The self-storage business isn’t the most complex thing in the world: lease space, divvy it up, and rent it out at competitive, yet profitable prices. It's a healthy industry: According to IBISworld, self-storage revenue is $38 billion and growing. It also employs over 141,000 people. Not too shabby for an industry you don't hear much about.
It's an industry that's heavily dependent on overhead and maintenance, since the core product is as close to raw real estate as one can get. It's interesting, then, to look at how prices vary from location to location.
We took a look at our self-storage data, of which there is a lot, and solved for average storage locker price by location. It's not an exact science, but it says a lot about relative urban economies and health of the self-storage industry.
When it comes to who rents out space at the best prices in an industry that competes heavily for that money, U-Store-It has, on average, the lowest prices at just $59.58 per unit. This Texarkana, TX company has just two locations, both in Texarcana, but with small storage units starting at just $7 per month, they stand out as an incredibly affordable to place stash whatever it is you need to stash. A more useful (and common) 10x10 locker is on sale for just $15, for comparison.
Coming in second-cheapest - at an average unit monthly cost of just $68.52 - is Missouri’s All Around Self Storage. A 5x10 runs around $28 and a 10x10 for $40, but when compared to prices in other locations at other vendors, All Around is extremely affordable. There are only three locations, though, and they’re all in Missouri.
As for Public Storage, the largest self-storage operator with over 2,000 locations, you can grab a tiny 4x4 unit for just $6 per month in Boca Raton, Florida. Keep in mind, however, that this is a reduced-height unit. A more useful 4x4 unit at the same location will run you $33 per month.
Public Storage Locations, US. [Source: Thinknum]
On the expensive end of self storage, look no further than New York City. Citiwide Storage has one location in Long Island City, Queens, and the cheapest unit - a tiny 3x3, will run you $52 per month - and that's discounted from a normal rate of $61. On the larger end, a 16x16 unit will run you a whopping $788 per month. For comparison (and for fun), you can rent a 3-bedroom home in Texarcana for $750, and still have $30 left over for a large storage unit at U-Store-It.
But then again, you'd be living in Texarcana. Not that there's anything wrong with that, especially when you consider that a 3-bedroom home in Long Island City will run you around $3,000.
