Buying a yacht
Owning a yacht, answered plainly.
What a yacht really costs to run each year, how much chartering her out can pay back, and how a purchase works.
Ownership cost calculator →The straight answer
A crewed yacht usually costs about 10 to 20 percent of her purchase price to run each year: crew, maintenance and refits, insurance, a berth, fuel and registration. Crew and maintenance are the biggest lines. Chartering her out for a few weeks a year can pay back part of it. (Fraser Yachts, Ocean Independence.)
By size
What a yacht costs, size by size
| Size | Price to buy | Crew | Crew a year | Insurance a year | Maintenance a year | Charter rate a week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24–30 m | $2M – $15M | 4–5 | $200k – $500k | 0.5–2% of the price | 5–10% of the price | $45k |
| 30–40 m | $2M – $15M | 4–10 | $200k – $600k | 0.5–2% of the price | 5–10% of the price | $79k – $223k |
| 40–50 m | $10M – $40M | 7–10 | $390k – $2M | 0.5–2% of the price | 5–10% of the price | $111k – $340k |
| 50–60 m | $10M – $40M | 9–15 | $942k – $2.8M | 0.5–2% of the price | 5–10% of the price | $245k – $800k |
US dollars. Ranges are the spread across the published sources listed below, not quotes.
Rules of thumb
What the big brokers say
Annual running cost is 10–15% of the yacht's purchase value
Annual running cost is 10–20% of the yacht's value
Upkeep, maintenance and other fees are about 10% of the yacht's value per year (2020 article)
Maintenance alone is 5–10% of purchase value per year
Insurance is 0.5–2% of the yacht's value per year
Unexpected repairs: add 10–20% on top of the routine maintenance budget
Budget for these too
- VAT or import duty on purchase
- Purchase broker commission and survey
- Major refit every 5–7 years
- Depreciation
- Financing costs
- Yacht management fees
- Crew relief, recruitment, travel, training
- Crew medical and P&I insurance
- Tenders and water toys
- Owner-trip provisions and guest costs
- Visiting-port dockage away from home berth
- Communications and IT
- Charter broker commission
- Tax on charter income
- Classification and flag surveys
- Utilities at the berth
Sources
- Ocean Independence, "How Much Does a Superyacht Really Cost? (2026 Guide)", read 29 Oct 2026
- Ocean Independence, "How Much Does it Cost to Own a Superyacht?" (yacht management page), read 29 Oct 2026
- Breeze Yachting, "Cost of Owning a Yacht: Example Budgets from 20m to 60m+", read 29 Oct 2026
- YachtBuyer (Carl Richardson), "How Much Does a Yacht Crew Cost?", read 29 Oct 2026
- YPI Crew, "Superyacht Captain Salary Guide 2026", read 29 Oct 2026
- BOAT International (Olivia Michel), "How much does it cost to charter a yacht?", read 29 Oct 2026
- Fraser Yachts, "Hidden costs in yacht ownership", read 29 Oct 2026
- Ocean Independence, "The Complete Guide to Yacht Insurance in 2026", read 29 Oct 2026
- SuperyachtNews, "Are charter rates too expensive?" (quoting Hein Velema, Fraser Yachts), read 29 Oct 2026
- The Luxury Playbook, "How to Charter Your Own Yacht and Turn It Into Income" (citing BOAT International), read 29 Oct 2026
- Infinity Yacht Charters, "How Much Does It Cost to Charter a Superyacht in 2026?", read 29 Oct 2026
- Bespoke Yacht Charter, "How Much Does a Superyacht Charter Really Cost?", read 29 Oct 2026
- Edmiston, "How much does a superyacht cost?", read 29 Oct 2026
- SuperyachtNews, "Knowing your numbers", read 29 Oct 2026
- Port of Seattle, Shilshole Bay Marina Moorage Tariff No. 6 (effective 1 January 2026), read 29 Oct 2026
- City of Miami, "Marina Rates & Improvements", read 29 Oct 2026
- Proto Thema, "Astir Marina Vouliagmeni: 4.5 million euros for a berth" (Greek), read 29 Oct 2026
- Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands, Shipping Notice CISN 04/2026 Rev 1.1, fees for commercial and pleasure yachts, read 29 Oct 2026
- Republic of the Marshall Islands Maritime Administrator, MN 1-005-2 "Fees for Official Yacht Documents and Services", read 29 Oct 2026
- UK Ship Register (MCA), Fees, read 29 Oct 2026