July 2025 Self Storage Report: National Rates Flat, Sun Belt Prices Still Sliding Amid Supply Surge

The U.S. self storage sector showed further signs of stabilization in July 2025, extending a trend that began earlier this year. After two rocky years of softening demand, aggressive new supply, and steep rent cuts, the industry appears to be regaining balance.

National street rates held steady month-over-month at $137, while inching up 0.7% from a year ago — a modest but notable shift after a prolonged downturn. Oversupplied Sun Belt metros continue to struggle under rate pressure, but markets with tighter inventories, such as Yonkers, N.Y., and Boston, Mass., are seeing sharp rent gains.

On the development side, new supply remains active but is losing steam. Roughly 56 million square feet of space is slated for delivery this year, a 10% drop from 2024’s output. With construction pipelines expected to contract further, analysts say supply-demand fundamentals should gradually improve, though a rebound in housing and migration trends isn’t expected in the near term.

Price drops concentrated in Nevada, California, and Texas

July’s steepest rent decreases were spread across both the Sun Belt and coastal markets. Southern metros such as Fayetteville, NC, and a cluster of Texan cities are grappling with saturation and regional competition. On the West Coast, secondary Californian markets like Ontario and Elk Grove are also seeing sharp pullbacks. Even in growth markets like Salt Lake City and Austin, aggressive development has weighed on price performance.

Fayetteville, NC, shows the clearest oversupply story and registers the steepest price drop nationally. With 12.4 square feet of storage per person, nearly double the national benchmark, operators have slashed rates. Average monthly rent fell to $109 in July, a 7.6% year-over-year decline.

Frisco, TX, recorded a 7% year-over-year drop this July. While not oversupplied on its own, its location in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, one of the nation’s most active storage hubs, has created intense pricing pressure. However, month-over-month, street rates have experienced a moderate 1.5% rebound.

Ontario, CA, also ranked among the top 10 decliners, with average rents down 6.1% year-over-year and slipping another 1.4% month over month. But, with no new recent deliveries and none forecasted for the rest of 2025, the downward pressure on pricing might subside.

Rent increases stretch across Coasts, Midwest, and Sun Belt

Several undersupplied or demand-heavy cities are showing strong rent growth. July’s top 10 gainers stretch across the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast, proving that pricing power today depends less on geography and more on local supply-demand dynamics.

Yonkers, NY, ranked first, with average rents climbing 8.8% year-over-year to $198. Despite more than 150K square feet of new supply projected this year, inventory remains tight at just 2.0 square feet per capita. High population density and persistent demand are keeping pricing momentum intact.

Boston, MA, posted the second sharpest annual increase, with rents up 8.7% to $250 per month. Severe undersupply – just 0.7 square feet of storage per capita – has fueled the surge, even though rates slipped slightly by 0.8% from June.

In the Midwest, Aurora, IL, stood out with the third-highest rent increase among the nation’s 150 largest cities, climbing 8.4% year-over-year to $116 per month. Limited availability of just 2.5 square feet of storage per capita keeps has competition tight and supports pricing gains. Nearby, Chicago also posted strong growth, with average rents up 5.9% to $143. Supply in the metro area remains scarce, giving operators room to raise rates in one of the country’s largest and most resilient urban markets.

In Florida, St. Petersburg stood out with an 7.9% YoY increase, lifting rents to $164. Inventory is below the national average, at 5.8 square feet per capita, while the absence of new deliveries over the past two years has reinforced higher street rates.

Other markets in the top 10 reflect a similar pattern of constrained supply and urban or suburban demand strength. On the West Coast, Fontana and Los Angeles, CA, both saw significant street rate gains, while Lincoln, NE, and Newport News, VA, rounded out the list with steady upward momentum.

Construction outlook: Sun Belt leads 2025 pipeline

Construction activity in 2025 remains heavily concentrated in the Sun Belt. Las Vegas, NV, leads the nation with nearly 831K square feet of new supply projected this year. Close behind, Los Angeles, CA, is slated to add 757K square feet to meet the needs of its still-growing population, almost triple the construction levels delivered in 2024.

San Antonio, TX, ranks third, with 730K square feet scheduled for delivery in 2025, representing a 25% jump compared to the previous year. While Las Vegas and San Antonio are already slightly above the national benchmark for storage space per capita, Los Angeles, at just 2.1 square feet, is still playing catch-up in addressing its residents’ demand.

Top Cities for 2025 Construction

New York City, NY, faces a similar supply challenge. With only 2.4 square feet of storage per capita, the market is adding 728K square feet this year in an effort to narrow the gap between supply and demand.

Other cities active on the construction front include Houston, TX (627K sq. ft.), Jacksonville, FL (479K sq. ft.), and an additional 344K square feet in Bakersfield, CA.

The outlook for the rest of 2025 will depend on how quickly the new supply in Sun Belt hubs is absorbed and whether coastal cities with tighter inventories can sustain their momentum. For operators and investors, July’s results point to cautious but growing optimism that the self storage market is beginning to move toward equilibrium.

Methodology

This analysis was conducted by RentCafe’s Self Storage division, which aims to capture the pulse of the self storage market and provide consumers with actionable insights to support informed storage decisions.

The article is based on our research into self storage data from our sister division, Yardi Matrix, a business development and asset management tool widely used by brokers, sponsors, banks and equity sources for underwriting investments in the multifamily, office, industrial and self storage sectors.

The report considers the largest 150 cities by population with an active self storage inventory of at least 10 facilities.

This report analyzes self storage rents and deliveries estimates for 2025 based on July 2025 data.

The self storage street rate is calculated as the weighted averages of the street rates for all storage unit sizes, non-climate-controlled and climate-controlled units included.

For data on population changes, we’ve turned to the U.S. Census (2018-2023 dataset).

Please note that data and coverage areas may evolve, and actual figures are subject to change.

Fair use and distribution

This study is intended as a resource for the general public on topics of common interest and should not be considered investment advice. The data presented is accurate to the best of our knowledge, based on thorough and good-faith research, but it may change due to external factors.

We permit the distribution of this content, provided that proper attribution is given to “RentCafe Self Storage” with a link back to the research study.