5x10 Storage Units: What Fits and What They Cost
A 5x10 storage unit is 50 square feet and rents for a national median of $58/mo across the 1687 priced 5x10 units we track. It fits a walk-in closet: a mattress set, a couch, several boxes.
What fits in a 5x10?
A 5x10 is 5 feet wide and 10 feet deep, or 50 square feet of floor. In practice that holds:
- A queen mattress and box spring, on edge along the 10-foot wall
- A three-seat sofa, lengthwise
- A dresser, a nightstand, and a disassembled bed frame
- A washer and dryer pair
- Boxes stacked toward the ceiling along one side, with a bike or two in front
In boxes: a medium moving box is 18 by 18 inches at the base, or 2.25 square feet, so 50 square feet is room for about 22 of them in a single layer on the floor. Boxes stack, so 4 layers, roughly chest height, is on the order of 88 boxes. Both figures assume you use every square foot and never need to reach the bottom of a stack, so treat them as the ceiling on what a 5x10 holds rather than a packing plan.
What does not fit in a 5x10?
The limits are easier to check than the capacity, because each one comes down to a single measurement:
- A car. A 5x10 is 5 feet wide and a car is wider than that before you account for the doors.
- A full one-bedroom apartment with its appliances. One room of furniture, yes; a whole household, no.
- Two people working at once. At 5 feet wide, once one side is loaded you are working from the doorway.
- Anything much over 10 feet long. A ladder, a kayak, or long lumber has to go corner to corner, if it goes in at all.
What the size name does not tell you
Ceiling height. A 5x10 is 50 square feet of floor and the name says nothing about how high you can go. At an 8-foot ceiling that same footprint encloses roughly 400 cubic feet, and more than half of that volume sits above waist height. Ceiling heights vary between buildings and are not part of the advertised size, so ask the facility rather than assuming.
The door opening. The door is not the same as the 5-foot wall behind it. Roll-up and swing doors are sized independently of the unit, so measure your widest single item, such as a sofa, a mattress, or a refrigerator, and confirm the door dimensions with the facility, not just the unit dimensions.
How you reach it. Two 5x10 units at the same price can be very different to move into. A drive-up unit you back a truck up to; an interior unit means a hallway, possibly an elevator, and then 10 feet of carrying at the far end. On moving day that difference is measured in hours.
The mistake people make with a 5x10
A 5x10 is a hallway, not a room. The 10 feet is depth, not width.
Compared to a 10x10 on square footage alone, a 5x10 looks like half the space for less than half the trouble. What the number hides is that all 50 square feet sit in a 5-foot-wide strip. You load it front to back, roughly one item deep, and the back half stays behind the front half. That is a good trade for a room you are not going to touch for six months, and a frustrating one for anything you plan to reach into.
When a 5x10 is the right size
- A studio apartment, or a single furnished room
- A student storing furniture between school years
- One room emptied for a renovation
- A deployment or long trip where the load goes in once and comes out once
- Furniture you have downsized out of but not decided whether to sell
What a 5x10 costs
The national median is $58/mo, across the 1687 priced 5x10 units we track. That is a midpoint across every city on this site, not a quote: it is the online rate operators publish on their own sites, half the units we track are above it, and none of it accounts for local rates or promotions. Use your own city's page for the number you will actually pay.
5x5 vs 5x10 vs 10x10
Stepping up from a 5x10 to a 10x10 adds 50 square feet, 100% more floor. That step also widens the unit from 5 feet to 10 feet, which is the difference between loading from the doorway and walking in and reaching both walls.
| Size | Sq ft | vs 5x10 | What fits | Priced units tracked | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5x5 | 25 sq ft | −25 sq ft (−50%) | A closet: boxes, a dresser, small furniture, seasonal items. | 2550 | $29.40/mo |
| 5x10 | 50 sq ft | Same | A walk-in closet: a mattress set, a couch, several boxes. | 1687 | $58/mo |
| 10x10 | 100 sq ft | +50 sq ft (+100%) | A one-bedroom apartment: appliances, furniture, many boxes. | 2888 | $82/mo |
Cheapest 5x10 storage unit by city
| City | Cheapest 5x10 | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| San Antonio, TX | $7/mo | Extra Space Storage at 8378 Culebra Rd |
| Louisville, KY | $9/mo | Public Storage at 6713 Strawberry Lane |
| Houston, TX | $10/mo | Extra Space Storage at 9951 Harwin Dr |
| Atlanta, GA | $10/mo | Extra Space Storage at 720 Veterans Memorial Hwy SW |
| Dallas, TX | $12/mo | Public Storage at 2715 Realty Drive |
| Oklahoma City, OK | $12.60/mo | Public Storage at 9720 SW 15th St |
| Austin, TX | $16/mo | Extra Space Storage at 12835 Pond Springs Rd |
| Philadelphia, PA | $16/mo | Public Storage at 1138 W Chester Pike |
| Charlotte, NC | $16/mo | Public Storage at 522 Brawley School Rd |
| Las Vegas, NV | $20/mo | Public Storage at 3043 N Pecos Rd |
| Chicago, IL | $21/mo | Public Storage at 330 W North Ave |
| Nashville, TN | $21/mo | Public Storage at 424 Metroplex Drive |
| Denver, CO | $21.60/mo | CubeSmart at 10303 E Warren Ave |
| Seattle, WA | $23/mo | Public Storage at 3624 Auburn Way N |
| Miami, FL | $31/mo | Public Storage at 851 Knights Rd |
| San Jose, CA | $33/mo | Public Storage at 965 Felipe Ave |
| Portland, OR | $35/mo | Public Storage at 6301 NE 88th St |
| El Paso, TX | $36/mo | Public Storage at 6982 Alameda Ave |
| Los Angeles, CA | $40/mo | Public Storage at 791 S Azusa Ave |
| San Diego, CA | $51.60/mo | CubeSmart at 10999 Willow Ct |
Common questions about 5x10 storage units
How much does a 5x10 storage unit cost?
The national median online rate for a 5x10 is $58/mo, across the 1687 priced 5x10 units we track. Half of those units are cheaper than that and half are more expensive. What you actually pay depends on the city and the individual facility, so compare your own city rather than budgeting from the median.
Will a couch fit in a 5x10 storage unit?
Along the 10-foot wall, yes. A standard three-seat sofa is commonly 7 to 8 feet long, so it fits lengthwise but not across the 5-foot width. Once it is in, it takes most of one side of the unit, so plan to stack on top of it or in front of it rather than beside it.
What is the difference between a 5x10 and a 10x10?
Width. Both are 10 feet deep. The 10x10 is twice as wide, which doubles the floor from 50 to 100 square feet and, more usefully, lets you step inside and reach both walls. A 5x10 is loaded and unloaded from the doorway.
Is a 5x10 big enough for a one-bedroom apartment?
For the bedroom, usually. For the whole apartment, no. A 5x10 takes a bed, a dresser, and a sofa; add a dining set, a desk, and kitchen appliances and you are into 10x10 territory.