Amid Rising Suburban Development, Self Storage Rents Decline in the Chicago Metro Area
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- Self storage street rates took a dip in the Chicago metro area
- Sycamore, Fox Lake and Aurora see the biggest rent decreases in the state, followed by Joliet, IL, and the city of Chicago
- Bolingbrook, Joliet, and the city of Chicago share the podium for the most storage deliveries in 2023
- Aurora is estimated to be the most active market in the metro area for new development in 2024, with about 154K square feet under construction
In line with national trends, the Chicago self storage market is seeing a slowdown in street rate evolution. Factors such as a tighter housing market, reduced moving activity and robust levels of new storage unit deliveries, particularly in suburban areas, have all contributed to self storage rent decreases in Chicagoland and across Illinois.
Suburban Chicago sees the steepest street rate declines in Illinois
Sycamore and Fox Lake experienced double-digit rent decreases in December 2023. Aurora came in third, with a 9.4% year-over-year drop. In the past five years, Aurora lost about 9% of its population, prompting a decrease in self storage demand which ultimately translated into falling street rates. A storage unit in Aurora rented for $87 in December 2023.
Joliet also saw significant street rate reductions, at 4.9% year-over-year, which brings a Joliet storage unit down to $97 for the month of December. A tighter housing market, where home prices jumped 14.2% from 2021 to 2022, based on U.S Census stats, attracted fewer move-ins, which impacted storage demand in the area.
The city of Chicago also registered a street rate drop, at 3.1% year-over-year. In December 2023, locals paid $125 on average for a Chicago storage unit.
Fueling a Renter-Friendly Environment, Illinois’s Self Storage Development Climbs to Second in the Midwest
Robust deliveries are one of the major factors helping the self storage market remain renter friendly. In 2023, Illinois's development accelerated significantly, ranking second in the Midwest for new supply. This marks a notable high in Illinois's construction activity, especially after lagging behind other Midwestern states such as Ohio, Indiana and Michigan in recent years. While Ohio continued to lead with a robust delivery pipeline, adding over 1.7 million rentable square feet in 2023, Illinois made a strong showing. More than 1.2M square feet of space was built in Illinois in 2023 taking it to 2nd position among Midwestern states.
A significant portion of Illinois's new storage facilities is concentrated in the Chicago area, predominantly in suburban locations. Bolingbrook led the way with an impressive 192K square feet of space, followed by Joliet with 165K square feet. The city of Chicago saw the addition of over 123K square feet of self storage space in 2023 with an additional 77K square feet currently under construction. Overall, self storage stock in Chicago totals 11.5M square feet of rentable space – roughly 3.3 square feet per capita.
Glenview and Aurora each contributed approximately 90K square feet of new storage space to Illinois’s expanding inventory. Despite leading in rent decreases, Aurora's construction market remains active. An estimated 154K square feet of self storage is projected to be added to the local stock in 2024, representing the highest construction volume for the year in the Chicago metro area.
All in all, the self storage landscape in the Chicago metro area and across Illinois is undergoing significant changes. The decreasing street rates in major cities, led by Aurora and followed by Joliet and Chicago, reflect broader trends influenced by demographic shifts, housing market dynamics and substantial new storage unit deliveries. The high volume of new construction, particularly in suburban areas like Aurora, Bolingbrook and Glenview, signals a continued investment in self storage infrastructure, responding to evolving consumer needs and market demands.
Check out how Illinois cities are faring in terms of self storage rent rates, self storage construction and more below:
Self Storage Street Rates and Construction in IL Cities
Rank | City | Self Storage Rent * | Y-o-Y Street Rate Change (10’x10’) | Total Inventory in City (sq. ft.) | Storage Sq. Ft. per Capita | 2023 Deliveries (sq. ft.) | 2023 Deliveries From Total Inventory in City | Population Changes (2018-2022) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sycamore, IL | $123 | -12.1% | 171,992 | 4.36 | 0 | 0% | 2.5% |
2 | Fox Lake, IL | $87 | -10.3% | 206,240 | 3.84 | 0 | 0% | 1.8% |
3 | Aurora, IL | $87 | -9.4% | 766,276 | 2.48 | 89,039 | 12% | -9.6% |
4 | New Lenox, IL | $129 | -9.2% | 293,455 | 3.98 | 0 | 0% | 4.6% |
5 | Des Plaines, IL | $111 | -9.0% | 628,805 | 2.68 | 0 | 0% | 2.4% |
6 | Romeoville, IL | $82 | -8.9% | 539,453 | 3.38 | 0 | 0% | 1.1% |
7 | Palatine, IL | $107 | -8.5% | 452,003 | 2.15 | 0 | 0% | -2.4% |
8 | Glenview, IL | $110 | -7.6% | 441,700 | 2.26 | 92,505 | 21% | 1.2% |
9 | Oswego, IL | $95 | -6.9% | 316,588 | 2.3 | 119,000 | 38% | 1.2% |
10 | Bolingbrook, IL | $118 | -5.6% | 635,660 | 3.16 | 192,462 | 30% | -0.9% |
11 | Joliet, IL | $97 | -4.9% | 777,858 | 3.89 | 165,174 | 21% | 1.5% |
12 | Arlington Heights, IL | $108 | -4.4% | 562,157 | 1.7 | 0 | 0% | 1.4% |
13 | Plainfield, IL | $99 | -3.9% | 380,419 | 1.76 | 0 | 0% | 4.4% |
14 | Granite City, IL | $79 | -3.7% | 271,974 | 4.99 | 0 | 0% | -6.8% |
15 | Collinsville, IL | $83 | -3.5% | 231,990 | 4.23 | 0 | 0% | -1.9% |
16 | Chicago, IL | $125 | -3.1% | 11,548,799 | 3.34 | 123,293 | 1% | 0.1% |
17 | Elgin, IL | $102 | -2.9% | 600,925 | 2.39 | 0 | 0% | 1.0% |
18 | Zion, IL | $86 | -2.3% | 230,510 | 3.77 | 67,093 | 29% | 2.2% |
19 | Saint Charles, IL | $89 | -2.2% | 358,896 | 4.51 | 0 | 0% | 0.0% |
20 | Troy, IL | $67 | -1.5% | 204,333 | 7.98 | 0 | 0% | 5.4% |
21 | Yorkville, IL | $89 | -1.1% | 162,887 | 5.82 | 0 | 0% | 11.1% |
22 | Naperville, IL | $100 | -1.0% | 922,002 | 2.81 | 0 | 0% | 1.1% |
23 | Cicero, IL | $106 | -0.9% | 467,549 | 0.92 | 0 | 0% | 1.3% |
24 | Alsip, IL | $92 | 0.0% | 368,676 | 1.75 | 0 | 0% | -1.6% |
24 | Alton, IL | $78 | 0.0% | 184,359 | 3.14 | 0 | 0% | -4.6% |
24 | Belleville, IL | $80 | 0.0% | 682,398 | 6.24 | 0 | 0% | 0.5% |
24 | Crystal Lake, IL | $99 | 0.0% | 560,086 | 6.14 | 0 | 0% | 0.7% |
24 | Downers Grove, IL | $127 | 0.0% | 248,639 | 1.24 | 0 | 0% | 0.7% |
24 | Harvard, IL | $64 | 0.0% | 136,190 | 12.05 | 77,159 | 57% | 4.4% |
24 | Morris, IL | $79 | 0.0% | 168,603 | 5.63 | 0 | 0% | 3.6% |
31 | Woodstock, IL | $74 | 1.4% | 182,062 | 6.46 | 0 | 0% | 3.5% |
32 | Lombard, IL | $111 | 1.8% | 651,926 | 2.79 | 0 | 0% | 0.3% |
33 | Crest Hill, IL | $106 | 1.9% | 228,390 | 1.66 | 0 | 0% | -2.4% |
34 | Skokie, IL | $121 | 2.5% | 640,919 | 1.23 | 0 | 0% | 4.2% |
35 | Schaumburg, IL | $122 | 3.4% | 634,070 | 2.36 | 0 | 0% | 4.0% |
36 | Edwardsville, IL | $80 | 6.7% | 343,348 | 6.58 | 0 | 0% | 7.1% |
37 | Antioch, IL | $74 | 7.2% | 246,037 | 6.7 | 0 | 0% | 2.9% |
38 | Mchenry, IL | $97 | 7.8% | 511,890 | 9.96 | 0 | 0% | 2.8% |
39 | DeKalb, IL | $93 | 8.1% | 177,929 | 3.89 | 30,305 | 17% | -5.0% |
40 | Waukegan, IL | $78 | 8.3% | 341,088 | 2.09 | 0 | 0% | 2.1% |
41 | Sandwich, IL | $85 | 13.3% | 60,896 | 3.22 | 33,250 | 55% | -6.3% |
RentCafe analysis of Yardi Matrix data.
Featured expert opinion

Doug Ressler, Business Intelligence Manager at Yardi Matrix
Doug Ressler, business intelligence manager at Yardi Matrix, a real estate research firm and our sister company, has offered us his insights on the Chicago self storage market:
"In 2023, the Chicago self storage industry navigated through a landscape shaped by the pandemic, housing market fluctuations, changing storage unit supply and demand, and varying interest rates. Notably, self storage street rates in the Chicago metro area saw a decline, with suburbs like Sycamore, Fox Lake and Aurora experiencing significant double-digit drops.
In terms of transactions, the first half of 2023 witnessed a noticeable decrease in volume compared to the previous year, though valuations and cap rates managed to stay relatively stable. Adding to the dynamic, Illinois saw a notable uptick in self storage development, ranking as the second-highest state in the Midwest for new facilities, particularly in suburban areas such as Bolingbrook, Joliet, and Aurora.
Looking ahead to 2023-24, the outlook for the self storage market remains uncertain. Key factors like interest rates, inflation, rental rate trends and new supply are poised to play crucial roles in determining the sector's performance and appeal."
Methodology
This analysis was done by RentCafe Self Storage, an online platform that provides apartment and storage unit listings across the nation.
This report considers self storage street rates and the square footage of new development in the Chicago metro area for 2023, plus estimates for 2024. For reference, we’ve also looked at self storage construction stats for Midwestern states between 2019 and 2023.
For self storage rents, we've included cities that had at least five property with a minimum of five 10'x10' units.
Data on self storage street rates and construction estimates for 2023 came from our sister division Yardi Matrix, a business development and asset management tool for brokers, sponsors, banks and equity sources underwriting investments in the multifamily, office, industrial and self storage sectors.
Fair use and redistribution
We encourage you and freely grant you permission to reuse, host or repost the research, graphics and images presented in this article. When doing so, we ask that you credit our research by linking to RentCafe Self Storage or this page, so that your readers can learn more about this project, the research behind it and its methodology.
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Mirela is a real estate writer and lifestyle editor for Yardi. With an academic background in English and translation, Mirela now covers a range of topics including real estate trends, lifestyle and economy. Her previous experience in proofreading academic articles has inspired Mirela to choose a writing career path. In her free time, Mirela enjoys reading, but also hiking and creating art. You can contact Mirela via email.
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