A guide for Jeffersonville short-term rental owners
Jeffersonville’s riverfront sits at the foot of the Big Four Bridge. From there, downtown Louisville is a walk across the Ohio River.
We are Joseph and Laura Sauer of Hearth and Haven Hosting, based in New Albany, next door to Jeffersonville. I have lived in the Clarksville, Jeffersonville, New Albany area for 30 years, and Laura and I ran our own short-term rental in New Albany. I was also a cardiac care nurse for nearly a decade. This article covers the Big Four Bridge, the event dates on both sides of the river, the permit rule near the riverfront, and the August 2026 figures for Jeffersonville homes.
The bridge facts come from the Waterfront Development Corporation. The rules come from the Jeffersonville ordinance. The figures come from AirDNA, with the pull date on every one.
The Big Four Bridge puts downtown Louisville within a walk
The Big Four Bridge is a former railroad bridge turned into a walking and biking path over the Ohio River. Jeffersonville’s ramp opened in 2014. Since then, a guest staying near Riverside Drive or Big Four Station Park can leave the car at the rental and walk into Louisville’s Waterfront Park.
The Waterfront Development Corporation lists the bridge span at 2,562 feet, just under half a mile. Each ramp adds close to a quarter mile.
Louisville and Jeffersonville event dates
These are the confirmed event dates on both sides of the river. We track event dates like these and price far-out dates ahead of time.
Thunder Over Louisville 2026 was Saturday, April 18, 2026. SoIN Tourism lists Riverside Drive in Jeffersonville as a free place to watch it. The 2027 date is posted by the Kentucky Derby Festival each winter. Kentucky Oaks runs Friday, April 30, 2027, and the Kentucky Derby, the 153rd running, is Saturday, May 1, 2027. The Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon and Marathon fall on Saturday, April 24, 2027.
Fall brings two music festivals to the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville. Louder Than Life 2026 ran September 17 to 20, and Bourbon and Beyond 2026 ran September 24 to 27. The Kentucky State Fair 2026 ran August 20 to 30. The Louisville Bats play at Slugger Field from March 30 to September 19, 2027, so Louisville has home baseball on the far side of the bridge from spring through late summer.
Jeffersonville has its own dates downtown. Abbey Road on the River 2026 ran May 21 to 25 at Big Four Station Park. The Jeffersonville Celebrates Freedom parade stepped off Saturday, July 4, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. on Spring Street, with festivities in Warder Park after.
The permit rule shapes how many rentals sit near the bridge
The area around the bridge is also the area where Jeffersonville’s zoning rule applies. Jeffersonville requires a permit for every short-term rental, owner-occupied included, under Article 8.11 of its Unified Development Ordinance, adopted November 6, 2024. The fee is $150 one-time and renewal is $0 every year.
Inside the area the city calls Downtown and Adjacent Neighborhoods, a non-owner-occupied short-term rental needs a special exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals when the property is zoned CN, CO, M1, R1, R2, R3, or R4. Owner-occupied short-term rentals are allowed in any residential district. Whether a given address sits inside that area depends on your property and your district, and Jeffersonville Planning and Zoning answers that question at 812-285-6413.
For a non-owner-occupied home in one of those districts, the special exception comes before the first booking. The city registry listed 121 permitted addresses across Jeffersonville as of August 7, 2026.
Taxes are the same in both parts of the city. Stays under 30 nights in Jeffersonville carry 7% Indiana sales tax plus 6% Clark County innkeeper’s tax, 13% in total. Airbnb and Vrbo remit both on their own bookings. Direct bookings are filed by the operator.
August 2026 revenue per listing came in under August 2025 at every bedroom count
The August 2026 figures for Jeffersonville homes all point the same way. Revenue per listing for the completed month of August 2026 came in under August 2025 at every bedroom count in the city. These are AirDNA figures for homes, pulled September 23, 2026.
- 1-bedroom homes in Jeffersonville: August 2026 revenue per listing $1,751, down 12.5% from $2,002 in August 2025.
- 2-bedroom homes in Jeffersonville: August 2026 revenue per listing $2,568, down 15.0% from $3,020 in August 2025.
- 3-bedroom homes in Jeffersonville: August 2026 revenue per listing $3,741, down 6.3% from $3,994 in August 2025.
- 4-bedroom homes in Jeffersonville: August 2026 revenue per listing $5,045, down 27.1% from $6,920 in August 2025.
- 5-bedroom homes in Jeffersonville: August 2026 revenue per listing $6,076, down 42.6% from $10,582 in August 2025.
- Homes with 6 or more bedrooms in Jeffersonville: August 2026 revenue per listing $8,552, down 33.5% from $12,863 in August 2025.
Condos came in under too. August 2026 revenue per listing for 1-bedroom condos in Jeffersonville came in under August 2025 by 6.0%, and for 2-bedroom condos by 13.6%. From AirDNA, pulled September 23, 2026.
The smallest decline sat with 3-bedroom homes, down 6.3% in August 2026 against August 2025 in Jeffersonville. The largest sat with 5-bedroom homes, down 42.6% over the same period in the same city. From AirDNA, pulled September 23, 2026.
Occupancy on the books for fall 2026
As of September 23, 2026, occupancy on the books for Jeffersonville sat at 62% for September 2026. October 2026 came in under that at 31%. November 2026 came in under that at 15%. These are bookings on the books as of that date, not a forecast, from AirDNA.
One Saturday stands out. Saturday, September 26, 2026, sat at 91% occupancy on the books in Jeffersonville as of September 23, 2026, per AirDNA. That Saturday falls inside the Bourbon and Beyond 2026 dates of September 24 to 27 at the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville.
With a week to go before October, most October and November 2026 nights in Jeffersonville were still open on the books as of September 23, 2026, per AirDNA.
How we price around these dates
We monitor pricing daily. We review nightly rates once a week, and more often when a special event is coming up.
Every guest gets an event-specific welcome message with details on the house, how to get in, and how to get to the venue.
We never move a confirmed guest to take a higher-paying booking. A confirmed stay is a promise.
The bottom line
Jeffersonville’s riverfront sits at the foot of the Big Four Bridge, a walk across the Ohio River from downtown Louisville. Louisville and Jeffersonville event dates mark the key nights on the calendar. August 2026 revenue per listing for Jeffersonville homes came in under August 2025 at every bedroom count. As of September 23, 2026, occupancy on the books in Jeffersonville was 91% for Saturday, September 26, 31% for October 2026, and 15% for November 2026. Near the bridge, a non-owner-occupied rental in the listed zoning districts needs a special exception before it opens.
Have any questions, or want a personal property analysis on a specific property? Call or text Joseph at 812-778-2235, email [email protected], or visit hearthandhavenhosting.com.
Safe travels,
Joseph and Laura
Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoosiers!