America's Hoarding Habits Are Making Self-Storage Entrepreneurs Rich

Two weeks ago I saw a story in the Wall Street Journal titled: Is There a Limit to Americans’ Self-Storage Addiction? Billions of Dollars Say Nope. The article begins with a little story about how one entrepreneur milked Americans' addiction to "stuff" to become a multi-millionaire. From there the authors drilled down into more details about the self-storage phenomenon.

One of the observations I made during my trip to Italy in April was that the Italians I stayed with in Florence and Parma (at Air BnBs) had a lot less living space and even fewer possessions. Where did they keep their things? When I looked into it, as of 2018 there were only 50 self-storage facilities in all of Italy. By way of contrast, in this country we have over 50,000 facilities containing 546 units each.

How much stress is created simply by agonizing over where to put all our stuff?  Clutter is a major U.S. industry. How did we become this nation of hoarders? 

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According to the Self Storage Association, Americans spend an average of $180 per month on self-storage rent. This number can vary depending on the size of the unit, the location of the facility, and the demand for storage space in the area. For example, a small unit in a rural area may cost $100 per month, while a large unit in a major city may cost $300 per month.

In 2022, Americans spent a total of $38 billion on self-storage rent. This number is expected to continue to grow in the coming years, as the demand for self-storage space increases. Here are some of the factors contributing to this growth.

Declining homeownership  The number of homeowners in the United States has been declining in recent years, as more people rent their homes. This trend is leading to an increase in the demand for self-storage space, as renters need a place to store their belongings.

Declining living space The average size of homes in the United States has been declining in recent years. This is due to a number of factors, including rising housing costs and the growing popularity of urban living. As homes get smaller, people need more space to store their belongings, which is leading to an increase in the demand for self-storage space.

Of course the flip side of this argument is this: how much junk doyou really need? To reiterate, this seems to be an American problem, not a global one. Consumerism has bedazzled us so that we think we have to have every new toy, even though last year's toys already bore us.

The rise of e-commerce The rise of e-commerce has contributed to an increase in the amount of stuff that people need to store. As more people shop online, they are ordering more items, which they need to store somewhere. Self-storage may seem an affordable option for storing these items, but wouldn't you money be better spent paying down your debt and achieving financial freedom? Instead, we load up our credit cards and pay even more to store what we don't need or use.

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Here's a little reminder from a fellow hoarder: you can't take it with you.