 2,130 parks (22%) — 6–8%: stabilized institutional range, broker-marketed
• 2,240 parks (23%) — 8–10%: solid value-add territory, near national avg
• 2,736 parks (28%) — 10–12%: highest concentration, smaller parks with operational upside
• 1,435 parks (15%) — 12–15%: significant upside, often rate-underperforming
• 208 parks (2%) — above 15%: deeply underpriced or distressed tier

For individual investors and creative finance buyers, this distribution is the map. The 10–12% bucket alone has 2,736 parks — small to mid-size assets with real operational upside, sellers who haven’t optimized pricing, and enough NOI to carry seller financing with strong cash-on-cash returns. The 6–8% bucket is where institutional capital competes on spreadsheets and wire transfers. Individual investors win in the 10%+ tier, especially when they reach owners before a broker does.

Full State-by-State Cap Rate Data Table

The table below covers every state in our database with at least 5 parks analyzed. Click any column header to sort. The State Page column links to state-level cap rate pages with individual park breakdowns.

Color coding: green = at or above 10% (at or above national avg), blue = 8%–9.9% (approaching national avg), gray = 6%–7.9% (below national avg), red = below 6% (well below avg).

Regional Breakdown

The state data above tells a clean story when you group by region. Season length, market maturity, land costs, and park mix are the dominant factors.

Pacific Northwest: Leading the Dataset

Washington leads all states at 14.6% across 72 parks — the only state well above 12% in the dataset. This reflects a combination of strong year-round demand from Pacific Coast travelers, relatively modest average park values compared to the revenue those parks generate ($6.5M avg), and a market where many parks are still operated by long-tenured owners who haven’t optimized pricing. A 14.6% average means buyers who contact Washington owners directly are regularly finding parks where the income yield on value is exceptional. Oregon at 8.0% is below the national average, reflecting higher land costs and more competitive West Coast pricing.

Northeast: High Values, Moderate Caps

New Jersey (8.7%) has 12 parks averaging $36.3M — the highest average value in our dataset by a wide margin — yet still yields 8.7% cap rates. These are large parks in a high-land-cost state serving the NYC metro and Jersey Shore markets. The cap rate holds because the revenue per site is also high. Delaware (10.9%) has just 5 parks in our dataset but at $27M average value, they’re large, income-producing assets.

Massachusetts (8.9%) has 21 parks averaging $12.6M. Pennsylvania (7.1%) at 38 parks reflects large, established parks in the Pocono and Amish country markets where values are high and yields compress accordingly — at $19.5M average, these are significant assets. New York’s 2,543 parks at 10.0% is the second-largest state dataset and sits right at the national average, suggesting a mature, diverse market with wide quality dispersion. Connecticut (8.9%) and Rhode Island (9.4%) are smaller samples but fit the Northeast pattern of above-average values and moderate yields.

Southeast and Florida: Volume and Above-Average Caps

Florida’s 10.2% average across 4,719 parks is the largest single-state dataset in our database and reflects the full spectrum of Florida RV parks: premium coastal resorts, snowbird-oriented parks, small inland budget properties, and everything in between. At $12.2M average value, Florida parks are significantly above the national average in value. The 10.2% cap rate is above the national average, reflecting Florida’s year-round demand advantage and the operational efficiency of parks that can run 12 months vs. seasonal competitors. The premium coastal parks in Naples, Fort Lauderdale, and the Keys trade at much lower caps but are a minority of the full dataset.

North Carolina (8.9%), Tennessee (9.4%), South Carolina (8.5%), and Georgia (7.9%) cluster around the national average. These states have seen significant investor activity over the past decade, which has driven prices up and caps down relative to a few years ago. Georgia cap rate data shows a range from 3.2% to 22.1% — wide dispersion indicating heterogeneous market quality. North Carolina has similar dynamics with Blue Ridge mountain and Outer Banks parks anchoring different ends of the spectrum.

Arkansas (8.5%), Alabama (8.5%), Mississippi (8.3%), and Louisiana (7.2%) show the Deep South pattern: moderate caps driven by a mix of workforce parks, smaller rural properties, and budget tourist parks. Louisiana’s 7.2% is below the national average, reflecting New Orleans-adjacent tourist parks and Gulf Coast properties priced more aggressively by sellers who know their location value.

Southwest: Competitive Markets, Compressed Caps

Arizona at 8.3% and $10.9M average value is a significant market with 266 parks in our dataset. The Phoenix metro, Tucson snowbird corridor, and Yuma RV communities support premium pricing. The cap rate reflects that: buyers are paying more per dollar of income in Arizona than in most states, driven by year-round demand and strong institutional interest. California at 9.2% with 142 parks sits just below the national average; the dataset here includes inland and smaller parks — the premium coastal parks that institutional buyers target are underrepresented in off-market data. Nevada (7.5%), Colorado (8.0%), and New Mexico (6.6%) round out the Southwest, with New Mexico showing below-average caps driven by a high concentration of smaller parks serving I-40 and I-25 travelers.

Midwest: Below-Average Caps, Lower Entry Price

The Midwest states cluster in the 6–8% range, below the national average. Missouri (7.9%), Wisconsin (7.9%), Illinois (7.3%), Ohio (7.1%), Indiana (6.5%), and Minnesota (7.7%) all sit below 9%. Seasonal demand compression (May–October primary season), lower land prices, and lower nightly rates all contribute. The upside for investors is entry price: parks in these states are significantly cheaper in absolute terms. Michigan (8.1%) is close to the national average, driven by a strong Great Lakes tourism market and parks that serve summer travelers from Chicago and Detroit metros.

Iowa (5.2%), Nebraska (6.4%), Kansas (6.8%), and Oklahoma (6.3%) have the lowest caps in the dataset. These markets combine low demand relative to park supply, limited tourism anchors, and nightly rates that can’t support high NOI. Entry prices are low in absolute terms, but so are the income yields. Seller financing is common because institutional buyers aren’t competing for these assets — which creates opportunity for buyers who know how to structure deals.

Mountain West: Mixed Picture

Utah (8.9%), Colorado (8.0%), and Wyoming (8.0%) cluster near or slightly below the national average. These states benefit from strong outdoor recreation demand but also have high land costs in premium locations and seasonal demand that limits annual revenue. Idaho at 8.5% has seen significant buyer interest as a relatively affordable mountain state, with strong demand from Pacific Northwest and Mountain West travelers. Montana at 9.3% is just below the national average, driven by Glacier and Yellowstone gateway markets that support solid summer revenue despite short seasons.

Alaska (8.9%) is the outlier with 74 parks at 8.9% — close to the national average despite a short operating season (June–August primary window). The explanation is below-average park values ($2.2M avg) relative to the revenue Alaska parks generate from high-spend summer tourism. Visitors to Denali and the Kenai Peninsula spend significantly above average per night, and that revenue efficiency drives the cap rate despite short seasons and high operating costs.

Cap Rates by Park Size

Park size has a consistent, inverse effect on cap rates in our dataset: smaller parks have higher cap rates, larger parks have lower ones. This makes intuitive sense — larger parks attract institutional buyers who compete on income multiples and drive cap rates down. Smaller parks are off the institutional radar and trade at higher yields. Here’s what the data shows across 9,614 parks broken out by site count:

The pattern is clear: every step up in size compresses the cap rate by roughly 1.5–2 percentage points. Under-25-site parks at 11.3% are the highest-yielding tier — and also the easiest entry point for individual investors. A 20-site park at $666K average value with 11.3% cap is generating roughly $75K in annual NOI. With seller financing at 10% down, your cash-in is $67K. At a 6.5% note rate for 20 years, debt service is about $49K annually — leaving roughly $26K in cash flow on a $67K investment. That’s a 38% cash-on-cash return before appreciation, assuming NOI holds.

The 25–99-site bracket at 9.3% and $3.8M average value is the most active tier for individual investors and syndicators. These parks generate $357K in average annual NOI — enough to support meaningful debt service while leaving positive cash flow. The 100–249-site bracket at 7.8% and $14.8M average value is where smaller institutional capital and experienced syndicators compete. The 250+ site bracket at 6.4% and $62M average is institutional territory: conventional debt, professional management, and competitive acquisition processes are the norm.

The NOI jump from the smallest to largest bracket is dramatic: 53x more annual NOI from under-25 to 250+. This reflects the fundamental economics of RV parks — more sites means more revenue per dollar of land, better overhead coverage, and stronger operating leverage. But with that leverage comes institutional competition, higher acquisition prices, and compressed yields. Individual investors win by staying in the tiers where institutional capital doesn’t play.

For investors with limited capital, the under-25 and 25–99-site brackets offer the best combination of accessible entry and meaningful yield. Run the numbers on our park valuation calculator to stress-test your own scenarios.

What Drives Cap Rate Differences

Cap rates aren’t random. They reflect specific, measurable factors. Here’s what our dataset reveals:

Season Length Is a Primary Driver

Florida parks average 10.2% cap rates with year-round occupancy. Iowa parks average 5.2% with a 5-month primary season. The math is straightforward: a park that operates 12 months generates more revenue per dollar of capital invested than one operating 5 months. Buyers discount seasonal parks accordingly, pushing asking prices lower and cap rates higher — up to a point. The Midwest caps that fall below the national average reflect not just seasonality but also lower nightly rates and lower absolute demand. You can’t comp a Nebraska park to a Florida park on cap rate and assume they’re equivalent deals.

Washington (14.6%) is the exception to the seasonal rule: a cool, wet climate but leading all states in cap rate. The key is value — Washington parks are priced modestly relative to their income output. High cap rates come from income-to-value mismatches, not climate alone. When you find a park where the owner is asking based on land value rather than income, the gap between the asking price and the income-based value is your opportunity.

Rate Underperformance Creates Cap Rate Opportunity

Our valuations model income based on occupancy and market rate benchmarks by region and park type. When a park in a $55/night market is charging $22/night, the resulting cap rate reflects current income, not market income. This is why the 10–12% and 12–15% buckets exist: they’re not exclusively high-risk parks — many are parks charging well below market.

A park charging $22/night on 40 sites when the market rate is $55/night is leaving roughly $240,000+ in annual revenue on the table. An investor who acquires at current NOI and normalizes rates to market sees the cap rate on their acquisition price collapse (in a good way) as the actual NOI rises. This is the core value-add thesis in RV park investing: find parks with above-average caps driven by below-market rates, acquire at current NOI, and capture the upside through rate normalization. No construction, no permits, no contractors — just a price adjustment.

Institutional Competition Compresses Caps

States that have seen significant private equity and REIT activity show lower cap rates as a result. Arizona (8.3%), California (9.2%), Tennessee (9.4%), North Carolina (8.9%), and Georgia (7.9%) have all seen institutional capital inflows that have driven prices up and caps down. Florida’s 10.2% average is above the national average partly because the sheer volume of parks (4,719) means there are more smaller, non-institutional parks in the dataset that haven’t been bid up.

States with little institutional activity — Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas — have the lowest caps in the dataset. This seems counterintuitive until you understand why: these markets have low demand and low nightly rates, so even without institutional competition, the NOI per dollar of value is low. Low buyer competition in a low-demand market keeps prices from rising but doesn’t generate the rate increases needed to push cap rates above the national average.

Park Mix Within States

States with wide cap rate ranges — like Tennessee (2.9%–24.8%) and Texas (2.2%–24.4%) — have extreme heterogeneity in park quality, size, and pricing approach. A state average tells you almost nothing about a specific park. Tennessee’s 9.4% average encompasses everything from a luxury Smoky Mountain resort at 3% cap to a rural budget park with a 24% cap and below-market rates. In wide-range states, you must look at the specific park’s profile — the average is background context, not deal criteria.

Cap Rate vs. Cash-on-Cash Return

This is where many investors — especially those coming from residential real estate — make a critical mistake. Cap rate and cash-on-cash return are not the same number, and confusing them will break your underwriting.

Cap rate measures return on the total property value, assuming 100% cash purchase. Cash-on-cash return measures return on your actual invested cash after accounting for debt service.

Here’s why this matters with RV parks specifically. The seller financing culture in this industry is unlike almost any other commercial asset class. Retiring operators who’ve owned parks for 20+ years often carry paper at 5–8% for 15–30 years with 10–20% down. In that scenario, your cash-on-cash return can dramatically exceed the cap rate — sometimes by a factor of 3–5x.

Walk through a concrete example using our mid-market data. A 40-site park in the 25–99 bracket:

• Park value: $3,790,050 (25–99-site bracket avg)
• Cap rate: 9.3% (bracket avg)
• Annual NOI: $357,436
• Down payment (15%): $568,508
• Seller note: $3,221,543 at 6.5% for 25 years
• Annual debt service: approximately $257,700
• Annual cash flow after debt: approximately $99,736
• Cash-on-cash return: $99,736 / $568,508 = 17.5%

A 17.5% cash-on-cash return on a 9.3% cap rate park with seller financing at reasonable terms. Push the cap rate up to 11% on a rate-underperforming park and the same math produces 25%+ cash-on-cash. This is why RV parks continue to attract individual investor attention: the combination of cap rates above the institutional range, seller financing availability, and operational upside creates a return profile that’s difficult to replicate in other asset classes.

For a full model with adjustable variables — down payment percentage, interest rate, term length, occupancy assumptions — use our park valuation and return calculator. For a deeper dive into the difference between cap rates, cash-on-cash, and total ROI with appreciation, read our full analysis of RV park investment ROI.

One important nuance: leverage amplifies returns in both directions. The scenario above assumes the NOI holds. If the park has deferred maintenance, a rate increase that backfires on occupancy, or a regulatory issue that surfaces after close, the same leverage that produced 17.5% cash-on-cash on the way up can produce deep losses. Cap rate tells you the income yield. It doesn’t tell you the risk profile of that income. For that, you need to understand the park’s operating history, occupancy rates, rate structure, and physical condition.

Cap Rate Red Flags

Not every high cap rate is a good deal. Not every low cap rate is a bad one. Here’s what to verify before trusting any cap rate figure:

Artificially Inflated NOI

The most common manipulation in park financials: presenting gross revenue as NOI, or presenting owner-adjusted NOI that excludes real expenses. Watch for sellers who claim a 20% expense ratio when the industry standard is 40–55%. If a park reports $500K revenue and $100K expenses for a claimed $400K NOI, your first question is: who is managing the property, doing maintenance, paying insurance, property taxes, utilities, and debt service for only $100K? The answer is almost always that the owner has excluded management salary, deferred maintenance, and capital improvements from the expense line.

Our own model uses a 45% expense ratio as a baseline, consistent with well-run parks operating without significant amenity overhead. Parks with pools, recreation programs, and professional management teams should be modeled at 50–55% or higher. When in doubt, use the higher expense assumption — it’s the conservative choice.

Deferred Maintenance That Shows Up as Missing CapEx

A park that hasn’t replaced water lines, repaved roads, or updated electrical hookups in 15 years might show pristine NOI because all those capital costs have been deferred rather than expensed. When you buy the park, those costs come home. A $150K electrical service upgrade that the owner has been putting off for five years doesn’t show up in historical NOI, but it will show up in your first year of ownership.

Always walk the property specifically looking for deferred capital: the age and condition of water/sewer infrastructure, electrical pedestals, roads, and any permanent structures. Budget these independently of operating expenses when you build your pro forma. A park with a 10% cap rate and $200K of deferred capital requirements might actually be an 8% cap rate deal after normalizing for that capital need.

Rate Structures That Aren’t Sustainable

Our data shows parks with cap rates near the 20%+ ceiling. Almost universally, they fall into one of two categories: parks with very low asking prices or parks with rate structures that are about to be disrupted. A $30/night rate on a park adjacent to a market where competitors charge $65 sounds like value-add opportunity — and sometimes it is. But if that low rate is the reason the park has 95% occupancy and loyal long-term guests, raising rates to market may not produce proportional revenue increases. Long-term residents at below-market rates often leave when rates normalize, and replacing them takes time and marketing spend.

Before building a value-add thesis on rate increases, audit the guest mix: what percentage are long-term vs. transient? What’s the competitive set’s occupancy at their rate? And what does the park’s physical condition support in terms of perceived value?

Cap Rates Without Occupancy Context

A cap rate calculated at 100% occupancy is not the same as one calculated at 68% occupancy — even if the NOI numbers look identical on paper. Always ask: at what occupancy is this NOI? If the answer is “we ran at 98% last summer,” your follow-up is what happens in winter, what the shoulder season looks like, and whether that 98% is typical or the result of a one-time event.

States with tight cap rate ranges in our data tend to be more consistent performers. States with wide ranges — like Tennessee (2.9%–24.8%) and Texas (2.2%–24.4%) — reflect extreme heterogeneity. In wide-range states, the average is almost meaningless without looking at the specific park’s profile.

Interactive State Cap Rate Finder

Select a state below to see its cap rate data and link to the full state-level park breakdown.

Methodology

Every cap rate in this dataset is calculated using the same model. Here’s exactly how it works:

Property Value Estimation

Valuations are built on industry-standard per-site benchmarks of $45,000 to $120,000 per site, depending on park size, amenity level, and property type. These benchmarks are derived from transaction data and appraisal guidance published by Parks & Places Realty, CBRE, and Marcus & Millichap — the three most recognized sources for RV park and manufactured housing community valuation in the United States.

Smaller parks (under 25 sites) are benchmarked toward the lower end of the per-site range, reflecting their limited income scalability and smaller buyer pool. Larger parks (100+ sites) are benchmarked toward the higher end, reflecting institutional buyer competition and stronger income profiles. Parks with significant amenities (pools, clubhouses, boat ramps) or premium locations (coastal, major tourist corridors) are benchmarked above the midpoint. The result is a per-site value that, multiplied by site count, produces an estimated property value range.

For parks with strong financial data, an income-based valuation (NOI ÷ market cap rate) serves as a cross-check against the per-site benchmark. Where the two methods diverge significantly, we review the inputs rather than auto-averaging the results.

Revenue and Occupancy Assumptions

Revenue is estimated based on park type and operating profile:

• Transient/seasonal parks: 60% annual occupancy applied to regional average nightly rates for the park’s size and location
• Long-term and MHP (Manufactured Housing Park) operations: 90% annual occupancy applied to regional monthly site rents
• Mixed-use parks: Blended assumption based on the estimated split between transient and long-term tenants

For parks with actual rate data in our database, we use those rates as the primary input. For parks without specific rate data, we apply regional average rates derived from comparable parks in the same state and size bracket.

Expense Ratio

We apply a 45% expense ratio to gross revenue to arrive at NOI. This reflects the well-run park standard: a competent owner-operator managing expenses efficiently without significant amenity overhead. This is consistent with field data from parks with reviewed financials in our database and aligns with the 40–50% range cited by Parks & Places Realty for smaller operating parks.

Parks with professional management, pools, recreation programs, or significant infrastructure complexity will run higher expense ratios in practice — typically 50–60%. For any specific acquisition, you should model expenses based on the actual park’s operating profile rather than applying our baseline assumption.

Cap Rate Calculation

Est. Cap Rate = Estimated NOI ÷ Estimated Property Value

The resulting figure is stored as est_cap_rate in our database. It’s an estimate, not a certified appraisal. For any specific acquisition, you should conduct independent due diligence including reviewed financials from the seller, a formal appraisal from an MAI-certified appraiser familiar with RV park assets, and site inspection by a qualified professional.

Data Coverage

9,614 parks out of approximately 25,000+ parks in our full database have cap rate estimates. Coverage is highest in states with the most data points (Florida with 4,719 parks, New York with 2,543) and lowest in states where we have fewer parks or where park financial data is sparse. States with fewer than 5 parks with cap rate estimates are excluded from the state averages above.

We update this data periodically as we add new parks, refresh rate data, and incorporate new comparable transaction data. The figures in this article reflect the dataset as of April 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions