How to Read the USDA Capacity of Refrigerated Warehouses Report — Gross vs Usable Space, Public vs Private

As of 5 November 2026, 01:30 KST (retrieved by this page at that time); most recently published report: Capacity of Refrigerated Warehouses 2025 Summary from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), dated February 2026 and listed for February 9, 2026 on the NASS 2026 release-date list, with capacity as of October 1, 2025. The survey is biennial, and the cited pages give no date for the next report. Primary source: https://esmis.nal.usda.gov/sites/default/release-files/795764/rfwh0126.txt^[1][2][3]

Comparison basis: capacities are in thousands of cubic feet as published, and the report notes that totals may not add because of rounding; the text rounds them to billions of cubic feet and whole percents. Calculated percentages are this page's, rounded half up to one decimal. Gross space is the whole area under refrigeration, wall to wall and floor to ceiling; usable space is gross space less an allowance for aisles, posts, coils and blowers.^[1]

In three lines

1. Every two years NASS counts the U.S. refrigerated warehouses it knows of that meet its survey conditions (minimum figures, in NASS's words) and their storage space, split into public and private warehouses and into cooler and freezer space.
2. On October 1, 2025, gross refrigerated capacity was 3.99 billion cubic feet, 7.9% more than in 2023 in this page's calculation.
3. Usable capacity was 3.25 billion cubic feet, 82 percent of gross space, and 79 percent of usable space was freezer space.^[1]

What is counted. "This biennial full-text report presents data on the number of refrigerated warehouses by type and size group for states and US." "This was the 54th biennial survey of refrigerated warehouses." Questionnaires went out around September 25, 2025; nine hundred firms qualified, with warehouses cooled to 50 degrees Fahrenheit or lower that normally store food for 30 days or more and store one of the commodities in the monthly Cold Storage report. "The numbers published should be considered minimum figures as there are cold storage firms that are not known to NASS." "Storages at different locations are counted separately even though operated by the same management." "Working space, chill rooms, and curing rooms in meat storages are not included in the storage statistics."^[1][2]

Coverage and reliability. "Usable reports were received from about 374 firms, which represent about 38 percent of the total capacity tabulated." Estimates for firms that did not report were set from previous reports or administrative data. "The numbers published should be considered minimum figures as there are cold storage firms that are not known to NASS." The report describes a mail survey of known warehouses, not a sample, and prints no sampling error.^[1]

Revisions. The report states: "These data are considered final and will not be revised."^[1]

Public vs private. Public refrigerated storages hold food for others at set rates; private and semi-private storages are kept by food producers, processors or manufacturers mainly for their own products, although some space may be used by others. Cooler space is kept between 0 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit, freezer space at 0 degrees or lower.^[1]

Public vs private over time. Public gross capacity fell from 2,834,824 thousand cubic feet in 2017 to 2,456,683 thousand in 2025 (-13.3%), while private and semi-private capacity roughly doubled, from 767,331 to 1,531,046 thousand (+99.5%), this page's calculations. The public share of gross capacity was 78.7% in 2017 and 61.6% in 2025. The report does not explain the shift.^[1]

Gross vs usable. Usable space was 3,251,415 thousand cubic feet against gross space of 3,987,732 thousand, 81.5% in this page's calculation (82 percent in the text). Cooler and freezer space are each reported both ways, so comparisons should use the same measure.^[1]

Parts vs totals. Public (2,456,683) and private and semi-private (1,531,046) gross capacity add to 3,987,729 thousand cubic feet in this page's sum, against the published 3,987,732. The published components sum to 3 thousand cubic feet less than the published total; the report carries a rounding note on totals, but the specific cause of this difference is not established.^[1]

Reported vs estimated. Firms sending usable reports held about 38 percent of the capacity tabulated; the remaining capacity includes estimates for non-reporting firms based on earlier reports or administrative data, and NASS calls the published numbers minimum figures. This report does not establish whether or how much this affected the change from 2023.^[1]

Count vs size. Of 931 warehouses, 275 had 5,000,000 cubic feet or more (29.5%, this page's calculation) and 146 had less than 500,000; 188 of the largest group were public warehouses.^[1]