what is the occupancy rate 
occupancy rate is the ratio of rented or used space to the total amount of available space analysts use occupancy rates when discussing senior housing hospitals bed and breakfasts hotels and rental units among other categories in a call center occupancy rate refers to the amount of time agents spend on calls compared to their total working hours occupancy rates explainedto illustrate an occupancy rate if an apartment building contains 20 units 18 of which have renters it has a 90 occupancy rate similarly a 200 room hotel with guests in 150 rooms has a 75 occupancy rate conversely the vacancy rate is the number of units in a building that are not rented out as compared to the total number of units in the building occupancy rates and real estate investorsoccupancy rates are important to real estate investors because these numbers provide an indication of anticipated cash flows a commercial real estate investor looking for a shopping center to buy is likely not interested in one that only has a 25 occupancy rate meaning that tenants were leasing just 25 of the available storefronts and restaurant space in the mall an investor who buys a property with a relatively low occupancy rate has to spend time and money to find additional tenants and risks not filling the spaces while still facing maintenance costs and property taxes levied on them because of this apartment complexes malls and other facilities with low occupancy rates often sell for less than similar properties with high occupancy rates in some cases a low occupancy rate indicates that something is wrong with the shopping center such as its location or available amenities in other cases low occupancy rates may mean the facility is poorly managed by its existing owners or it is in an undesirable location in other cases a real estate investor may look at the occupancy rates of hotels and other facilities near a property that they are considering to buy these numbers can indicate something about the financial health of the area for example if an investor is thinking about buying a restaurant they may try to find out the occupancy rates of nearby hotels as those numbers affect the pool of potential diners an example of occupancy rates hospitalshospital bed occupancy rates as well as occupancy rates for nursing homes can be useful for examining trends in the facility s growth to avoid overcrowding these facilities manage their occupancy rates they often track occupancy rates for specific departments as well to help assess growth and demand governments and organizations also use aggregate numbers on hospital occupancy levels to make plans regarding public health initiatives 