Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Breakeven economic occupancy
116.1%
100% occupancy revenue (gross)
$440,000
Fixed cost + debt service
$470,000
Cushion at 85% occupancy
-$125,920
Psst — share this and help Rex grow
One click, a permanent link with your numbers baked in.
How to use this
- 1Enter net rentable square feet.
- 2Enter average rent per sq ft/yr ($).
- 3Enter variable cost % of rent (marketing, fees, bad debt) (%).
- 4Enter annual fixed operating costs ($).
- 5Enter annual debt service ($).
- 6Read your breakeven economic occupancy on the right — it updates as you type.
- 7Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Before you buy or build a storage facility, you need to know the occupancy floor below which you lose money. This calculator takes fixed operating costs (property tax, insurance, base payroll, utilities) plus annual debt service, and divides by the revenue a fully occupied facility would generate at your target rate, net of variable costs tied to occupied units (marketing per lease, credit card fees, bad debt). The result is the breakeven economic occupancy — the point where effective gross income equals total fixed cost plus debt service. Compare that to realistic stabilized occupancy for the submarket to judge margin of safety; a breakeven above 75% leaves little room for a downturn or new competing supply.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Net rentable square feet: 40000
- Average rent per sq ft/yr: 11 $
- Variable cost % of rent (marketing, fees, bad debt): 8 %
- Annual fixed operating costs: 210000 $
- Annual debt service: 260000 $
Results
- Breakeven economic occupancy: 116.1%
- 100% occupancy revenue (gross): $440,000
- Fixed cost + debt service: $470,000
- Cushion at 85% occupancy: -$125,920
What each field means
Inputs
- Net rentable square feet
- The net rentable square feet used in the calculation. Starts at 40000 so you have a working example on load.
- Average rent per sq ft/yr ($)
- The average rent per sq ft/yr used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 11 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Variable cost % of rent (marketing, fees, bad debt) (%)
- The variable cost % of rent (marketing, fees, bad debt) used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 8 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–30 %.
- Annual fixed operating costs ($)
- The annual fixed operating costs used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 210000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Annual debt service ($)
- The annual debt service used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 260000 $ so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Breakeven economic occupancy
- Returned as a percentage and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- 100% occupancy revenue (gross)
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Fixed cost + debt service
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Cushion at 85% occupancy
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
What breakeven occupancy is considered safe?
Most lenders and experienced operators want breakeven at or below 65-70% economic occupancy, leaving at least a 15-20 point cushion versus a realistic 85% stabilized target. Anything above 75% breakeven means a soft market or a rate war from new supply can push you into negative cash flow fast.
Why does debt service dominate the breakeven number?
On a leveraged acquisition, debt service is often 50-60% of total fixed obligations, larger than operating expenses. This is why cash-on-cash return is so sensitive to interest rate and loan-to-value assumptions in self-storage underwriting — a 100 basis point rate move can shift breakeven occupancy by several points.
How do lease-up facilities handle a high early breakeven?
New facilities usually run below breakeven for the first 12-24 months during lease-up and rely on an interest reserve or sponsor cash to cover the gap. The feasibility study should show occupancy crossing breakeven within a defined timeline, not just at ultimate stabilization.
Does adding ancillary revenue lower the breakeven point?
Yes, incrementally. Tenant insurance commissions and retail sales are close to pure margin once rent revenue is included in this model as the rate figure, but they rarely move breakeven more than 2-4 percentage points because they're a small share of total revenue at most facilities.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Related tools
Self-Storage Facility Revenue Calculator
Model gross potential rent, economic occupancy, and net operating income for a storage property.
Self-Storage Unit Mix Revenue Calculator
Compare revenue across small, medium, and large unit allocations for the same building footprint.
Self-Storage Rent Per Square Foot Calculator
Convert a monthly unit price into an annualized rate per square foot to compare units and competitors fairly.
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Self-Storage Occupancy Breakeven Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/self-storage-occupancy-breakeven
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/self-storage-occupancy-breakeven" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Self-Storage Occupancy Breakeven Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Self-Storage Occupancy Breakeven Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/self-storage-occupancy-breakeven) (2026).