What is Net Operating Income (NOI)?
The short answer
Net Operating Income (NOI) is a property's annual income from operations minus its operating expenses, before debt service (mortgage) and income taxes. NOI = Effective Gross Income − Operating Expenses. It's the core measure of a rental's profitability and the numerator in the cap-rate formula.
What's included in NOI — and what isn't?
Included: rent, fees, and other operating income, minus operating expenses (taxes, insurance, management, maintenance, utilities, turnover). Excluded: mortgage principal and interest, capital expenditures, depreciation, and income tax. Leaving debt service out is what makes NOI comparable across differently-financed properties.
Pilot computes per-property NOI automatically from the ledger, so income and expense are categorized the same way every month.
Net Operating Income (NOI) — FAQ
How do you increase NOI?
Raise effective gross income (higher occupancy, market-rate rents, ancillary fees) or cut operating expenses (lower turnover, efficient maintenance, better vendor pricing) — without counting financing or one-time capital costs.
Related terms
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