Median STR Listing Price
$425k
Median across active STR-suitable listings. 1,000+ short-term rentals in market.
Diamond Density
34%
Share of Finger Lakes STR listings that hit Diamond tier (≥24% bonus-eligible % of purchase price).
Bonus-Eligible %
23.1%
Median % of purchase price classifiable as 5-yr or 15-yr property under §168(k).
Federal Savings @ 37%
$36k
Median federal tax savings on a $425k purchase.
Finger Lakes at a glance
- Rank: #42 of 50 (DepreciMax Top 50 · 2026)
- Median Year-1 deduction: ~$98,175 on a $425k STR
- Bonus-eligible %: 23.1% (market median, share of purchase price classifying as 5-year or 15-year property)
- Diamond density: 34% of Finger Lakes STR listings hit ≥24% bonus-eligible % (national Diamond tier)
- Gold-or-better density: 69% of listings hit ≥22%
- New York state §168(k) conformity: Decoupled — federal benefit only
- Airbnb market depth: 1,000+ active short-term rental listings
Bonus depreciation (IRS §168(k)): a federal tax provision letting investors deduct 100% of qualifying property costs in the year the property is placed in service. For short-term rentals, the deductible portion is the 5-year (personal property) and 15-year (land improvements) components of the total purchase price. See
what bonus depreciation is for short-term rentals for the full explainer.
Bonus-eligible %: a DepreciMax metric — the share of a property's purchase price that classifies as 5-year or 15-year property under §168(k), and is therefore 100% deductible in Year 1. Finger Lakes's market-median bonus-eligible % is 23.1% — meaning a typical $425k Finger Lakes STR generates ~$98k of Year-1 deduction.
The 7-day STR rule: to unlock the "STR loophole" — where bonus depreciation offsets W-2 and other ordinary income, not just passive rental income — the property must average a guest stay of 7 days or less and the owner must materially participate. See
how to qualify for the STR loophole.
Free market scan
Rank every active Finger Lakes listing by bonus depreciation potential
Sortable by Diamond / Gold density · updated daily · no login required
Printable field guide
Get the printable Finger Lakes house-hunting guide
Pre-tour checklist · amenity mix · 5 diligence questions · fits on 3–4 printed pages
Why Finger Lakes ranks #42 for STR bonus depreciation
Strongest Diamond-density STR profile in the Northeast — a third of Finger Lakes short-term rentals hit ≥24% bonus-eligible % of purchase price. Cabin and lake-house amenity stack drives the 15-year improvement basis; state conformity state conformity reduces state-level benefit slightly, but federal Year 1 deduction is among the strongest on the list.
What drives Finger Lakes's high bonus depreciation?
Finger Lakes STRs lean heavily on the amenity categories the IRS classifies as 15-year land improvements: hot tubs, fire pits, outdoor kitchens, pergolas, and lake docks — all 100% bonus-eligible in Year 1 under §168(k). That amenity density pushes market-median bonus-eligible % to 23.1%, second only to Lake Cumberland KY (26.9%).
Does New York conform to federal §168(k) bonus depreciation?
Only partially. New York allows federal bonus depreciation to flow through, but adds back a portion at the state level and spreads it over a longer recovery period. The federal Year-1 deduction is unaffected — this is still a strong federal market — but the state portion of the savings is smaller than in fully-conforming states. PA-resident investors should model the state-federal split with their CPA before purchase.
Common bonus-eligible amenities in Finger Lakes STRs
Prevalence of 15-year land improvements we typically see across Finger Lakes short-term rentals — all 100% bonus-eligible in Year 1 under IRS §168(k):
Private dock or boat slip
74%
Fire pit / fire feature
60%
Outdoor deck or wraparound porch
68%
Outdoor kitchen / BBQ area
34%
Finger Lakes, NY vs Lake Cumberland, KY vs Tannersville, NY — bonus depreciation comparison
The three markets share a similar bonus-eligible % profile in the DepreciMax Top 50 — the differentiation is rank, price point, and state §168(k) conformity.
| Market |
Rank |
Diamond Density |
Median Bonus % |
Median Y1 Deduction |
State Conformity |
| Finger Lakes, NY |
42 |
34% |
23.1% |
~$98k on $425k STR |
Decoupled |
| Lake Cumberland, KY |
1 |
92% |
27.1% |
~$94k on $347k STR |
Full |
| Tannersville, NY |
13 |
75% |
25.5% |
~$154k on $602k STR |
Decoupled |
Deeper comparative reading: Smoky Mountains vs. Blue Ridge vs. Finger Lakes: STR bonus depreciation showdown.
Finger Lakes bonus depreciation calculator (by zip code)
Finger Lakes spans 4 primary sub-markets with materially different STR economics. The calculator below has a zip dropdown — switch it to your area. The bonus-eligible percentage (Finger Lakes's market-typical 23.1%) stays constant across zips because it reflects the property type, not the location. state conformity — federal deduction is the primary benefit.
Finger Lakes zip code comparison
| Zip |
Sub-market |
Land ratio |
Typical price |
Typical Year-1 deduction |
| 14891 | Watkins Glen (highest) | High | $425k | $93k |
| 14821 | Corning | Moderate | $375k | $82k |
| 14424 | Canandaigua | High | $489k | $107k |
| 14456 | Geneva (lowest) | Moderate | $345k | $76k |
Sample calculation: $425k Finger Lakes STR (median-priced Lake Harmony listing)
- Purchase price: $425,000
- Finger Lakes market median: 23.1% of purchase price classifies as bonus-eligible 5-yr + 15-yr property under §168(k)
- Year-1 §168(k) deduction: $98k
- Federal tax savings at 37% bracket: $64.1k
See IRS Publication 946 for §168(k) rules. Use the interactive calculator below to model your specific deal.
Looking for a deeper read on your specific property, not just the market median? Run the $99 Finger Lakes property report — our AI analyzes 7–9 listing photos against the IRS classification rules and returns a line-item §168(k) estimate closely calibrated to a formal $5K–$8K cost seg study.
Representative listings & deductions
Three live Finger Lakes listings spanning entry, mid, and high price tiers. Year 1 deduction is estimated as a range around the Finger Lakes market bonus-eligible average (23.1% ± 3 percentage points). Click any card to run a full property report to tighten to one exact number.
How to use this data to underwrite a Finger Lakes STR deal
The market-median numbers on this page are a screening tool, not a final answer. Here's how STR investors and their CPAs actually convert a market rank + median bonus-eligible % into an underwriting number for a specific offer.
- Screen the deal against the market median. If a Finger Lakes listing is priced within the p25–p75 range ($512k–$1,010k) and looks like a typical cabin or lake-house STR, the market-median 23.1% bonus-eligible is a defensible screening estimate. That gives you a Year-1 deduction range you can plug into an initial underwriting model in about 60 seconds — before you invest CPA time or offer-drafting effort.
- Adjust up or down based on amenity signals. Finger Lakes properties with a full outdoor stack (hot tub + fire pit + wraparound deck + outdoor kitchen + pergola) trend toward the Diamond tier at 24–30% bonus-eligible. Properties with minimal outdoor amenities — condos, indoor-only cabins, or properties without lake access — trend toward the Bronze tier at 18–20%. Use the amenity checklist to categorize before you commit.
- Model the offer with the deduction baked in. Take the estimated Year-1 deduction × your federal marginal rate (typically 37% for high-earner STR investors) = federal tax savings. Add this to your effective Year-1 cash-on-cash return. On a $425k Finger Lakes STR at 23.1% bonus-eligible, that's ~$36k in federal savings — often 8–12% of purchase price flowing back into Year-1 cash. New York's partial conformity means state-level savings are minimal for PA residents, so pure-federal math dominates.
- Verify with a $99 property-level report before you sign. Once you're past screening and preparing to make an offer, run the specific property through DepreciMax's photo-analysis pipeline. The $99 report tightens the estimate to a single number, line-items the 5-year / 15-year / 39-year breakdown, and delivers a calibrated Year-1 number closely calibrated to a formal cost segregation study's bonus-eligible %. Your CPA can build the return directly from this output; a formal engineered study (typically $5,000–$8,000) is only necessary post-closing for IRS-defensible filing on very large deductions or high-scrutiny audit risk.
For further reading on the pre-offer bonus-depreciation workflow, see how to use §168(k) before closing on a short-term rental. To catch missed prior-year bonus depreciation using Form 3115, see the Form 3115 catch-up guide.
How the rank is calculated
Finger Lakes's #42 rank comes from the DepreciMax Top 50 methodology: we score every active STR-suitable listing across the nation's most-watched STR markets on land value, state §168(k) conformity, and amenity mix, then rank markets by the median bonus-eligible % of their active listings. Individual property estimates are closely calibrated to a formal cost segregation study.
More detail in the Top 50 Markets methodology section.
Sources & verification:
Published: 2026-07-12 · Last updated: 2026-07-12
Sample listings are real active for-sale listings — actual addresses shown. Bonus depreciation outcomes vary by individual property; this page estimates ranges for typical purchases. Not tax advice — consult your CPA before making investment decisions.
