New Report Finds Gwinnett County Households Spending an Estimated $61.9 Million Annually to Store Things They No Longer Need

Approximately 40,300 Gwinnett County households are currently paying for self-storage, and most of them are paying for belongings they have not touched in months, according to a new report released today by Veteran's Junk Removal LLC, a veteran-owned junk removal company based in Dacula, Georgia.

The findings estimate that $61.9 million leaves Gwinnett County annually to fund storage rentals that, in many cases, cost far more than the contents they hold are worth.

The Gwinnett County Storage Unit Report applies the Self Storage Association's documented national rate of 1-in-10 households renting self-storage to Gwinnett County's 403,000 households, producing the 40,300-unit estimate. At the national average of $128 per month for a standard 10x10 unit, rising to $153 or more for climate-controlled options, the cumulative financial toll on local families is substantial.

A renter who holds a standard unit for just one year spends $1,536. At five years, that figure climbs to $7,680. At ten years, it reaches $15,360, before factoring in annual rent increases of 5% to 15% that self-storage operators routinely implement after the initial lease period.

The report identifies a pattern that industry data consistently confirms: storage is almost never used the way renters intend at move-in. The national average rental duration is 14.5 months. Only 25% of renters visit their unit more than once a month, and 38% report using storage for items they do not use daily. More than 1 in 4 renters holds a unit for longer than two years.

"I'd say a solid 20% to 25% of our storage unit cleanout calls come from people who are just completely fed up with writing that check every single month," said Denell Criss, owner of Veteran's Junk Removal LLC. "When we get out there and start pulling things out into the light, almost every single client does the mental math right in front of us."

The report also documents a physical cost to long-term storage. According to data cited in the findings, approximately 80% of items in storage units held for 10 or more years are unsalvageable due to moisture, pests, and structural deterioration. The report notes that the cost of a single professional cleanout is typically less than two to three months of storage rent, and permanently ends the expense.