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36 Timeshare Statistics To Know in 2026
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Most timeshare articles are written to sell you something, either the timeshare itself or the exit. This one is written to inform. The U.S. timeshare industry is a $10.7 billion market with 1,434 resorts and more than 12 million owner households. The numbers behind it reveal an industry that is consolidating, recruiting a surprisingly young buyer, and charging maintenance fees that have climbed 38% in four years. Those shifts matter whether you are considering a purchase, sitting on an agreement you regret, or trying to make sense of what you already own.
The timeshare statistics below come from the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) and Ernst & Young (EY).
The state of the timeshare industry in 2026
Start with the shape of the market. Five figures set the frame: how many resorts exist, how many units they contain, how much dollar volume they move, what the average buyer pays, and how many transactions close in a year. Read together, they tell one story. The industry is consolidating. It is producing roughly the same sales volume across fewer resorts, fewer units, and fewer transactions, with each transaction commanding a higher price. That pattern of fewer, larger sales is the throughline the rest of this article returns to, from maintenance fees to occupancy to who is actually buying today.
1. There were 1,434 timeshare resorts in the U.S. at the end of 2025.¹
That is down from 1,497 a year earlier and reflects an approximately 9% decline in resort and unit counts since 2020. ARDA attributes the drop to an accelerated effort to sunset resorts that are older or "no longer serving owners well," alongside natural disasters and stricter counting. Consolidation is the defining structural trend of the past five years.
2. Those resorts contain about 188,700 units, averaging 132 units per resort.¹
Counting lock-off units separately brings the total to roughly 221,100. The average resort has grown from about 27 units in 1974 to 132 today, but the trend toward ever-larger properties has flattened over the past decade. The two-bedroom unit is the most common configuration, at 58% of inventory.
3. U.S. timeshare sales volume reached $10.7 billion in 2025.¹
That is the highest annual figure on record in nominal terms, narrowly above prior peaks of $10.6 billion in 2007 and 2023. Sales volume has held essentially flat in the $10.5 to $10.7 billion range every year since 2022. This figure counts first-generation developer sales only. It excludes the resale market entirely, which is a meaningful limitation for readers researching resale value.
4. The average timeshare transaction price rose to $24,740 in 2025, up 6.8% year over year.¹
The 6.8% figure is the same-respondent comparison, which controls for changes in the survey pool and is the more reliable read. This is the highest average transaction price ARDA has recorded. It is also the purchase price alone, excluding closing costs, financing interest, and the recurring annual maintenance fees covered later.
5. Resorts completed 432,780 timeshare transactions in 2025, down from 461,420 the prior year.¹
Roughly 28,600 fewer transactions produced slightly more revenue because the average price per transaction rose. It is the clearest single illustration of the current model: fewer, larger sales. The transaction-count difference is a calculation based on the two cited reports.
How many people own a timeshare?
The supply picture is one thing. The demand picture is another. Roughly 9% of Americans own a timeshare product today, which works out to more than 12 million households. Ownership skews toward higher incomes, but the more surprising shift in the 2026 data is generational. Millennials and Gen Z now dominate both the current owner base and recent purchases, upending the older stereotype of the retiree timeshare buyer.
6. About 9.0% of Americans own a timeshare product.2
Applied to the Census estimate of 134.8 million U.S. households, that puts total timeshare-owning households at approximately 12.1 million. It is a substantial upward revision from the 9.9 million figure commonly cited from earlier ARDA data. The market-sizing phase surveyed 3,641 U.S. households, including 400 by telephone.
7. Ownership rises sharply with income: 6% of households under $75K own a timeshare, versus 18% of those earning $150K or more.2
The full gradient runs 6% under $75K, 13% at $75K to $149K, and 18% at both $150K to $249K and $250K+. Ownership roughly triples across the income range but plateaus above $150K rather than continuing to climb. The product appears to saturate in the upper-middle bracket rather than skew to the wealthiest households.
8. Millennials and Gen Z now make up 58% of all timeshare owners and 76% of recent purchases.2
That is the single biggest shift in the data year over year. Within the report, Millennials account for 50% of owners and Gen Z for 8%. More than half (54%) of Gen Z owners bought within the past three years. The industry is successfully recruiting a younger buyer.
9. 35% of current owners bought within the past three years, and 17% are entirely new to timeshare.2
"Recent purchasers" acquired a timeshare between 2023 and early 2026. "New owners" are the subset who had never owned before. Recent purchasers skew younger and higher-income than the existing base. Among Gen Z owners specifically, 54% are recent purchasers and 34% are new owners.
10. The average timeshare has been owned for 13 years.2
Tenure varies enormously by generation: Boomers average 22 years of ownership, Gen Z just 8. The figure is unchanged from 2024. This is a useful, non-obvious statistic for readers weighing a long-term commitment. Timeshare agreements are typically deeded with no fixed end date, so the average tenure reflects how long people hold, not an agreement term.
Timeshare owner demographics
Who owns a timeshare today looks different than the popular image suggests. The current owner base is younger, more diverse, and higher-income than the retiree stereotype implies. The figures below describe owners surveyed in early 2026 and come from the owner phase of the study (n = 1,653), not the general-population phase.
11. The average timeshare owner is 46 years old, with a median age of 42.2
The generational breakdown is Millennials 50%, Gen X 23%, Boomers 18%, and Gen Z 8%. This corrects the widely circulated "average owner is 39" figure from older ARDA summaries. The current mean is 46 and the median is 42.
12. Owners report a mean household income of $133,200 and a median of $115,100.2
46% of owners fall in the $100K to $200K band, and 13% earn $200K or more. At the other end, 10% earn under $50,000. The gap between mean and median matters: a meaningful share of owners are not high earners, which becomes a real pressure point when annual maintenance fees are a fixed recurring cost.
13. 69% of owners are married and 89% own their primary residence.2
72% are employed full time, 42% are college graduates, 31% hold a graduate degree, and 37% have no children at home. That is the settled, financially established profile the industry markets to. Gen Z owners look different: only 35% are married and 70% own a home.
14. The owner base is becoming more diverse: 22% of Gen Z owners are Hispanic and 31% are Black, versus 15% and 13% of owners overall.2
Overall, owners are 77% White, 15% Hispanic, 13% Black, and 4% Asian, with multiple answers accepted. Among Gen Z owners, the White share falls to 55%.
Timeshare maintenance fees
The purchase price is the entry cost. Maintenance fees are the recurring obligation, generally non-optional, and historically rising. For anyone weighing the long-term math of ownership, this is the section that matters most. The average, the range by unit size, the distribution across resorts, the four-year trend, the share of resort revenue they represent, and the delinquency rate are all worth understanding together. Fees compound annually. They are not capped by the original purchase decision. And they continue whether or not an owner uses the property in a given year.
15. The average annual timeshare maintenance fee was $1,550 per interval in 2025, up 4.7% from the prior year.¹
This figure includes contributions to reserves but excludes property taxes and special assessments, so an owner's actual annual bill can be higher. ARDA notes the 2025 increase was more in line with general inflation than the unusually steep 2023 and 2024 increases, which were driven by insurance costs following natural disasters.
16. Maintenance fees have risen 38% in four years, from $1,120 in 2021 to $1,550 in 2025.¹
The five-year series runs $1,120 (2021), $1,170 (2022), $1,260 (2023), $1,480 (2024), and $1,550 (2025). The 38% figure is a calculation based on those published values. This is the single most important cost statistic for owners: fees compound annually and are not capped by the original purchase decision. Wesley Financial Group covers the practical realities of walking away from timeshare maintenance fees.
17. Fees scale with unit size, from $1,180 for a studio to $1,900 for a three-bedroom or larger.¹
The full breakdown is studio $1,180, one-bedroom $1,260, two-bedroom $1,550, and three-bedroom-plus $1,900. Since two-bedroom units are 58% of all inventory, the $1,550 average is effectively the typical owner's experience. The figures come from 436 responding resorts.
18. 39% of resorts now report average maintenance fees of $1,600 or more, up from 22% a year earlier.¹
The share of resorts in the highest fee band nearly doubled in a single year, while the share under $1,000 fell from 12% to 8%. The increase is broad-based across the industry, not concentrated in a few high-cost properties.
19. Maintenance fees account for 87% of all resort operating revenue.¹
Rentals and housekeeping each contribute 3%, with all other categories making up the rest. Structurally, resorts depend on owner fees to operate. That is why fee collection is enforced and why fees continue regardless of whether an owner uses the property in a given year.
20. 93% of maintenance fee accounts were current in 2025, meaning roughly 7% were delinquent.¹
The share of the current accounts improved from about 90% in 2024. For owners already struggling with rising fees, Wesley Financial Group offers a free consultation to walk through the specifics of their situation.
Timeshare occupancy rates
Occupancy is where the industry outperforms hotels most visibly. It is also where the internal composition tells a more complicated story. The headline rate, the hotel comparison, the breakdown by guest type, and the variation by resort age all belong together.
21. Timeshare resort occupancy averaged 79.9% in 2025, compared with 62.3% for U.S. hotels.¹
The roughly 18-point gap is largely structural. Timeshare intervals are prepaid, so occupancy is less exposed to demand swings. Timeshare occupancy has now stabilized near 80% for two consecutive years after recovering from 73.1% in 2021.
22. Owners and their guests account for just 47.3% of all intervals.¹
Here is the full picture across all intervals: owners and their guests 47.3%, renters 17.8%, exchange guests 9.7%, marketing guests 5.1%, and vacant 20.1%. Renters now occupy nearly 18% of all intervals, up from 16.7% the prior year, while owner usage slipped. The rental channel is absorbing inventory owners are not using themselves.
23. Occupancy varies widely by resort age: resorts built in 1985 or earlier averaged 66.3%, versus 90.4% for those built between 1986 and 1995.¹
Older resorts also charge the lowest average maintenance fees ($1,110), while newer cohorts charge $1,640 to $1,730. 43% of responding resorts opened in 1985 or before, and 84% of resorts no longer in active sales fall in that group. That is the clearest data point on the divide between legacy properties and the actively marketed portfolio.
24. Timeshare rental revenue hit $3.3 billion in 2025 on 12 million nights rented.¹
The average rental rate was $272 per night, and rental revenue has grown 20% since 2022, the fastest-growing line in the industry. 83% of resorts operate some form of rental program, and this growth tracks the rise in renter-occupied intervals.
Where U.S. timeshares are located
Geography shapes both what buyers get and what buyers want. Five states hold most of the resorts and units, average resort size varies widely by state, and beach properties dominate the mix.
25. Five states hold half of all U.S. timeshare resorts and two-thirds of all units.¹
Florida leads with 337 resorts (24% of the national total and about 30% of all units), followed by California (128), South Carolina (105), Hawaii (98), and Nevada (55). Hawaii punches above its resort count at 11% of units. Every one of the top five states lost resorts versus the prior year.
26. Nevada has the largest timeshare resorts, averaging 281 units.¹
Nevada's average resort is roughly three times the size of resorts in the Mountain/Pacific region, which average 91 units, the smallest. Florida resorts average 188 units. Theme park resorts are the largest by type (401 units on average) and rural/coastal the smallest (46).
27. Beach resorts are the most common type, accounting for 30% of all timeshare properties.1
The three most common resort types are beach (30%), country/lakes (11%), and ski (10%).¹ Owner preference points the same way: beachfront/coastal is the most attractive resort-area characteristic for 45% of owners, ahead of city/urban at 38%.
Timeshare sales, resales, and the secondary market
Owners looking to sell or exit often assume there is a functioning resale market. The data complicates that assumption. Most owners buy new. A minority buy resale, and among those who do, the channels are fragmented. A large share of developer sales volume goes to existing owners rather than to new buyers.
28. 81% of owners bought directly from a developer; 25% acquired through resale.2
With multiple responses allowed, the full picture is new sale 81%, resale 25%, gift 15%, inheritance 8%. The generational split is telling: 91% of Boomers bought new, versus 77% of Millennials, who are the most likely to use every secondary channel. Gen Z's new-sale share jumped from 64% in 2024 to 80% in 2026.
29. Among resale buyers, 30% went through a timeshare resale listing company and 23% bought directly from a previous owner.2
The remaining channels are a property owners’ association or management company (15%), a real estate broker (11%), a friend or relative (11%), and an internet or auction site such as eBay (10%). The small base (n = 124) is a limitation. Owners exploring resale should also be cautious of upfront-fee operators, a well-documented problem in this space.
30. 61% of developer sales volume in 2025 went to existing owners, not new buyers.¹
ARDA presents this as a signal of owner satisfaction. The mechanical reality is that this share reflects upgrades and reloads, in which an existing owner buys additional or larger inventory. ARDA's own definition of new sales includes the incremental dollar value of upgrades. Both readings are worth holding. Separately, 17.1% of inventory at active-sales resorts remained unsold at year-end 2025.
Timeshare owner satisfaction and usage
ARDA's satisfaction and usage findings come from a survey commissioned by the industry's trade association and conducted among current owners only. Anyone who has already exited is excluded from the sample frame. That is a factual description of the methodology, not a criticism, and it is exactly the kind of transparency that lets readers weigh what the numbers show. The usage data adds nuance the satisfaction numbers alone do not.
31. 94% of owners took a timeshare vacation in 2025, up from 80% in 2023.2
Owners took an average of 3.9 vacations in 2025 with an average party size of 3.7 people. 89% returned to the same destination as their previous trip with an average of 8.5 visits to that destination. 84% of these vacations were taken within the U.S., up from 76% in 2023.
32. 1 in 7 owners (14%) had the right to use their timeshare in 2025 but did not use it, and 13% gave their time away.2
Set that against the headline that 80% of owners used, exchanged, or converted their timeshare and 60% used it personally. The unused and given-away shares are the counterweight: a meaningful minority paid maintenance fees for time they did not take. 25% banked or deposited their interval for future use.
33. 92% of owners rate their overall ownership experience positively, and 79% say they would buy again.2
Home resort location rates highest at 96%, while the external exchange process rates lowest at 88%. 73% would recommend timeshare ownership in general, lower than the 80% who would recommend their own home resort. Likelihood to recommend correlates with income: 79% among owners earning $150K+ versus 64% among those under $75K. Sample frame: current owners only.
Timeshare industry statistics on the economy
The most recent U.S. economic impact study ARDA has published is the 2024 Edition, covering the calendar year 2023. There is no 2025 or 2026 update as of this writing.
34. The U.S. timeshare industry generated $85.7 billion in total economic output in 2023.3
That total combines $35.7 billion in direct output with $50.0 billion in indirect and induced activity, meaning every dollar of direct output supports $2.40 across the economy. It is a substantial increase from the $73.1 billion figure for 2021 that circulates widely, including on older versions of this page.
35. The industry supported 423,713 jobs and $28.9 billion in labor income.3
Direct employment was 197,188, with each direct job supporting an additional 1.15 jobs elsewhere. The industry also generated $10.8 billion in total taxes.
36. Timeshare vacationers spent $11.6 billion during their stays, averaging $4,261 per travel party.3
Roughly $3.0 billion was spent on-site at resorts and $8.6 billion off-site in surrounding communities. Per person, that works out to about $1,152. Real spending, adjusted for inflation, remained about 14% below 2019 levels. Data year 2023.
Get clear answers about your timeshare with Wesley Financial Group
The industry the data describes is a large, mature, and consolidating one. What the timeshare facts cannot answer is what any specific agreement actually requires of an owner over the next five, ten, or twenty years.
That is where a conversation with someone who has read thousands of these agreements becomes useful. Wesley Financial Group was founded in 2011 by Chuck McDowell, a former timeshare salesman who spent years inside the industry before building a company focused on helping owners understand their situations. A free consultation covers what your agreement obligates you to, what your ongoing costs are likely to look like, and what options exist based on the specifics of your situation. There is no cost, no obligation, and no pressure to decide on the call.
To talk through the details with a specialist, schedule a free consultation with Wesley Financial Group.
References
- ARDA Research & Insights / EY, State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry: United States Study, 2026 Edition. https://www.arda.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-state-of-industry-full-report.pdf
- ARDA Research & Insights / Sports & Leisure Research Group, United States Owners Report: Shared Vacation Ownership, 2026 Edition. https://www.arda.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026-owners-report-full-report.pdf
- ARDA Research & Insights / EY, Economic Impact of the Timeshare Industry on the U.S. Economy, 2024 Edition. https://www.arda.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-us-economic-impact-executive-summary-1.pdf
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