Is recovery housing (sober living) profitable?

It can be, because revenue is typically generated per bed (not per unit), which can produce strong gross income when occupancy is steady and operations are disciplined. Profitability depends on bed capacity, local rent tolerance, staffing model, utility costs, insurance, and how consistently you maintain high occupancy.

What are the biggest drivers of profit in a recovery home?

The biggest drivers are (1) occupancy (consistent filled beds), (2) weekly rent per bed, and (3) operating discipline (utilities, maintenance, supplies, staffing, and program costs). The fastest way to improve profit is usually reducing vacancy days and tightening recurring monthly expenses.

How do you estimate revenue for a recovery home?

A simple method is: Beds × weekly rent × occupancy rate × 52. If you’re early-stage, use a conservative occupancy rate (for example, 85–90%) to account for turnovers, compliance issues, and seasonality. Then compare that to realistic expense assumptions to see if the model holds.

What expenses should you include when evaluating recovery housing profitability?

Include rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, maintenance/repairs, supplies/food (if provided), house management/staffing, cleaning, technology/admin, and turnover costs (deep cleans, linens, small furnishings). Also budget for “one-off” items like fire/safety compliance, inspections, and reserves for big repairs.

What’s a “good” profit margin for sober living?

There isn’t one universal benchmark because homes vary widely (level of services, staffing, market rents, and property type). A “good” margin is one that remains healthy after you fund reserves, compliance, and staffing needed to keep the home stable. If the model only works at perfect occupancy or ignores maintenance and safety costs, the margin isn’t actually good—it’s fragile.

Recovery Housing Financial Calculator: Get a Custom Projection for Your Sober Living Property

Property Feasibility

Can This Home Work as Recovery Housing?

Before you buy, lease, renovate, or partner with an operator, get a first look at the numbers that matter.

If you’re evaluating a property for recovery housing, also known as sober living, the first question is simple: Can this home work, and what might the numbers look like?

Capacity

Rent

Expenses

Income

Our Recovery Housing Financial Calculator gives you a fast, practical first-pass projection so you can estimate bed capacity, rent revenue, operating expenses, and net income without building a spreadsheet from scratch.

Use the calculator to sanity-check a property, compare neighborhoods, and decide whether to lease, buy, or partner with an operator.

About the RHFC

What the Calculator Helps You Estimate

When you complete the short form embedded on this page, you’ll receive a custom financial projection sent to your inbox. The projection is designed to help you sanity-check a recovery residence concept and understand what may be possible for a specific address.

Your estimate will include:

Estimated bed capacity based on square footage or an exact bed count you provide.
Estimated rent revenue based on median rent for your area or your chosen weekly rent.
Typical operating expenses based on size and capacity, with optional overrides you can provide.
Projected net income showing a simple view of what’s left after expenses.

Who This Is For

The calculator is especially useful if you’re:

Exploring a conversion and want a realistic first-pass projection.
Comparing multiple properties or neighborhoods.
Deciding whether to lease, purchase, or partner with an operator.
Trying to align a real estate plan with real recovery impact.

You don’t need to have everything figured out. The form supports rough-draft inputs, and if you leave certain cost fields blank, the projection will still come back complete using standard assumptions.

What You’re Asked, and Why

The form takes about five minutes and covers three simple areas:

A few details about you.
This helps us deliver your projection and understand where you are in the process, so the estimate matches the kind of decision you’re trying to make.
Property basics.
You’ll enter the property address and state so the estimate can reflect local rent assumptions and the specifics of the home you’re evaluating.
Capacity, rent, and optional cost inputs.
You can choose the approach that fits your situation. Enter total square footage or an exact bed count. Provide median monthly rent for your area or override with an exact weekly rent you plan to charge. Add any monthly utilities or operating costs you already know, or skip them.

What Happens After You Submit

After you click Get My Financial Projection, your results will be emailed to you within minutes. If you don’t see it, check spam or promotions, and feel free to bookmark this page to run additional scenarios for other properties.