What a US self-storage facility actually costs in 2026.
State-level $/sqft heatmap. Full unit-size matrix from the Public Storage 2026 published price guide. Q1 2026 10-Q figures for the four largest self-storage REITs (PSA, EXR, CUBE, and NSA, acquired by PSA on 22 July 2026) direct from SEC EDGAR. Yardi Matrix April 2026 benchmarks. No affiliate links, no quote forms.
Map is schematic — anchored grid, not geographically accurate. Pricing source: SpareFoot industry statistics + Public Storage 2026 published price guide + Yardi Matrix April 2026. 35 unshaded states have no single primary-source 2026 figure publicly available. We do not fabricate.
Every standard unit size, climate vs non-climate.
National averages from the Public Storage 2026 published price guide. SpareFoot Feb 2026 cross-validates 10×10 within 5%. Climate-controlled premium nationally runs 20-30%; PSA's data shows a smaller premium because their owned mix skews to large-market climate-controlled product.
Source: https://www.publicstorage.com/blog/public-storage/the-complete-guide-to-storage-unit-prices-in-2026.html · Verified 2026-06-03.
Now the Big 3.
Public Storage completed its $10.5B acquisition of National Storage Affiliates on 22 July 2026 (announced March 2026; shareholders approved 14 July 2026). The combined company now operates over 4,500 self-storage properties and 327M rentable square feet, leaving three major public REITs. The NSA card below shows its final standalone quarter for the record. All figures are sourced from SEC EDGAR 10-Q / 10-K filings; click through to verify the line in the filing.
Q1 2026 revenue $1.22B. Same-store realized rent declined 0.3% YoY, occupancy +0.4ppt. Completed its $10.5B acquisition of NSA on 22 Jul 2026 (announced March 2026); the combined company now operates over 4,500 self-storage properties and 327M rentable sqft. The facility count and rentable sqft on this card are the Q1 2026 pre-close 10-Q figures.
SEC EDGAR ↗Q1 2026 revenue $856M. Same-store rental revenue +1.7%, NOI +1.2%. Largest by total store count (includes managed portfolio).
SEC EDGAR ↗Rent per sqft is FY2025 figure ($22.73). Same-store revenue +0.6% Q1 2026 — first positive print since mid-2024. 662 wholly-owned, 862 managed.
SEC EDGAR ↗Full operating portfolio: 1,061 properties (799 consolidated), 69.3M rentable sqft (51.1M consolidated), ~547,000 units across 37 states and Puerto Rico. Acquired by Public Storage under the March 2026 merger agreement ($10.5B); the deal completed on 22 Jul 2026, with each NSA share converting to 0.1400 PSA shares. Q1 2026 was NSA's final standalone quarter — it no longer trades as an independent REIT, and the 'big 4' is now the 'big 3'.
SEC EDGAR ↗What's driving the bifurcation.
Climate-controlled commands 20-30% premium vs non-climate nationally. In the Southeast (Birmingham, Huntsville, Jacksonville) the operating-cost component is higher because dehumidification runs year-round.
microflexspace.com ↗Boston leads US rent growth at +9.7% YoY because it has only 0.7 sqft per capita of self-storage — among the lowest in the country. Sunbelt cities with 8-10+ sqft per capita see negative rent growth.
www.yardimatrix.com ↗Phoenix and Sarasota-Cape Coral have 6.5% of existing inventory under construction and both show negative monthly rent momentum. Portland OR at 0.5% has supportive pricing dynamics.
www.yardimatrix.com ↗State-to-state migration hit 12-year low (~550k people) in 2025. Florida migration down 93% YoY, Texas / Georgia / Arizona down 50%+. Directly suppresses Sunbelt demand at the same time supply is delivering.
www.matthews.com ↗Subdued residential activity reduces the largest demand trigger — moves. The 4 Ds of storage demand (death, divorce, downsizing, dislocation) are all turnover-dependent.
www.matthews.com ↗