How Much Does Storage Cost in New York City?

Setting up life in New York City is exciting and full of surprises, but let’s be honest, it’s not the cheapest place to live nor does it offer a lot of space for your stuff. While micro-apartments may be pretty popular, you’re dealing with spaces as little as 150 square feet.

One simple solution is to rent a self-storage unit. Here’s a rundown of the average cost of storage in NYC.

First, Do Inventory

You know you will be dealing with all four seasons in New York City, plus it’s a fashionable town, so you are going to have to have clothing for blustery and blistering weather. (Check out What’s the Weather Like in New York City?)

Since temperature fluctuations are dangerous for fabric, consider a climate-controlled unit. That’s also the case for storing anything like photographs, documents or books and collectibles.

You also want to think about how often you will need to access your items. If it’s off-season clothes or seasonal decor, you can shift things around back to front or top to bottom. (There’s nothing worse than looking for your favorite fall jacket that got packed in the plastic container at the bottom of the last pile.)

With most people living in apartments in NYC, storage is always at a premium. There are a few other unique challenges that you might want to consider when sizing up your storage needs. Here are 5 Unique Storage Issues in New York City.

What Size Do You Need?

The size of the unit is determined by the amount and size of stuff you are storing. Next, we’ll give a quick overview, and you can get more information in our blog post: “Guide to Choosing the Right Self-Storage Unit Size.“

Locker

Ideal for a couple of boxes and small collectibles, lockers are 5 feet by 5 feet square, and are stacked on top of one another. You might want to check it out before you rent to make sure you can reach it.

Small Self-Storage Unit

Small self-storage units are also 5 feet by 5 feet, as tall as a regular storage unit, about the size of an average closet. They will hold a twin or full-size mattress, seasonal decor or camping and fishing equipment. If you are good at organizing, you can fit a remarkable amount of stuff in it. 

Medium Self-Storage Unit

These are about 5 feet by 10 feet, and will hold a motorcycle, queen or king mattress, contents of a small one-bedroom or studio apartment. 

Larger Mid-Sized Self-Storage Unit

Bigger than medium, smaller than large, these average 10 feet by 10 feet. With careful packing and organizing, they will hold the contents of a small family home, a grand piano, big pieces of furniture, or your kayak. These size units are also perfect for things like appliances.It’s also almost the same size as some micro-apartments, but living in a storage unit is against the law.

Large Self-Storage Unit

These are 10 feet by 20 feet, and will hold the contents of a large house, a car, small boat or a fashionista’s wardrobe. It can also be used for commercial storage, and some people use it as the launch space for a start-up, because it is often cheaper than commercial office space if you need room for parts and inventory.

Parking space

Did you know you can rent a parking space? Do you have a car, camper or RV? You can rent space for vehicles at a self-storage facility.

The Cost of Self-Storage in New York City

Now that you know what size you need, how much is it going to cost?

We compiled data from SpareFoot.com, and included information from our Storage Post locations in and around NYC. To be fair, we compared the same sized unit, and included climate-controlled options because temperatures fluctuate in New York. We also filtered for 24-hour access and security cameras.

As you are evaluating the cost, make sure you consider things like location, security, access, lighting and key things like cleanliness and pest control. Find out who monitors the units. Are there security guards on-site or equivalent?

Prices listed do not include any taxes or additional administration, insurance or other fees.  The fees in this chart reflect the base rate, not including any specials or promotions.

Another thing to remember is you might want or need to purchase storage unit insurance, and it isn’t always cheaper to just take the one the facility offers. Call your insurance broker and get a couple of quotes when you know what size you are renting.

You can get more information in our article: “Gain Peace of Mind with Storage Insurance.”

Storage Post has a number of locations in and around New York City (our Brooklyn and Jersey City locations have parking!). Contact us today to learn more.