From the SEC filings

Public Storage cost: what the filings actually say

Public Storage is the largest US self-storage operator by owned facility count, with about 4,500 properties after acquiring National Storage Affiliates in July 2026. This page no longer carries a table of per-size and per-city monthly rates. It carries what the company discloses about its own rents in its annual report, and what that does and does not tell you about your unit.

What changed here on 6 September 2026

This page used to publish a grid of Public Storage monthly rates by unit size and a table of 10x10 rates in ten cities. Neither was sourced to anything we could show a reader, and the underlying basis was collecting rates from the operator's own listing pages, which their terms do not permit and which we should not have done. Both tables were removed. Nothing has been substituted for them, because a modelled replacement presented as a measurement would be a worse answer than an honest gap.

The four rent figures you can actually check

All four come from the same table in Public Storage's Form 10-K, FY2025 (filed 12 February 2026, period ending 31 December 2025). They are portfolio-wide same-store figures, not a quote for a unit. We read them at source on 6 September 2026.

Realized annual rent per occupied sq ft

$22.54

Same Store Facilities, FY2025. Up 0.5% from $22.43 in FY2024.

Realized annual rent per available sq ft

$20.74

The same measure before the vacancy is taken out. $20.72 in FY2024.

Average square foot occupancy

92.0%

Same Store Facilities, FY2025 average. 92.4% in FY2024.

Contract rent per occupied sq ft at year end

$22.55

At 31 December 2025, against $22.72 a year earlier.

Source: SEC EDGAR, Public Storage Form 10-K, FY2025

Why $22.54 is not your rent

It is tempting to take realized rent per occupied square foot, multiply by 100 for a 10x10, divide by twelve and call that the monthly price. That gives about $188, and it would be wrong in both directions at once.

It is too high for a large unit and too low for a small one, because rate per square foot falls sharply as units get bigger. A 5x5 and a 10x30 do not cost the same per square foot and never have. It is also a blend of every market the company operates in, from Manhattan to rural Texas, and a blend of every tenant, including people who moved in years ago on rates nobody is being offered today. A same-store portfolio figure is a measure of the business, not a price list.

What it is genuinely good for is direction and comparison. It moved 0.5% in FY2025. It lets you compare one operator's realised pricing with another's on a like-for-like basis. And it puts a ceiling on how much anyone can claim the market moved in a year without contradicting an audited filing.

The rate cycle, in the company's own words

You do not have to take anyone's word for how the pricing works. The Form 10-K, FY2025 sets it out directly. On promotions, it describes the discount it generally offers as “$1.00 rent for the first month”, used to “maximize revenue from new tenants to replace tenants that vacate”.

On increases, it says: “We typically increase rental rates to our long-term tenants (generally, those who have been with us for at least five months) every six to twelve months.” It then explains how the size of those increases is decided: “by evaluating the additional revenue from the increase against the negative impact of incremental move-outs, by considering tenants' in-place rent and prevailing market rents, among other factors.”

And on how the two pulled against each other in FY2025, the filing attributes the rise in realized rent to “cumulative rate increases to existing long-term tenants over the past twelve months partially offset by a decrease in average rates per square foot charged to new tenants moving in”. That is the whole model in one sentence: new customers got cheaper, existing ones got more expensive, and the second effect was larger.

The practical reading for a renter is that the advertised rate is a customer-acquisition price and the tenancy is priced separately. Put a note in your diary five months out and expect a review somewhere in the following half year.

Getting a number that is about you

Four questions, asked of three sites in the same week

What is the rate for this size, today, and what is the rate in month two once any introductory offer ends?
When is the first rate review likely to fall, and how much notice will I get?
What is compulsory on top of the rent: insurance, a lock, an administration charge? What will I actually pay on day one?
Is this unit climate controlled, and if there is a cheaper non-climate unit here, what is the difference in price?

Take the answers in writing where you can. Three sites in one week is a real comparison; a national average is not.

When a review does land, ring the site itself rather than a central number, and do it before it takes effect. Have a specific competing quote for the same size nearby and know what a move would cost you in van hire and an afternoon. The company's own filing says increases to long-term tenants are sized by weighing extra revenue against the risk of move-outs. A credible move-out is the one input that argument actually turns on.

Public Storage FAQ

How much does Public Storage cost per month?

We do not publish a figure, and we removed the one we used to publish on 6 September 2026. It was a table of per-size and per-city monthly rates that was not sourced to anything we could show you. No free primary source publishes what a given unit costs at a given site, and the operator's own listing pages are not ours to collect and republish. The only rent figure you can check for free is the portfolio-wide one in the company's SEC filings, and that is not a quote for any particular unit. For a real number, ring two or three sites near you in the same week and ask each what the rate becomes in month two.

What does Public Storage's own filing say about rent?

The FY2025 Form 10-K reports realized annual rent per occupied square foot of $22.54 for its Same Store Facilities, up 0.5% on FY2024's $22.43, with average square foot occupancy of 92.0% against 92.4%. On an available rather than occupied square foot the figure is $20.74. Those are portfolio-wide numbers blending every unit size and every market the company operates in, and they include tenants who moved in years ago. Multiplying $22.54 by a unit's square footage will not give you that unit's rent, because small units carry a much higher rate per square foot than large ones.

What is Public Storage's rate-increase pattern?

The company describes it plainly in the same filing: it offers promotional discounts to new tenants, generally a $1.00 first month, and it typically increases rental rates to long-term tenants, meaning those who have been with it at least five months, every six to twelve months. It says the size of those increases is set by weighing the extra revenue against the risk of tenants moving out, considering in-place rent against prevailing market rents. In FY2025 the two forces pulled against each other: rates to existing long-term tenants rose, while average rates charged to new tenants moving in fell.

Is Public Storage insurance required?

Cover is required under the lease at most self-storage operators, and Public Storage is no exception. You can usually decline the in-house policy if your home contents insurance extends to goods stored off the premises, but you will be asked to evidence it, and many contents policies need that extension added explicitly. Check your policy wording before you arrive rather than at the counter.

How do I negotiate a rate increase?

Ring the site itself rather than a central number, and do it as soon as the increase notice arrives rather than after it takes effect. Have a specific competing quote for the same size within a short drive, and be ready to say what moving would actually cost you in van hire and time. The company's own filing says increases to long-term tenants are set by weighing extra revenue against the risk of move-outs, so a credible, specific threat of a move-out is exactly the input that argument turns on. We are not going to tell you what percentage of these calls succeed, because we have no way of knowing.

Does Public Storage offer a first-month promotion?

Yes. Its FY2025 10-K names the promotional discount it generally offers as $1.00 rent for the first month, and it is explicit that this is a tool for winning new tenants to replace those who leave. Read that alongside the six-to-twelve-month increase cycle for long-term tenants and the shape of the first year becomes clear: the headline is a customer-acquisition price, not the price of the tenancy.

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