Portable storage has no single standardized official statistical category. The most useful available measures therefore combine broader U.S. self-storage estimates with company-reported revenue, occupancy, facility, development and coverage data, while keeping conventional self-storage distinct from portable containers.
Key Portable Storage Statistics
The following figures summarize the most broadly useful measures for the United States and the named company portfolios:
- Approximately 52,000 primary self-storage facilities operated in the United States in 2024, according to an industry estimate.
- Those U.S. primary self-storage facilities represented approximately 2.1 billion rentable square feet in 2024, according to the same estimate.
- The 100 largest operators managed approximately 60% of U.S. net rentable self-storage square footage in 2024, although they accounted for only about 35% of properties.
- Public Storage owned interests in 3,073 U.S. self-storage facilities at December 31, 2024.
- Public Storage’s owned facilities contained approximately 221.3 million net rentable square feet at December 31, 2024.
- U-Haul self-storage revenue reached $897.913 million in fiscal 2025, the year ended March 31, 2025.
- U-Haul’s moving-and-storage segment generated $5.493 billion in fiscal 2025, a segment that includes trucks, trailers, supplies, self-storage and portable units.
- U-Haul reported a 6.2% increase in average monthly occupied self-storage units in fiscal 2025 versus fiscal 2024, equal to 35,441 units.
- Public Storage’s disclosed average occupancy series was 82.5% in 2024, covering its other non-same-store facilities rather than the full portfolio.
- Realized rent in that Public Storage series was $17.17 per occupied square foot in 2024, not advertised asking rent.
- Public Storage insurance certificates covered approximately 1.4 million participating customer policies at December 31, 2024.
- Those certificates represented approximately $6.8 billion of aggregate coverage at December 31, 2024, which is insurance coverage rather than the market value of stored goods.
- Public Storage operated 464 facilities and reported 39.412 million net rentable square feet in Texas at December 31, 2024.
- Public Storage completed development and expansion projects totaling 132 facilities and 15.8 million net rentable square feet by year-end 2024.
- Public Storage had 26 facilities in development at December 31, 2024, with planned capacity of 2.5 million net rentable square feet.
- Public Storage acquired 22 self-storage facilities containing 1.7 million net rentable square feet in 2024.
Contents
- Key Portable Storage Statistics
- Portable Storage Market Scale and Operating Footprint
- Portable Storage and Self-Storage Revenue Trends
- Occupancy, Rents and Customer Capacity
- Portable Storage Facilities by U.S. Geography
- Storage Development, Acquisitions and Capacity Growth
- Stored-Goods Coverage and Portable Storage Data Limits
Portable Storage Market Scale and Operating Footprint
The broadest U.S. scale estimate comes from the 2024 Annual Report. It describes primary self-storage, which is broader than portable storage units, but it provides a useful operating-footprint baseline.
- The United States had approximately 52,000 primary self-storage facilities in 2024.
- Those facilities represented approximately 2.1 billion rentable square feet in 2024.
- The 100 largest operators managed approximately 60% of U.S. net rentable self-storage square footage in 2024.
- The same 100 largest operators accounted for only about 35% of U.S. self-storage properties, indicating that square-footage concentration and property-count concentration are different measures.
Source: Annual Report 2024. These are industry estimates for conventional self-storage, not a portable-container census.
Public Storage’s year-end 2024 filing illustrates the scale of one major operator:
- Public Storage owned interests in 3,073 facilities containing approximately 221.3 million net rentable square feet in the United States.
- It managed 307 facilities for third parties, representing approximately 23.3 million net rentable square feet.
- The company had contracts for 95 additional facilities, including 93 under construction.
- Its Shurgard investment represented 318 facilities in seven Western European countries.
Source: Public Storage 2024 Form 10-K. These figures include conventional self-storage and should not be treated as portable-unit ownership or capacity.
Portable Storage and Self-Storage Revenue Trends
U-Haul reports separate self-storage and moving-and-storage lines, but the filing does not provide a complete industry-wide U-Box or container census. The figures below are company revenue measures, not a standalone portable-storage market total.
| U-Haul measure | Fiscal 2023 | Fiscal 2024 | Fiscal 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-storage revenue | $744.492 million | $831.069 million | $897.913 million |
| Moving-and-storage products and service sales | — | $335.805 million | $327.490 million |
| Moving-and-storage segment revenue | — | $5.295 billion | $5.493 billion |
| Consolidated revenue | — | $5.626 billion | $5.829 billion |
Fiscal years ended March 31; U-Haul consolidated geography. Self-storage revenue is distinct from portable moving/storage-unit revenue where separately reported, while the moving-and-storage segment includes trucks, trailers, supplies, self-storage and portable units.
Source: U-Haul Holding Company 2025 Form 10-K.
U-Haul also reported that average monthly occupied self-storage units increased 6.2% in fiscal 2025 versus fiscal 2024, equal to 35,441 units. The population is U-Haul’s self-storage portfolio, so this is an occupied-unit trend rather than a portable-container adoption rate.
Occupancy, Rents and Customer Capacity
Public Storage’s filing provides a consistent three-year series for a defined subportfolio: other non-same-store facilities. It should not be generalized to the company’s full portfolio or to portable storage containers.
| Measure | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average occupancy | 81.2% | 81.4% | 82.5% |
| Realized rent per occupied square foot | $14.85 | $16.64 | $17.17 |
The occupancy figures are averages for the same disclosed subportfolio. The rent figures are realized rent per occupied square foot, not advertised asking rent.
Source: Public Storage 2024 Form 10-K.
The filing also describes customer insurance participation and company risk transfer:
- Public Storage insurance certificates covered approximately 1.4 million participating customer policies at December 31, 2024.
- Those certificates represented approximately $6.8 billion of aggregate coverage.
- The insurance program had a maximum limit of $5,000 per storage unit for specified losses.
- Public Storage purchased third-party insurance for losses above $10.0 million per occurrence, with a $15.0 million limit.
These are coverage and program measures, not counts of all storage customers, typical claims, stored-goods values or portable-storage adoption.
Portable Storage Facilities by U.S. Geography
Public Storage’s year-end 2024 state disclosures show where one large operator reported facilities and conventional self-storage space. They are not a national portable-storage map.
| State | Facilities | Net rentable square feet |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 464 | 39.412 million |
| California | 446 | 32.025 million |
| Florida | 365 | 25.475 million |
| Illinois | 137 | 8.930 million |
| Georgia | 128 | 8.621 million |
Source: Public Storage 2024 Form 10-K. The geography is Public Storage’s portfolio, and the square-footage measure is conventional self-storage capacity.
The figures show that facility counts and rentable area are reported together but are not interchangeable measures of customer capacity. A portable-storage comparison would require separate definitions for containers, yards, customer-held units and units stored at company facilities.
Storage Development, Acquisitions and Capacity Growth
Public Storage reported completed development and expansion activity through December 31, 2024. The cumulative program included 132 facilities and 15.8 million net rentable square feet, with incurred costs of $1.6 billion.
Those newly developed and expanded facilities contributed $151.4 million of net operating income in 2024. NOI is not revenue or profit after corporate costs, and the portfolio is conventional self-storage rather than portable-container capacity.
The 2024 development and acquisition measures were:
- Public Storage had 26 additional facilities in development at year-end 2024, planned to add 2.5 million net rentable square feet.
- The 26-facility pipeline had aggregate estimated development costs of approximately $498.9 million and was expected to open over 18–24 months.
- The expansion-in-process program was expected to add 1.5 million net rentable square feet, with aggregate direct development costs of $242.7 million.
- Public Storage acquired 22 self-storage facilities containing 1.7 million net rentable square feet in 2024 for $267.5 million in cash.
- It completed $343.4 million of development and redevelopment activities in 2024, adding 1.5 million net rentable square feet.
- Through December 31, 2024, it demolished 1.1 million net rentable square feet and built 6.8 million net rentable square feet in completed expansions; these gross figures are not a net-change calculation.
- Newly developed facilities are typically underwritten to stabilize at approximately an 8.0% NOI yield on cost, an underwriting target rather than realized performance.
Source for all development and acquisition figures: Public Storage 2024 Form 10-K.
Stored-Goods Coverage and Portable Storage Data Limits
Portable storage statistics need careful definitions because the available measures cover different populations. The Census American Housing Survey is a housing-unit survey and can provide household-storage context, but it is not a portable-storage usage survey; no storage-specific AHS estimate is included here.
Public Storage estimated that its largest-owner position represented approximately 9% of U.S. self-storage square footage in 2024. It estimated that the four largest U.S. self-storage owners collectively held approximately 20%, leaving approximately 80% with regional and local operators.
Source: Public Storage 2024 Form 10-K. These are company estimates for conventional self-storage, not portable-storage market share, and the filing notes that facility, square-footage and insurance-certificate disclosures are unaudited and outside the financial-statement audit.
The third-party management program also shows why flow and stock measures should be separated:
- Public Storage’s managed third-party program added 133 facilities during 2024.
- Fifty-two facilities exited that program during 2024.
- At December 31, 2024, third-party management contracts covered 8.4 million net rentable square feet in the additional-facility pipeline.
- At year-end 2024, the bridge-loan receivable balance was $10.0 million, with $12.5 million of unfunded bridge-loan commitments.
These financing and management figures describe company programs, not portable-storage demand or customer churn. Figures should not be summed across companies because portfolios, fiscal years, definitions and geographies differ.