A Fifth of Americans Rent Self Storage

Over a Fifth of Americans Rent Self Storage With Gen Xers In The Lead

More than a fifth of Americans currently rent self storage, with an additional 15% planning to do so in the future. Much of the new clientele that discovered the usefulness of the service and amplified demand during the pandemic have continued to rely on self storage in its aftermath. The increase in employment flexibility – with many people now working from home or from co-working spaces – have acted as additional pressure points for home spaces, adding to the traditional storage needs that revolve around the 4 Ds.

Key Points

• More than a fifth (21%) of Americans currently use self storage, with another 15% saying they intend to do so in the future
• Furniture is the item most commonly put in a self storage unit
• Not having enough space at home, reported by 40% of current storage users, is now the main reason for using self storage, overtaking moving, which was reported by 34%
• Larger households have more need for self storage — 27% of those with five or more members currently turn to storage away from home
• People aged between 40 and 55 — mostly the “Gen Xers” — are the age group most likely to be renting self storage right now
• The US cities that showed the greatest interest in self storage in 2022 were New York, Chicago and Houston
• Las Vegas, Nevada, is the city that gets the most searches for all types of vehicle storage units

My Experience

We rented storage for about 6 years when I first got married. 

When we finally moved from a condo to a house, we got stuff out of storage and threw all of it away except for on small table.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

My Advice

If you think you need storage, think about downsizing instead.

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