The self storage industry may not be considered glamorous, but nevertheless, its growth and resilience is a response to people’s very practical needs for extra space. Recent trends like the adoption of hybrid work, apartment sizes getting smaller, as well as migration patterns from urban to suburban areas have created new needs for storage units. Add those to other key demand drivers like baby boomers downsizing, the thriving RV market and the recent e-commerce boom and you have a self storage sector poised for more growth.
To get a grasp of the latest self storage trends, who most uses storage away from home, and what drives both homeowners and renters to use self storage, StorageCafe asked almost 18,000 Americans about their storage preferences.
Here are the key findings from our survey:
- Across America, 21% of people declared themselves to be self storage users in 2022 and an additional 15% said they intend to take advantage of the service in the future.
- The most interested cities: Colorado Springs was 16th and Denver 18th in terms of average monthly searches.
- Currently, the average cost of a 10’x10′ storage unit in Denver is $132/month, down 1.5% compared to last year, while in Colorado Springs rents average out at about $107/month, a decrease of 6.1% compared to last year.
- Top self storage users by generations: Gen-Xers make up the biggest share of storage users in the U.S. (23%). They are followed closely by millennials, who have started feeling the need for extra storage space, perhaps because of growing families and increased spending power. Roughly 21% of millennials declared they are using the service.
- The main reason for using self storage: Shrinking apartments created a strong need for extra space. Roughly 40% of current storage users reported a lack of space at home as their primary reason for renting self storage, overtaking relocating, which was reported by 34%.
- The item most commonly kept away from home is furniture, followed by clothing. Additionally, people also store home appliances, sporting items and hobby gear, as well as business items. Yet, tales of the strange things found in storage units are abundant.
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