.svg)
Storage Unit Size Guide
How Big Is a 5x20 Storage Unit? Dimensions, What Fits, and Who It's For
A hundred square feet in a twenty-foot run. The same area as a 10x10 in a completely different shape, and the cheapest way to store something long.
Compare Every Size
- 5x525 sq ft
- 5x1050 sq ft
- 5x1575 sq ft
- 5x20100 sq ft
- 10x10100 sq ft
- 10x15150 sq ft
- 8x20160 sq ft
- 10x20200 sq ft
- 15x20300 sq ft
- 10x30300 sq ft
- 10x35350 sq ft
- 20x20400 sq ft
- 10x40400 sq ft
- 15x30450 sq ft
- 20x25500 sq ft
- 20x40800 sq ft
- 30x401,200 sq ft
Other Space Types
On This Page
- What a 5x20 Storage Unit Actually Is
- What Fits in a 5x20 Storage Unit
- What Does Not Fit in a 5x20 Storage Unit
- Who a 5x20 Storage Unit Is Right For
- How to Know If You Should Size Up or Down
- How to Pack a 5x20 Storage Unit Efficiently
- Climate-Controlled or Standard: Which 5x20 to Choose
- What a 5x20 Storage Unit Costs and How to Think About Value
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Reserve a 5x20 Storage Unit Near You
Section 01
What a 5x20 Storage Unit Actually Is
A 5x20 measures 5 feet wide by 20 feet deep: 100 square feet of floor, or a rectangle 60 inches by 240 inches. At the 8-foot minimum ceiling that is 800 cubic feet.
Look at that square footage for a moment. A 10x10 is also 100 square feet, and the two units could not be less alike. A 10x10 is a room you walk into and turn around in. A 5x20 is a corridor five feet across with a back wall twenty feet from the door.
Same area, same nominal capacity, completely different proposition. Which one is right for you depends entirely on whether you are storing things or using them.
The Floor, Drawn to Scale
Looking straight down, here is the floor at true proportion with one layer of 18-inch medium cartons across it. Three fit across the 60-inch width and thirteen run down the 240-inch depth, giving thirty-nine per layer.
240 in / 20 ft deep · door on left wall
Thirty-nine medium boxes per layer. Five safe layers gives about 195 boxes, if the unit holds nothing else.
The Unit in Three Dimensions
Square footage undersells a unit this size, because what you are renting is volume. Both cutaways below show the same 5x20 at the same scale. The only difference between them is how the boxes are stacked.
Stacked five layers high
One layer on the floor
At this size the gap between those two drawings is enormous. Packing to head height rather than waist height is worth more square footage than most renters would ever pay for.
The Trade-Off, Stated Plainly
A 5x20 usually costs less than a 10x10, and at 100 square feet it falls in the medium size band rather than the large one. That is the appeal.
What you give up is access. Everything is arranged along a single twenty-foot run in a space too narrow to turn around in while carrying something, so reaching anything at the back means moving what is in front of it. Rent a 5x20 when you are putting things away. Rent a 10x10 when you are keeping things nearby.
Section 02
What Fits in a 5x20 Storage Unit
Twenty Feet of Length in the Medium Band
This is the argument for the size. A clear twenty-foot run normally means renting a large unit. Here you get it at 100 square feet:
- Lumber, trim, pipe and conduit in standard 16 and 20 foot lengths
- Extension ladders to 20 feet
- Kayaks, canoes and paddleboards to about 18 feet
- Rolled carpet and long rugs
- Two motorcycles nose to tail, with the rear one blocked in
- Long folding and banquet tables stored flat
One caution on all of these. A twenty-foot object entering a five-foot-wide unit has almost no room to swing, so it has to go in straight. Check the approach outside the door as well as the door itself.
Check the Door, Not Just the Floor
Interior dimensions are only half the question. The roll-up door opening is narrower and lower than the unit itself, and at this size it is what actually decides whether a tall vehicle, a van with roof equipment or a trailer will go in. Confirm the door opening at the specific facility before booking anything close to the limits, particularly on height.
Storing a vehicle also carries requirements that storing goods does not: proof of current registration and proof of insurance. Motorised vehicles must be operable and free of leaking fluids. Towable trailers, including travel trailers, fifth wheels, pop-ups and utility trailers, do not need to be operable. Our vehicle storage page has the detail.
Shelving Down Both Walls
A 5x20 has 50 linear feet of wall. Shelving along both 20-foot walls and the back gives 45 linear feet of run, and at five shelves high that is about 225 linear feet of shelf. For records and archive storage the narrow width stops mattering entirely, because everything is at arm's reach from a single path.
Section 03
What Does Not Fit in a 5x20 Storage Unit
Sixty Inches Wide Is the Hard Limit
- Any car. No passenger vehicle is under five feet wide including mirrors, at any length.
- Sectional sofas and wide furniture that cannot be tipped or taken apart.
- Anything you need to walk around. There is no walking around in a five-foot width.
- Pallet operations. A pallet fits; a pallet jack has nowhere to turn.
- A two-bedroom household. The volume is there on paper, the shape is not. That is a 10x10.
- Anything longer than 20 feet, and in practice over about 18, because a long item needs room to angle through the door.
Vehicles and Prohibited Items
- Cars and larger vehicles. Motorcycles fit comfortably, subject to proof of current registration, proof of insurance, and being operable with no leaking fluids.
- Flammable, combustible or hazardous materials: gasoline, propane, paint, solvents, fireworks, ammunition. This catches out contractors and equipment owners more than anyone, so drain fuel before storing.
- Perishable goods, or anything that attracts pests.
- Living things, including plants and animals.
- Anything illegal or stolen.
- Occupied or operational use. A storage unit is not premises. No working from inside it, no customers, no utilities.
The Honest Case Against a 5x20
If you expect to open this unit regularly, do not rent one. Twenty feet of depth at five feet of width means the last thing in is the only thing you can reach, and the people who regret this size are the ones who chose it because the square footage looked like a bargain against a 10x10.
It is a genuinely good buy for long items and for load-once storage. It is a poor buy for anything else.
Our full storage FAQs cover prohibited items in detail, and your rental agreement is the controlling document. At this size, where a unit may hold an entire inventory or a vehicle, read the agreement rather than relying on a general guide, including this one.
Section 04
Who a 5x20 Storage Unit Is Right For
Anyone Storing Long Items
The clearest case. Lumber, ladders, pipe, rolled carpet, kayaks and long tables all want a twenty-foot run, and this is the cheapest way to get one.
Contractors and Trades on a Budget
Materials arrive in long lengths and tools live on shelving. A 5x20 holds both at a medium-band price, which for a small operation is often the difference between renting and making do.
Businesses Archiving Records
Around 400 file boxes on shelving down both walls, individually reachable from a single path, with 24/7 access. The narrow width is not a drawback when everything is on a shelf.
Motorcycle Owners
Two bikes nose to tail with room for gear, tools and spares on shelving above and around them.
Load-Once Household Storage
A bedroom or a studio going away for a fixed period, where you will not need anything until move-out. Deployment, a year abroad, a renovation with a firm end date.
Section 05
How to Know If You Should Size Up or Down
Decide on Access, Not Area
For most sizes capacity is the first question. For a 5x20 it is second. Ask how often you will open the unit.
- Once, at move-out: a 5x20 is efficient and well priced.
- A few times a year: workable if you plan the load order.
- Monthly or more: take the 10x10 instead and stop reading here.
A 5x20 Is Right If Any of These Are True
- Something you own is 15 to 18 feet long
- Everything will live on shelving along the walls
- You are loading once and unloading once
- You want a long run at a medium-band price
- A 5x15 was close but not quite enough
Choose Something Else If Any of These Are True
- You will visit the unit regularly, which wants a 10x10
- A vehicle is going in, which needs at least 8 feet of width
- You have wide furniture, which wants a 10x10 or larger
- You want to see everything at once
- The price gap to a 10x10 is small in your market, which it often is
Our storage size calculator builds a recommendation from an item-by-item inventory.
Section 06
How to Pack a 5x20 Storage Unit Efficiently
Packing a 5x20 is a sequencing problem rather than a spatial one. In a wider unit a mistake costs you room; here it costs you access to everything behind it.
-
Plan the Layout Before Anything Arrives
At this size an unplanned load wastes more space than most people rent in total. Decide where vehicles, racking, heavy equipment and boxes go before the first item comes off the truck, and tell whoever is helping.
-
Racking Beats Stacking, Decisively
Freestanding shelving or pallet racking along the walls turns floor area into usable volume and keeps everything individually reachable. Above about 300 square feet this is the single highest-return decision you will make.
-
Keep a Full-Length Aisle, and a Turning Space
Run a clear path from the door to the back wall, and leave enough room near the door to turn with a hand truck or pallet jack. Losing roughly a third of the floor to access is the correct trade on a unit you will visit.
-
Heaviest and Least Needed at the Back
Equipment, appliances and archive stock go furthest from the door. They are also the sturdiest platforms to stack against.
-
Build Upward to About 80 Inches
Uniform cartons reach roughly 80 percent volume efficiency against 55 percent for mismatched sizes. On a unit this large that difference is measured in hundreds of cubic feet.
-
Prepare Vehicles and Fuel-Powered Equipment First
Drain mowers, generators and power equipment, since fuel is not permitted inside. For a stored vehicle, clean it, inflate the tyres, and disconnect or tend the battery.
-
Long Items First, Down One Side, Path Down the Other
Ladders, lumber and rolled goods run the full length along one wall and must go in before the corridor narrows. Keep the other side as a walking path, which gives you roughly two feet of working width all the way to the back.
-
Photograph Each Zone and Keep the Map
On a rental this size, running for a year or more, a few phone photos taken the day you load will save hours later. Label cartons on the face that points at the aisle.
Our full storage tips guide goes further on protecting furniture and preparing equipment for storage.
Section 07
Climate-Controlled or Standard: Which 5x20 to Choose
We offer 5x20 space in both standard and climate-controlled configurations, though availability varies by location and climate control is less common at this size.
Standard Unit
Enclosed and secure, keeping weather and direct sun off everything inside. Interior temperature tracks the outside temperature, which across much of our footprint means well over 100 degrees in summer and below freezing in winter.
Fine for:
- Vehicles, trailers and towable equipment
- Tools, machinery and contractor materials
- Plastic totes, metal shelving and durable goods
- Lumber, fixtures and non-perishable stock
Climate-Controlled Unit
Temperature-regulated, holding an interior range year round. That protects against the extreme heat and hard freezes that warp wood, crack vinyl, degrade adhesives and damage electronics.
Worth it for:
- Electronics, screens and anything with a battery
- Wood furniture, cabinetry and millwork
- Business records, artwork and instruments
- Products with a temperature-sensitive shelf life
An Honest Limitation Worth Knowing About
Climate control at our facilities means temperature regulation. It does not mean moisture management, and we do not want anyone assuming otherwise on the strength of the name.
Temperature and moisture are two different threats. If you are storing something genuinely moisture-sensitive, such as documents, leather, upholstery, electronics or finished millwork, a temperature-regulated unit addresses one of those and not the other. Handle the second yourself: seal items in airtight containers rather than cardboard, add desiccant inside them, and keep everything off the concrete on pallets or risers. Those steps cost very little and do more for moisture-sensitive goods than any unit type will.
At this size, where a single tenant may be storing an entire inventory, that distinction is worth acting on rather than noting.
More detail is on the climate-controlled storage page.
Section 08
What a 5x20 Storage Unit Costs and How to Think About Value
What a 5x20 costs depends on your market, the specific facility, whether the unit is climate-controlled and what is available when you book. Rather than publish a range that goes stale, we point you at live pricing for the locations near you.
The Cost Logic That Does Not Change
- Larger units cost less per square foot, but the curve flattens at the top of the range. The saving from stepping up is real between small units and much smaller between large ones.
- Availability is the real constraint at this size. There are far fewer of these than there are 10x10s, and they do not come free often. If one is available where you need it, that matters more than a small price difference.
- Compare against commercial rent, not against other units. For a business, the useful comparison is the price per square foot of warehouse or flex space in your market, plus its lease term, deposit and build-out. This is usually not close.
- Two units can beat one. Check a 5x20 against two 5x15 units at the locations near you. One is simpler; two are sometimes cheaper and let you separate what you need from what you do not.
What Is Included, and One Thing We Cannot Do
Every rental includes a free lock, month-to-month terms with no long-term contract, and 24/7 gate access at nearly all locations. A protection plan is required at checkout at all of our facilities. Check first whether your existing business or homeowner policy already extends to goods stored off premises, and read your rental agreement for what the plan does and does not cover.
Our facilities are fully automated and unstaffed. You rent online, your gate code arrives by email and text, and you go straight to the unit. Because nobody is on site, we cannot accept deliveries on your behalf. That matters more at this size than any other, because businesses renting 5x20 space often assume inventory can be shipped straight to the unit. It cannot. If your operation depends on that, this is not the right fit, and it is better to know now. More on how our facilities work is on the why choose 10 Federal Storage page.
How Big Is a 5x20 Storage Unit?, Frequently Asked Questions
A 5x20 is 5 feet wide by 20 feet deep, for 100 square feet of floor. At the 8-foot minimum ceiling that is 800 cubic feet.
The same 100 square feet and nothing else. A 10x10 is a square room you can walk into and turn around in. A 5x20 is a five-foot-wide corridor with a back wall twenty feet away. The 5x20 usually costs less; the 10x10 is far easier to use.
About 195 medium cartons wall to wall, five layers high, with nothing else inside. Leave an access path down the length and the figure is 130 to 140. Alongside a bedroom of furniture, plan on 60 to 80.
No. No passenger car is under five feet wide including mirrors, whatever the length of the unit. Motorcycles fit comfortably, and two will sit nose to tail.
Yes, up to about 18 feet laid flat along the length. Leave margin for angling the boat through the door, and check the approach outside the unit as well as the opening.
Just under five feet, and in practice less because the roll-up door is narrower than the unit. Sectionals, wide workbenches and most large furniture will not go in.
Shelving along both 20-foot walls and the back gives 45 linear feet of run, and at five shelves high that is about 225 linear feet of shelf, holding roughly 400 letter-size file boxes with a path left down the middle.
Between 8 and 10 feet depending on the building. Figures on this page use the 8-foot minimum so they hold everywhere.
Only if you will not need anything until move-out. The volume is comparable to a 10x10, but retrieving a single item from a twenty-foot corridor means unloading what is in front of it.
It depends what is going in. Choose temperature regulation for documents, electronics, wood and instruments. A standard unit is fine for lumber, tools and outdoor gear. Our climate-controlled units regulate temperature only, so seal moisture-sensitive items either way.
Reserve a 5x20 Storage Unit Near You
A 5x20 is the cheapest twenty-foot run we rent, and it sits in the medium size band rather than the large one. It is excellent for long items and load-once storage, and poor for anything you will need to reach into. If you will visit the unit, take the 10x10 instead.
