Statistics about the storage business from Self Storage Association

Here's a report from the Self Storage Association which documents statistics they have acquired regarding the self storage business.



2013 (Mid-year) SELF STORAGE INDUSTRY FACT SHEET  (as of 6/21/2013)

 •The self storage industry has been one of the fastest-growing sectors of the United States commercial real estate industry over the period of the last 35 years

•There are now approximately 48,500 “primary” self storage facilities in the United States as of year end 2012; another 4,000 are “secondary” facilities (“primary” means that self storage is the “primary” source of business revenue – US Census Bureau)

•There are approximately 59,500 self storage facilities worldwide as of Q4 – 2012; there are more than 3,000 in Canada and more than 1,000 in Australia.

•Total self storage rentable space in the US is now 2.3 billion square feet (as of Q4-2012) [approximately 210 million square meters].  That figure represents more than 78 square miles of rentable self storage space, under roof – or an area well more than 3 times the size of Manhattan Island (NY)

•U.S. self storage facilities pay a total of more than $3.25 billion in property taxes to local government  jurisdictions.

•The distribution of U.S. self storage facilities (Q4-2012) is as follows:  32% urban, 52% suburban and 16% rural

•The average revenue per square foot varies from facility to facility; however, here are the data for Q1 2013:  $1.12 PSF for non-climate controlled and $1.42 PSF for climate controlled space..

•Occupancy rates for self storage facilities as of Q1 2013 were 85.3% up from one year when the occupancy rate was 83.5%

•In fact, 8.96% of all American households currently rent a self storage unit (10.85 million of the 113.3 million US HHs in 2012; that has increased from 1 in 17 US HHs (6%) in 1995 (18 years ago)

•At year-end 1984 there were 6,601 facilities with 289.7 million square feet (26.9 million square meters) of rentable self storage in the U.S.  At year end 2012, there are approximately 48,500 “primary” self storage facilities representing 2.32 billion square feet

•Nationally, at year-end 2012 all self storage facilities employed more than 172,000 persons, or an average of 3.5 employees per facility

•The average (mean) size of a “primary” self storage facility in the US is approximately 46,500 square feet

•The top-5 self storage companies, including the 4 public companies (Public Storage, Extra Space, Sovran and U-Store-It REITS – Real Estate Investment Trusts) plus U-Haul (a public company/ non-REIT), own, operate and/or manage some 5,800 self storage facilities, or about 11.9% of all US facilities.  Several public companies are now getting into third-party management of facilities owned by other investors.  Hundreds of facilities are now being managed by the three public companies that have moved into this service area.

•In addition to the public companies in the industry (above), there are more than 110 privately-held firms that own and operate 10 ore more self storage facilities.  In addition there are som 2,450 firms that own and operate from 2-9 self storage facilities.  Lastly, there are approximately 30,800 firms that own and operate just one facility.

•There is a total U.S. self storage space capacity of about 21 sq.ft. per American household

•There is 7.3 sq.ft. of self storage space for every man, woman and child in the nation; thus, it is physically possible that every American could stand – all at the same time – under the total canopy of self storage roofing

•About 13% of all self storage renters say they will rent for less than 3 months; 18% for 3-6 months; 18% for 7-12 months; 22% for 1-2 years; and 30% for more than 2 years.\

•Some 68% of all self storage renters live in a single family household; 27% live in an apartment or condo.

•Some 65% of all self storage renters have a garage but still rent a unit; 47% have an attic in their home; and 33% have a basement.

•Some 47% of all self storage renters have an annual household income of less than $50,000 per year; 63% have an annual household income of less than $75,000 per year.

•More than 1.5 million self storage units nationwide are rented to military personnel (6% of all units); however, in communities adjacent to domestic US military bases, military occupancy can be from 20% to 95% of all rented units.

•SSA members value military personnel as self storage customers and traditionally extend special incentives and discounts to those with a valid military ID card, such as: 10%-30% dicounts off rental rates, free months of rent, gift certificates, free use of moving truck, "one-dollar move-ins," no rent increases while deployed overseas, waiver of security deposits, administration fees, etc.

•It took the self storage industry more than 25 years to build its first billion square feet of space; it added the second billion square feet in just 8 years (1998-2005)

•During the two (2) peak development years (2004-2005) 8,694 new self storage facilities (approximately 480 million square feet of space) were added.

•83.9% of all US counties (or 2,634 out of 3,141) have at least one "primary" self storage facility.

•(And here’s a stat that SSA is rightly proud of) – 95.4 percent of current SSA direct members say YES! They would recommend SSA membership to other self storage owner-operators.  (There’s still room for improvement, though.)
 
SSA Sources:
 •Quarterly SSA surveys of member and non-member companies conducted by Conquest Communications of Richmond, VA

•SSA FOCUS - Financial & Operational Characteristics for the United States (2009) - Full year 2008 data. (Go to selfstorage.org - "Quick Links"; go to FOCUS data)

•“Financial and Operational Characteristics of (U.S.) Self Storage Facilities” – February, 2009

•“Self Storage Demand Study” – © 2013 Edition

•“Self Storage: Analyzing the Competitive Landscape – A Market Inventory Study ” – © 2006
 
The above facts are merely a light sampling of industry data available.  Much more detail may be gained by reviewing the above SSA studies. Copies of these studies are available for sale in SSA's selfstorage.org (see Online Store- Publications).
 

That's a fantastic collection of facts right there! And here's one that I'm definitely supporting too:
• (And here’s a stat that SSA is rightly proud of) – 95.4 percent of current SSA direct members say YES! They would recommend SSA membership to other self storage owner-operators.  (There’s still room for improvement, though.)

So here's the link to the one in Australia for all you guys who just need someone who will help you to do the best that you can in your Self Storage business!
selfstorage(dot)com.au/my-storage-finder