A big city sounds like it should give you plenty of storage choice. The count is usually smaller than people assume once you subtract everything that is an awkward drive away, and the number you can compare on price before picking up the phone is smaller still.
| City | Facilities we list | Publishing a price | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto, ON | 104 | 38 | 37% |
| Houston, TX | 94 | 60 | 64% |
| Phoenix, AZ | 78 | 51 | 65% |
| Calgary, AB | 67 | 22 | 33% |
| Edmonton, AB | 58 | 13 | 22% |
| Tampa, FL | 56 | 37 | 66% |
| New York, NY | 55 | 35 | 64% |
| Los Angeles, CA | 53 | 49 | 92% |
Facility count is not the same as choice
Storage is a local purchase in a way that most things are not, because you go back. A facility on the far side of a large city is not really an option, whatever the map says. In practice the shortlist for most people is whatever sits within about twenty minutes, which in a spread out city like Toronto is a fraction of the 104 we list there.
Start from where you live rather than from the city, and treat the citywide total as background.
Price transparency varies a lot by city
The last column is the interesting one. Los Angeles, CA publishes rates at 92% of its facilities, while Edmonton, AB manages 22%. Same product, very different ability to compare before you call.
Where transparency is low it is generally because the local market is made up of smaller independent operators, who tend not to publish rates. It does not mean those cities are expensive. It means the work of comparing shifts onto you, and two or three calls will tell you more than an hour of browsing.
What to do with a long list
Sort by drive time first, then by whether they take what you are storing, then by price. Doing it in that order stops you falling for a cheap rate that costs you an extra forty minutes on every visit, which is the mistake that shows up most often in the second month.
How we got these numbers
Every figure here is counted from the 11,482 facilities listed on StorageAtlas across 46 states and provinces and 1,685 towns and cities. Prices are what each facility published on its own website on the day we last read it, so they are a dated reading rather than a quote, and a facility can change its rates without us seeing it. Where a figure rests on a smaller sample we say how small. We hold no vacancy data at all, so nothing here tells you whether a unit is free today.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many storage facilities are there in Toronto?
We list 104 in Toronto itself, of which 38 publish a rate online. There are more in the surrounding municipalities, which are often cheaper.
Which city has the most storage facilities?
Of the cities here, Toronto, ON has the most in our directory at 104. Counts reflect what we list rather than a census of every operator trading.
Why can I only compare prices at some facilities?
Around 48% of facilities publish no rate anywhere online. Rates move with occupancy and many smaller operators prefer to quote on the phone.
Is storage cheaper outside the city?
Usually, because land costs less. Weigh it against how often you will visit, since a cheaper unit forty minutes out stops being cheaper once you are driving there most weekends.
