Arizona teachers turning to Airbnb to boost their income, survey finds

PHOENIX — Some teachers in Arizona are turning to a home-sharing company to earn some extra money.

About nine percent of Phoenix hosts who rent out their homes, apartments, private rooms or shared spaces to travelers through Airbnb are teachers.

In Tucson, it’s 12 percent of hosts.

Nationally, 10 percent of Airbnb hosts are teachers, amounting to more than 45,000 hosts. That’s according to a survey the home-sharing company conducted recently of its hosts throughout the country.

“Teachers overall are hosting more frequently during the summer,” said Christopher Nulty, a spokesman for Airbnb.

“That really came down to the fact that a lot of teachers work pretty crazy hours nine months of the year and in the summer have some time off.”

According to the survey results, the average “teacher-host” makes about $6,500 a year from Airbnb rentals.

Utah and Wisconsin had the highest percentage of Airbnb hosts who are teachers, with more than a quarter of all Airbnb hosts surveyed reporting that they work in teaching or education.

Nulty said teachers who were surveyed said they liked being Airbnb renters for two main reasons. One, it doesn’t require a lot of work or time.

“We also heard from teachers that they really enjoy having guests from across the country and world stay with them,” he said.

“It’s an opportunity for them to meet and learn from new people.”

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