Price data
How much does a storage unit cost?
Median advertised prices for every unit size, measured across 4,655 Public Storage locations in 340 US markets. Not a national average from a press release: the actual published rate at each branch.
What each size costs
Eight sizes, every one of them measured rather than estimated. The cheap and dear ends are the 10th and 90th percentile of what branches actually advertise, so they describe real listings at the edges rather than the worst and best price ever seen. Price per square foot falls as the unit grows, which is the single most useful number on this table: it is what tells you whether sizing up is good value.
| Size | Sq ft | Roughly | Cheap end | Median | Dear end | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5x5 | 25 | a large closet | $13 | $34 | $80 | $1.36 |
| 5x10 | 50 | a walk-in wardrobe | $24 | $54 | $115 | $1.08 |
| 5x15 | 75 | a large garden shed | $37 | $75 | $159 | $1.00 |
| 10x10 | 100 | half a single garage | $50 | $94 | $192 | $0.94 |
| 10x15 | 150 | a one-car garage | $66 | $118 | $238 | $0.79 |
| 10x20 | 200 | a standard garage | $86 | $149 | $287 | $0.74 |
| 10x25 | 250 | an extra-deep garage | $99 | $165 | $298 | $0.66 |
| 10x30 | 300 | a double garage | $119 | $208 | $386 | $0.69 |
Where it costs least, and most
A national median hides the thing that actually decides your bill. Ranked on the 10×10, the widest-stocked size, Huntsville, AL is the cheapest of 130 US markets at $34 and Honolulu, HI the dearest at $266 — 7.8× as much for the same unit from the same operator. Neither figure is an outlier branch: both are market medians over every location we hold.
| Cheapest markets | Median 10×10 | Locations |
|---|---|---|
| Huntsville, AL | $34 | 14 |
| Amarillo, TX | $46 | 12 |
| Ocala, FL | $48 | 35 |
| Fort Myers, FL | $50 | 17 |
| Macon, GA | $50 | 8 |
| Dearest markets | Median 10×10 | Locations |
|---|---|---|
| Honolulu, HI | $266 | 14 |
| San Juan, PR | $252 | 11 |
| Brooklyn, NY | $234 | 34 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $226 | 143 |
| San Francisco, CA | $196 | 51 |
The three things that move the price
Where. A 10×10 runs a median of $94 nationally, but the gap between the cheapest and dearest US markets is several times that. Storage is a land business; the price tracks property values.
Which branch. Even inside one city, the same size varies sharply between locations because each one discounts against its own vacancy. This is the saving most people never capture, because no operator shows you its branches side by side.
Which rate you are quoted. The advertised figure is a promotional online rate. The regular rate it reverts to is 1.5× higher, consistently enough across thousands of listings to be a pricing rule rather than a coincidence. The measurement is here.
Common questions
How much does a storage unit cost per month?
Across 4,655 US locations the median advertised rate runs from $34 for a 5x5 to $208 for a 10x30. The most common size, the 10×10, sits at $94. Those are online rates for a new rental rather than quotes, and they exclude insurance and admin fees.
Which storage unit size is cheapest?
The 5x5 is the cheapest to rent at $34 a month, but it is the most expensive floor you can buy: $1.36 a square foot against $0.69 for a 10x30. If you are close to outgrowing a size, the next one up is usually better value per foot.
Is the advertised price what I will actually pay?
It is what you pay to start. Every listing carries two figures — a promotional online rate and a regular rate — and across the whole corpus the regular rate is 1.5× the online one. Budget on the regular rate, because that is what the unit reverts to.
Where is storage cheapest in the US?
Of 130 markets we can price, Huntsville, AL is the cheapest for a 10×10 at $34 and Honolulu, HI the dearest at $266 — 7.8× as much for the same unit.
Why do two branches in the same city quote different prices?
Because each one prices against its own vacancy. Storage is sold locally and a branch with empty units discounts to fill them, so the same size can differ sharply between two addresses a few miles apart. No operator shows its branches side by side, which is what this site exists to do.
Online rate vs regular rate. Every listing publishes two figures and the regular rate is 1.5× the online rate at the median. That is a pricing rule, not a second quote. Figures here are the online rate (the promotional price for booking on the web) unless labelled otherwise. Budget on the regular rate.
Advertised rates for new rentals, not quotes; they move with availability. Insurance, admin fees and limited-time offers are excluded. This covers Public Storage only, which is a limit of what is collected here rather than of what exists. Not affiliated with Public Storage.
Cite this. Storage Price Index (2026). How much does a storage unit cost?. Read 2026-08-31. CC BY 4.0. https://storagepriceindex.com/cost/