Economic Vacancy Rate Calculator

Economic vacancy captures every form of revenue leakage — physical vacancy, concessions, credit loss, non-revenue units — in one number. Operators who optimize to physical occupancy only miss half the picture. This calculator breaks total revenue loss into its components and surfaces the dominant driver.

Gross potential rent

Rent actually collected

Concessions

Bad debt / credit loss

Physical vacancy loss

Non-revenue unit loss (employee, models)

Economic vacancy rate

11.11%

Physical vacancy share

4.44%

Concession share

2.08%

Credit loss share

1.11%

Non-revenue unit share

1.67%

Total revenue loss

$80,000

How the math works

Economic vacancy rate = total revenue loss ÷ GPR. It captures all forms of revenue leakage — physical vacancy, concessions, credit loss, non-revenue units — in one number. This is what operators should optimize against, not just physical occupancy.

Stabilized economic vacancy: 5-8%. Lease-up: 12-25%. Value-add during turnover: 8-15%. Rates above 10% post-stabilization signal concession-heavy or poorly-collected rent roll.

How to Use

Enter gross potential rent and rent actually collected.
Enter concessions, credit loss, physical vacancy loss, and non-revenue unit loss.
Read economic vacancy and percentage contribution of each.

Frequently Asked Questions

Physical vs economic — when are they equal?

Only when there are zero concessions, zero credit loss, and no non-revenue units. On any real property, economic will exceed physical by 3-6 points. Tight multifamily: 1-2 points gap. Choppy markets with concessions: 5-10+ points.

Stabilized benchmarks?

Class A multifamily: 5-7% economic. Class B: 7-10%. Class C: 10-15%. Below 5% is exceptional and worth investigating for rate leakage.

Best way to reduce?

Reduce concessions first (move from '2 months free' to 'reduced rent for term'). Tighten collections and screening. Repurpose employee units where possible. These usually drive the biggest economic vacancy improvements.