Plain-English guides to warehousing in the United States
MyWarehouseInUSA is an independent editorial site that explains how warehousing works in the United States, written for businesses entering the US market from abroad and for domestic companies starting a search. Our guides cover choosing between a 3PL and your own lease, importer-of-record and customs requirements, bonded warehouses and foreign-trade zones, state inventory taxes, and the real cost of occupying space. We are not a broker or a listings site: every figure we publish is cited to its source, using primary sources such as CBP, the IRS and state revenue departments wherever possible.
Start here: how to hold US inventory
How to Start Your Warehouse Search in the US
A step-by-step framework for going from 'we need US warehouse space' to a shortlist of real buildings — in the right order, without wasting months.
Read →3PL vs Own Warehouse: When to Lease vs Use a 3PL (Cost Comparison)
Should you use a 3PL or rent your own warehouse? Compare 3PL vs leasing costs, volume break-even, US credit history considerations, and when to switch from 3PL to your own space.
Read →Co-warehousing: Private Warehouse Suites on a Membership, Not a Long-Term Lease
Co-warehousing is a lockable suite inside a shared warehouse with shared docks and equipment — at operators such as Saltbox, on a month-to-month membership rather than a lease. Compared with on-demand, 3PL, and small-bay leases.
Read →Warehousing for E-Commerce in the US
How e-commerce sellers choose where and how to hold US inventory: 3PL vs. own warehouse vs. FBA, sales tax nexus after Wayfair, inventory tax, and importer-of-record basics for foreign sellers.
Read →Where to Find Warehouse Space for Lease in the US
LoopNet, tenant rep brokers, institutional landlords' sites, and the channels where US warehouse space actually appears — what each one shows and what it leaves out.
Read →How to Read a Warehouse Spec Sheet: Clear Height, Dock Doors, Slab
What every line on a US industrial warehouse spec means: clear height, dock-high doors, truck court depth, slab thickness, ESFR sprinklers, and which numbers make a building unusable.
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Entering the US: entity, customs and import
Do You Need a US Entity to Lease a Warehouse?
Entity formation, EIN, banking, beneficial-ownership reporting, and the security a landlord demands from a tenant with no US credit history.
Read →Importer of Record: Importer Number, Customs Bond, Nonresident Rules, ISF
Who can be the US importer of record, how the importer number is established with CBP Form 5106, what a nonresident corporation needs under 19 CFR 141.18 (resident agent and bond), the ISF deadline for ocean cargo, and how it shapes warehouse location.
Read →How to Get an Importer of Record Number
What an importer of record number is, how to obtain one via CBP Form 5106, IRS EIN vs. CBP-assigned number, and requirements for foreign entities.
Read →What Is a Bonded Warehouse?
Store imported goods for up to five years without paying duty — and how a customs bonded warehouse differs from a foreign-trade zone, point by point.
Read →Foreign-Trade Zones Explained
What a foreign-trade zone defers, eliminates, and inverts, what it costs to run, and the importer profile it genuinely pays off for.
Read →Foreign-Trade Zone vs. Bonded Warehouse: The Comparison
A point-by-point comparison of FTZs and bonded warehouses: duty timing, time limits, manufacturing, costs, setup, and when each structure pays off.
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Costs and sizing
True Cost of Warehouse Space: What's Included Beyond Rent Per SF
Warehouse rent is only the start. Full cost includes NNN charges, annual escalations, build-out, restoration at lease end, and all operating costs. How to compare cost per pallet position, not per square foot.
Read →How Much Does It Cost to Open a US Warehouse?
Every cost between a signed lease and your first shipment — deposit, racking, forklifts, WMS, permits, insurance — with sourced ranges and a calculator.
Read →How Much Warehouse Space Do I Need? Calculator + Space Requirements
Calculate warehouse space requirements from pallet positions: storage, staging area per dock door, circulation, office, and growth. Warehouse square footage calculator included.
Read →Negotiate a Warehouse Lease: LOI Terms, HVAC Caps, Expansion Rights
The letter of intent settles the deal, not the lease. What to negotiate in the LOI: base rent escalations, NNN caps, HVAC responsibility, free rent, expansion rights, and the restoration clause that creates an end-of-term liability.
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Taxes, states and locations
What Is Inventory Tax? Which States Tax Business Inventory
How inventory tax works: 9 states fully tax business inventory (Texas, Louisiana, more), 5 partially. Assessment dates, and how freeport exemptions and foreign-trade zones can remove it where available.
Read →Comparing States for Warehousing: Inventory Tax, Right-to-Work, Corporate Tax
There is no single best state for warehousing. Compare inventory tax, right-to-work laws, corporate income and gross receipts taxes, freeport exemptions, and labor considerations across major warehouse states.
Read →US Container Ports and Inland Distribution: Where to Warehouse
Top 5 US container ports (LA, Long Beach, NY/NJ, Savannah, Houston), the inland corridors from each port, and whether to warehouse near the port or inland for your operation.
Read →Warehouse Zoning in the US
A building can be the right size, rent and spec and still be illegal for your operation. What to verify with the city or county before you sign.
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Compliance and operations
Insurance a US Landlord Will Require
The coverages a standard US industrial lease names, the additional-insured and subrogation clauses behind them, and where foreign tenants get caught.
Read →Warehouse Security Standards: Physical Baseline, CTPAT, TAPA FSR
The physical security baseline a US warehouse needs — perimeter, access control, CCTV, alarms — plus what CBP's voluntary CTPAT program and the TAPA FSR standard each involve, and who actually needs them.
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More guides
Tools
Pallet positions
Estimate how many pallet positions a warehouse holds from clear height, square footage, and rack type, for selective, narrow-aisle, double-deep, push-back, drive-in, and floor-stack layouts. Planning estimates, not engineered layouts.
Calculate→3PL vs. lease
Calculate whether a 3PL or your own warehouse lease costs less. Compare full annual costs including rent, NNN, labor, equipment, WMS, and find the volume where leasing wins.
Calculate→Inventory tax
Find out whether your state taxes business inventory, what the freeport and foreign-trade zone exemptions cover, and roughly what you would owe.
Use tool→Space matcher
Six questions to rank co-warehousing, on-demand capacity, 3PL, small-bay and a full lease against your volume, horizon and US credit position.
Use tool→Dock doors
How many dock doors your throughput actually needs, checked against what a building of that size and type conventionally provides.
Use tool→Opening cost
Total the real cost of opening a US warehouse — deposit, rent before revenue, racking, forklifts, WMS, permits and insurance — line by line.
Use tool→Warehouse size
Turn pallet positions into a real square-footage requirement — storage plus staging, packing, circulation, office and growth reserve.
Use tool→All Tools
Browse all calculators and planning tools.
View all →
Reference
Glossary
Key US warehousing and customs terms with primary sources cited: ISF, CBP bonds, entry types, NNN leases, ESFR sprinklers.
Browse definitions →State Profiles
Inventory tax treatment, assessment dates, freeport exemptions, and filing requirements for selected states, with primary sources cited.
Browse states →Port Profiles
CBP ports of entry, foreign-trade zones, bonded warehouse context, and container volumes for US maritime gateways.
Browse ports →
How we work
Written for market entrants
Assumes no prior knowledge of US leasing, entity requirements, or how the market is structured.
Guidance, not listings
No brokers bidding for your attention. The goal is that you understand the decision before anyone quotes you a price.
Sourced, not guessed
Figures, tax rules, and legal requirements are cited or left out. Nothing here is approximated to fill a page.