Updated 09/19/2017

This page contains statistics about the U.S. self-storage industry compiled by The SpareFoot Storage Beat. Statistics on this page will be updated as we receive new data. If you have data that you’d like to share or have a question about data on this page, please email editor@sparefoot.com.

Largest self-storage operators (publicly traded) in the U.S. (by revenue)

  1. Public Storage: $2.56 billion (2016)
  2. Extra Space Storage: $991.87 million (2016)
  3. CubeSmart: $510 million (2016)
  4. Life Storage: $462.6 million (2016)
  5. U-Haul: $247.9 million (fiscal 2016 – self-storage revenue only)

Largest self-storage operators in the U.S. (by number of facilities, owned or managed)

  1. Public Storage: 2,348 (December 31, 2016)
  2. Extra Space Storage: 1,427 (December 31, 2016)
  3. U-Haul (AMERCO): 1,360 (as of March 31, 2016)
  4. CubeSmart: 791 (as of December 31, 2016)
  5. Life Storage: 659 (as of December 31, 2016)

Revenue in the U.S. self-storage industry

According to IBISworld, annual self-storage revenue was estimated to be $36 billion in 2016, and projected to rise to $37.5 billion in 2017.

Average storage unit cost

The national average cost for all unit sizes is $87.15 per month, according to SpareFoot data. (2016)

The national average cost per square foot is $0.97 per month. (2016)

Below is the average national cost by unit size:

5×10: $63 per month
10×10: $96.09 per month
5×5: $45.30 per month
10×20: $137.06 per month
10×15: $123.01 per month

Click here to find average storage cost for more than 200 cities or use the links below to find storage data by state.

Average monthly construction spending on self-storage facilities

The chart below shows construction spending by month, according to the U.S. census bureau. Figures are not adjusted for inflation.

Number of self-storage facilities in the U.S.

54,009 (2015 forecast)

Amount of rentable self-storage space in the U.S.

2.63 billion square feet (2014)

Amount of self-storage space per capita in the U.S.

8.32 square feet (2014)

Percentage of U.S. households that rent a self-storage unit

9.5% (2015)

Distribution of U.S. self-storage units by size (2015)

10×10: 23.1%
10×20: 20.6%
Other: 15.6%
10×15: 14.4%
5×10: 11.3%
10×30: 6.2%
10×25: 5.3%
5×5: 3.5%

Sources

Self Storage Association
IBISWorld
Seeking Alpha
Self-Storage Almanac
Inside Self-Storage
Public Storage
Extra Space Storage
CubeSmart
Sovran Self Storage (Uncle Bob’s)
U-Haul (AMERCO)

Alexander Harris
  • Dominic Di Lello

    When you mention the statistics of sizes that people rent ie. 10×10 16%, 10×15 15.3%, is that the total sizes in a facility or square footage in a facility?

    Thanks Dominic

  • http://www.sparefoot.com John Egan

    It’s as a percentage of total units.

  • Olivia Chow

    Great overview! And thanks for all the links to the data.

  • Joshua Nicklin

    Great Info! I’d love to see more of the info in a graph spanning the past 15 years or so like the construction spending does. That is very powerful to look at as a trend! As always, valuable and interesting content Mr. Harris.

  • Nikki Zellner

    Alexander – do you happen to have a link to demographics about who is actually investing/buying storage properties. I am doing research and haven’t been able to find any key indicators on buyers.

    • Maurice Pogoda

      I would assume you have contacted the major self storage brokers? They would be a good source for you. Feel free to contact Mark Floria, in our company, as he has brokered $100s millions of self storage and can give you a good feel as to who is investing in Michigan and the Midwest. 248-420-4612; mfloria@pogodaco.com

  • Chris Cohen

    i would like to start a business helping people create functional, usable space in their units to empower them with efficiency by de-cluttering, organizing and cleaning.
    Any thoughts?

    • antonie welman

      Omg please call or text me Chris. I am a software developer. I am about to drop the H-Bomb on the self storage budiness. Come with me. 9713023737
      …i have access to the creator of Uber. Call or text me sir. I think i am EXACTLY what you are looking for.
      Antonie

  • Gale Pooley

    Nice work. Thanks for all the information.

  • Scott Miller

    I’m looking for a contact list of self-storage facility owners/managers. Does anybody know where I can find one? We’re an LED lighting manufacturer targeting self-storage warehouses to convert their old fluorescent lighting to more energy efficient LED lighting.

  • Maurice Pogoda

    Some of the information seems overblown and without context. Whenever I see stats showing over 50,000 self storage facilities it makes me question what is the definition of self storage? The guy that has 30 units in a metal building in the middle of a corn field, does that equate to self storage?
    Also, the stat showing over 8 sq.ft./person seems suspect as well. The past few years the common wisdom has been that there is about 7 sq.ft./person and I wonder where that stat came from.

    • http://sparefoot.com SpareFoot Editor

      Hello. Yes 50,000 is definitely on the higher end of estimates using the broadest definition of storage. We are continuing to update this page on an ongoing basis with new information. Thanks for your input!

    • Cranky

      Maurice:

      Thank you for stepping up and calling them out. Sparefoot means ‘creative accounting’ in Latin.

  • David Lakvold

    Looks like the construction trend is about to create an oversupply. Boom and bust and then someone always gets hurt in the bust.

  • http://emeraldlakesstorage.com/ EmeraldLakesStorage

    Amazing stats here. Thank you for sharing the details. It seems self storage industry is growing with the time.

    We also deals in self storage services in Rock Hill area and feeling good about it after reading the stats..