Market Intelligence Chicago, IL
Comp-rich · 36 tracked
Self-storage market in Chicago, IL — July 2026
Based on the 36 facilities we track in Chicago — a sample of Chicago’s market, not every facility.
As of July 2026 · data via OpenStreetMap + Foursquare
Market tightness
Balanced
Aggregate demand signal — not a facility occupancy figure.
Running a move-in promo
19%
Median rate by size
5×5
$51/mo
~4% above US ($49/mo)
typical $42/mo–$75/mo
5×10
$100/mo
~54% above US ($65/mo)
typical $69/mo–$121/mo
10×10
$160/mo
~68% above US ($95/mo)
typical $124/mo–$190/mo
10×20
$230/mo
~68% above US ($137/mo)
typical $171/mo–$300/mo
The bigger picture
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — market supply & demand
Lower storage supply per capita than ~96% of US metros — about 10.4 facilities per 100k people vs the 32.3 national median.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN looks under-supplied relative to the markets we track.
A metro of 9.4M residents and 3.6M households — the demand base behind the per-100k figure.
Supply: our registry · as of 2026-06
Demand trend
Population roughly flat since 2020.
Net out-migration of ~82,000 residents since 2020.
Population trends historically correlate with storage demand — not a forecast. Census PEP, 2025 vintage.
Market context
Median household income
$88,850
Median gross rent
$1,378/mo
Renter share
65%
Census 2023 ACS 5-yr · demand context — these historically correlate with storage demand, not a forecast.
See your facility’s position in Chicago
Get a free report on your rates, the move-in promos around you, and how tight your market is — measured against the 36 facilities we track in Chicago.
Data & methodology
Aggregate analysis of publicly available self-storage facility data in Chicago, IL, as of July 2026. Facility data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Foursquare. Rates reflect published street rates; individual facility pricing varies. Figures describe the 36 facilities in our dataset for this metro — a sample skewed toward facilities on certain software platforms, not a complete census of the market.