Self Storage Industry Trends

Regularly updated market data and statistics (February 2023)
Storage
1.7B+ sq. ft. of self storage space in the U.S.
Wall
37.6M sq. ft. delivered in 2022
Construction
52.6M sq. ft. expected to be delivered in 2023
Rate
$126 avg. self storage street rate for 10x10 unit
People
1 in 3 Americans use self storage
Personal Computer
2.4M+ self storage-related searches per month

Highlights

  • Self storage has grown to more than 1.7 billion square feet of space in 2023. Over the span of the last 5 years, 253 million square feet of storage space was built – that's equivalent to 15.3% of the total inventory.
  • In 2022 alone, almost 37.6 million rentable square feet were finalized, an area that would cover either the whole of Central Park or the Grand Central Terminal. New supply in 2022 represents 2.3% of the existing inventory. Compared to 2021, new deliveries increased 2.3% in 2022.
  • A third of Americans planning a change of residence or needing more space at home reported that they use self storage.
  • The average self storage street rate for a 10x10 storage unit is $126/month, down 3.1% year-over-year.

Self storage inventory

Existing self storage inventory

The U.S. boasts a total inventory of over 1.7 billion square feet of self storage space. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, currently has the largest inventory of self storage space, and Reno, NV, has the most self storage square footage per capita as per February, 2023 data.

Top 10 Markets by Existing Rentable Self Storage Inventory
# Metropolitan Area Inventory
(sq. ft.)
Y-o-Y
Change
Sq. Ft. /
Capita
1 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 73.2M 1.7% 10.3
2 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 71.6M 0.7% 10.7
3 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 68.8M 5.2% 3.7
4 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 62.4M 1.9% 4.7
5 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI 49.8M 2.4% 5.4
6 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA 41.2M 2.9% 8.7
7 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 41M 1.3% 6.9
8 Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ 37.6M 5.4% 8.2
9 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 34M 0.6% 7.7
10 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 31.3M 2.9% 5.6

The ranking is of 150 U.S. metropolitan areas, based on self storage data from Yardi Matrix.

Top 10 Markets by Rentable Self Storage Inventory per Capita
# Metropolitan Area Sq. Ft. /
Capita
1 Reno, NV 17.0
2 Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL 16.1
3 Boise City, ID 15.9
4 Lubbock, TX 15.1
5 Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC 13.1
6 San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA 12.6
7 Wilmington, NC 12.5
8 Oklahoma City, OK 12.5
9 Killeen-Temple, TX 12.3
10 Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA 12.2

The ranking is of 150 U.S. metropolitan areas, based on self storage data from Yardi Matrix.

New self storage development

Self storage has grown considerably in recent times, with some markets seeing more development activity than others. As it turns out, New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, took the crown for the most self storage construction in 2022 with 3.4M square feet completed, followed by Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ, and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA.

Top 10 Markets for Self Storage Construction in 2022
# Metropolitan Area Completions
(sq. ft.)
1 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 3.4M
2 Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ 1.8M
3 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA 1.2M
4 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 1.2M
5 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 1.1M
6 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI 1M
7 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 0.8M
8 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 0.8M
9 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 0.8M
10 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 0.7M

The ranking is of 270 U.S. metropolitan areas, based on self storage data from Yardi Matrix.

Top 10 Biggest Facilities Under Construction
# Property Rentable
Sq. Ft.
1 6099 South Federal Way, Boise, ID 83716 329,791
2 Nuremberg Mountain Road & 1st Street, Oneida, PA 18242 264,844
3 204 Clear Fork Circle, Willow Park, TX 76087 229,539
4 2153 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10302 228,807
5 130-02 South Conduit Avenue, South Ozone, NY 11430 222,823
6 125 Broadway, Menands, NY 12204 213,750
7 2965 Warner Avenue, Irvine, CA 92606 211,899
8 1111 118th Avenue SE, Bellevue, WA 98005 206,580
9 3605 FM 157, Euless, TX 76040 192,375
10 9025 Big Horn Blvd, Elk Grove, CA 95757 175,617

How many self storage facilities are there in the U.S.?

We know self storage has become pretty common nowadays, but how many self storage facilities are there? In the U.S. today there are more than 50,000. And how does that compare to the number of retail outlets, restaurants and pharmacies? In fact, there are more storage facilities than all the Subway, Dollar General and CVS outlets and locations combined.

Stadium

Self storage customer profile

Self storage responds to various storage needs that arise from life changes and events. Whether moving, downsizing or adopting a more flexible lifestyle, people increasingly use self storage. About 1 in 3 Americans now turn to self storage when home space is not enough.

The most popular item put in self storage is furniture, followed by clothing and home appliances. About 10% of self storage users rent a unit to keep sporting items and hobby gears. Moreover, business items are the most common item placed in storage by 6% of self storage users.

More Gen Xers than any other generation turn to self storage, with 54% of them keeping their items in a storage unit compared to 40% of millennials and 25% of Gen Zers who do so. Close to half of the women (48%) and 45% of the men among our respondents rent self storage for various purposes.

The most popular storage unit size is 10'x10', followed by 5'x10'.

Self storage interest:
How customers search for self storage online

Interest for self storage has been growing over the last decade, as Google Trends data shows. We've looked at the most popular keywords for self storage-related searches – "storage units near me ", "storage near me" and "self storage near me" – to see the latest trends in consumer search habits. June, July and August are generally the most popular months for self storage searches.

Data Source:  Google Ads  as of 2022

Naturally, online interest for self storage varies based on location. New York City, NY is the most popular city for self storage searches, with an average monthly search volume of 21,570 searches, followed by San Diego, CA (9,520), and Las Vegas, NV (9,260).

High interest for self storage searches in these cities is due to their status as places with very fluid populations. Streams of newcomers continue to arrive, and self storage comes to their rescue, helping them to get settled into their new homes.

Expert insights on the self storage market

The self storage industry is subject to various socio-economic factors and to the market dynamics of demand and supply. Experts weigh in on the state of the industry:

Isaac Hiatt
Isaac Hiatt

Product Specialist - Yardi Matrix

Self Storage
Doug Ressler
Doug Ressler

Business Intelligence Manager - Yardi Matrix

Jeff Adler
Jeff Adler

Vice President of Yardi Matrix

Max Levinston
Max Levinston

Sales Associate - Kislak Commercial Real Estate Services

Elaine Worzala
Elaine Worzala

Charles Bendit Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Real Estate in the Department of Finance, and the Chair of the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis (CREUA), at the George Washington University School of Business (GWSB)

Self storage market trends in cities

Where does our data come from?

All data related to self storage was compiled by StorageCafe, an online self storage search portal featuring more than 25,000 listings across the U.S.

The self storage rental statistics on this page were sourced from our sister company, Yardi Matrix, the industry's most comprehensive market intelligence tool for investment professionals, equity investors, lenders and property managers who underwrite and manage investments in the multifamily, student housing, self storage, office and industrial sectors. Yardi Matrix maintains operational profiles for over 30,000 self storage facilities across the U.S.