Self Storage Rates Continue to Dip Year-Over-Year This February

• National self storage street rates declined 1.5% year-over-year in February 2025, reflecting an acceleration from January’s milder decrease
• Southern and Southwestern cities, including Spring Valley, NV, and Fayetteville, NC, led significant price corrections
• Petersburg, FL, experienced the highest national increase in storage rates at 8.2% year-over-year, driven by zero new deliveries and strong demand
• The Sunbelt region continues to dominate U.S. self storage construction, accounting for nine of the top 10 cities by forecasted deliveries in 2025

After a January that hinted at cautious optimism for self storage street rates, February brought an acceleration of rent declines, although these were not as severe as those experienced throughout most of 2024. The national average self storage street rate stood at $133 in February 2025, reflecting a 1.5% decrease year-over-year. This decline is twice as steep as the year-over-year drop recorded in January; however, it remains significantly milder compared to 2024, when monthly price declines frequently exceeded 3%. On a month-to-month basis, the average street rate remained stable, showing no change. Among the nation’s largest 150 cities, approximately 59% experienced declining prices, while the remaining 41% recorded price increases.

Meanwhile, self storage construction continues to move forward at a relatively robust pace. Forecasted deliveries for 2025 in the country’s 150 largest urban markets are expected to reach 13.3 million square feet, representing a 5% increase compared to 2024 deliveries. At the national level, new construction remains active, with more than 56 million square feet of additional self storage space anticipated to come online throughout the year. Although impressive, this volume represents a modest 3% decline from the total amount delivered in 2024, indicating a slight moderation in nationwide self storage development activity.

Several Southern and Southwestern cities register significant price corrections

The cities experiencing the most significant self storage price decreases are predominantly located in the Southern and Southwestern United States. Excluding Boston, MA, nine out of the top 10 cities recording substantial price declines are situated in these rapidly growing regions, where additions to self storage inventory and increased competition have placed downward pressure on rental rates.

While none of the country’s largest 150 cities experienced double-digit price reductions in February 2025, two cities—Spring Valley, NV, and Fayetteville, NC—came notably close, with both markets seeing price drops of 9.8%.

Spring Valley, a suburb of Las Vegas, witnessed significant new self storage development in 2023, adding over 200,000 square feet of storage space, and an additional 80,000 square feet of space is expected to be delivered throughout the current year. Such an extensive new supply naturally creates downward pricing pressure. However, even following these considerable price reductions, self storage rates in Spring Valley remain well above the national average, standing at $151 per month for the average unit. Given Spring Valley’s healthy population growth combined with relatively high rents, it is likely that investors and developers will maintain a strong interest in the local self storage market despite recent price adjustments.

Fayetteville, NC, can be accurately described as an oversupplied self storage market, currently holding 12.4 square feet of space per capita—a level significantly above the national average—after major expansions of supply were delivered in both 2023 and 2024. The construction momentum is set to continue into the current year, with another 72,000 square feet of new storage space scheduled to come online. This persistent wave of new construction is effectively keeping street rates under control. As a result, the average monthly rent for a storage unit in Fayetteville stands at $108, reflecting a sharp 9.8% year-over-year decrease.

Three other cities—Port St. Lucie, FL; Santa Clarita, CA; and Frisco, TX—registered price declines approaching roughly 7%. In Santa Clarita’s case, however, despite such significant price decreases, the monthly street rate remains elevated at approximately $169. This resilient pricing level can be attributed to the generally high cost of living in the area, significant recent population growth and a relative undersupply of self storage facilities compared to local demand.

In New England, Boston, MA, also experienced a notable year-over-year price decrease of nearly 6%. However, the monthly trend reveals signs of recovery, with the street rate rebounding by almost 3% from January to February. Boston remains one of the country’s most undersupplied self storage markets, contributing to persistently high average rental rates. Despite recent year-over-year declines, the typical storage unit in Boston continues to command a premium price range, renting at an average of $196 per month.

Half of the top 10 cities for self storage price increases are in California

Five of the top cities for self storage price increases—Fontana, Irvine, San Francisco, Glendale and Bakersfield—are located in California, stressing the state’s persistently high housing costs, urban density and relatively restrained self storage supply, which are driving higher competition and upward pressure on storage prices.

However, the highest year-over-year increase nationally was recorded in St. Petersburg, FL, which saw a substantial 8.2% rise in self storage street rates, bringing the average rental price for a typical unit up to $162 per month. St. Petersburg has had no new self storage construction deliveries in 2024 and forecasts zero additions to its inventory in 2025. This ongoing pause in construction activity is intensifying rental competition in a market characterized by strong demand and a relatively low inventory of just 5.8 square feet per capita, below national averages.

Yonkers, NY, ranked second nationally for self storage price increases, primarily driven by a critically low local inventory of only two square feet per capita. The average self storage unit in Yonkers rents for approximately $193 per month, well above the national average. But new storage inventory has been consistently added over the past two years, with another massive 204,000 square feet of storage space expected to come online in 2025. The expansion of local self storage supply is likely to offer some relief to renters in the future, easing current price pressures.

Within California, year-over-year price increases varied across cities, from a 6.5% jump in Fontana to a 3.5% rise in Bakersfield. Glendale saw a 4% year-over-year increase in street rates, with average rents now approaching $300 per month for a standard storage unit. This hefty price is largely attributable to Glendale’s very low storage inventory, currently at only 1.9 square feet per capita, and the absence of any new storage construction during 2023 and 2024. The situation may improve slightly for renters in 2025 due to the 82,000 square feet of new self storage space expected to be delivered.

Similarly, San Francisco, CA continues to experience upward rental pressure due to limited inventory. With an average rental rate now at $241 per month, San Francisco remains among the most expensive self storage markets nationwide. High housing costs, dense urban living and minimal new storage supply have collectively contributed to price increases in the city.

Sunbelt region remains the country’s leading hub for self storage construction

The Sunbelt continues to dominate the nation’s self storage development landscape, with nine out of the top 10 cities for forecasted self storage deliveries in 2025 located within this rapidly growing region. Population growth, strong local economies and continuous urban expansion in the Sunbelt region are fueling demand for additional self storage space across these cities—even though many of these markets already maintain large inventories.

The sole geographical outlier among the leading markets for self storage construction is Philadelphia, PA. Interestingly, all the top 10 cities, with the exception of Bakersfield, CA, have consistently expanded their inventories over the previous two years, responding to persistent self storage demand.

Top Cities for 2025 Construction

San Antonio and Houston, both Texas powerhouses, lead the nation in projected 2025 self storage deliveries, with approximately 800,000 and 670,000 square feet slated for completion, respectively. This expansion reflects Texas’s ongoing urban and suburban growth, driven by strong economic performance, favorable business climates and demographic gains. Following closely is Jacksonville, FL, where an impressive 593,000 square feet of new storage space is anticipated to come online this year.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Los Angeles, CA—one of the nation’s tightest self storage markets with only 2.1 square feet of storage space per capita—plans to add more than 508,000 square feet of new storage inventory in 2025. This influx is much needed given that local self storage street rates in Los Angeles currently average around $247 per month, nearly double the national average.

Outside the Sunbelt, Philadelphia is preparing to welcome approximately 426,000 square feet of additional self storage space in 2025, a development that is expected to significantly ease local supply pressures. With just 3.4 square feet per capita presently, the city remains undersupplied compared to national benchmarks. These planned additions will likely help stabilize rental rates and alleviate some of the market strain currently experienced by consumers.

Check out how street rates and inventory are looking in the 150 largest cities in the U.S.:

Methodology

This analysis was conducted by RentCafe, an online platform offering nationwide listings for apartments and storage units.

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 February 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.