When inventory outgrows its current warehouse or you need to reach customers in another region, industrial vacancy becomes a planning question. The answer depends on location, building requirements, the reporting period, and the inventory each research firm tracks. If you are evaluating our warehousing and fulfillment services, use the figures below as market context, then work through storage requirements, inbound timing, and fulfillment needs with us directly.
We compiled this report from five quarterly reports by three research firms, using information available as of October 28, 2026. All three firms have now published Q3 2026 figures: Cushman & Wakefield and JLL each report U.S. industrial vacancy of 6.8%, and CBRE reports 6.4%. The report is our own compilation and analysis of published third-party research.
A few notes apply throughout. Each publisher uses its own methodology and tracked inventory, so we report their figures side by side without averaging them. The historical, regional, and local tables all come from Cushman & Wakefield’s Q3 2026 edition, which defines overall vacancy as unoccupied new, relet, and sublet space as a percentage of total inventory. Its Q3 2026 figures are preliminary, and its historical values are subject to revision. Five quarters show recent direction; a long-term trend needs a longer series. Vacancy measures unoccupied industrial property, so a fulfillment provider’s capacity, staffing, and pricing are separate questions.
Reported U.S. Industrial Vacancy Rates: Q3 2026
All three publishers put U.S. industrial vacancy between 6.4% and 6.8% for Q3 2026, and each reports a lower rate than a year earlier.
The U.S. Industrial Vacancy Rate: 2026
| Research publisher | Geography | Reporting period | Reported vacancy rate | Change from Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cushman & Wakefield | United States | Q3 2026 | 6.8%* | −20 bps |
| JLL | United States | Q3 2026 | 6.8% | −80 bps |
| CBRE | United States | Q3 2026 | 6.4% | −20 bps |
Sources: Cushman & Wakefield, Q3 2026; JLL, Q3 2026; CBRE, Q3 2026. *Preliminary. Each publisher uses its own methodology and tracked inventory; rates are not averaged.
Differences in tracked inventory and definitions can produce gaps like the 40 basis points between CBRE’s estimate and the other two, and the wider year-over-year decline JLL reports. That is why each figure stays with its publisher.
If you are deciding between leasing your own space and using a fulfillment partner, the vacancy rate answers the property question. The operating question depends on your SKU count, order mix, packaging requirements, and expected peak volumes, which is what we look at when you evaluate our ecommerce fulfillment.
Five-Quarter U.S. Industrial Vacancy Snapshot: Q3 2025–Q3 2026
Cushman & Wakefield’s Q3 2026 table shows vacancy easing from 7.0% in late 2025 to 6.8% in Q2 2026 and holding there in Q3. The firm puts its recent peak at 7% in late 2025 and the current rate at its lowest point since year-end 2024.
Five-Quarter U.S. Industrial Vacancy Snapshot: Q3 2025–Q3 2026
| Reporting period | Geography | Industrial vacancy rate |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | United States | 7.0% |
| Q4 2025 | United States | 7.0% |
| Q1 2026 | United States | 6.9% |
| Q2 2026 | United States | 6.8% |
| Q3 2026 | United States | 6.8%* |
Source: Cushman & Wakefield, Q3 2026 historical vacancy table. *Preliminary; historical values subject to revision.
Historical-series note: Earlier releases show different figures for the same quarters. Cushman & Wakefield’s Q1 2026 report listed Q1 at 7.0%, and its Q2 report listed Q1 at 7.0% and Q2 at 6.9%. The Q3 edition lists those quarters at 6.9% and 6.8%. We use the Q3 edition throughout for consistency.
Regional Industrial Vacancy Rates: Q3 2026
Within Cushman & Wakefield’s four-region framework, vacancy ranged from 4.4% in the Midwest to 7.7% in the South in Q3 2026. Asking rents follow a different order, from $6.99 per square foot in the Midwest to $13.44 in the Northeast.
The Regional Industrial Vacancy Rate: 2026
| U.S. region | Reporting period | Industrial vacancy rate* | Asking rent ($/sq. ft., NNN)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midwest | Q3 2026 | 4.4% | $6.99 |
| Northeast | Q3 2026 | 7.5% | $13.44 |
| West | Q3 2026 | 7.5% | $13.06 |
| South | Q3 2026 | 7.7% | $8.88 |
Source: Cushman & Wakefield, Q3 2026. *Preliminary. Regions follow Cushman & Wakefield’s classifications. Asking rents are NNN averages weighted by available space.
If you are adding a warehouse market, use the regional view to frame your next questions: where your customers are, how inventory will arrive, and what storage and order-processing work your provider has to handle. Bring your inbound schedule, inventory profile, and shipping requirements, and we will confirm facility availability and service pricing directly.
Local Industrial Vacancy Rates: Greensboro/Winston-Salem and the Inland Empire, Q3 2026
Cushman & Wakefield’s Q3 2026 market tables put vacancy at 5.5% in Greensboro/Winston-Salem and 8.0% in the Inland Empire, on either side of the 6.8% national rate. The two percentages sit on very different bases. Greensboro/Winston-Salem tracks about 256 million square feet of industrial space. The Inland Empire tracks about 656 million, the fifth-largest inventory in Cushman & Wakefield’s market table after Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Applied to those inventories, the rates work out to roughly 52 million vacant square feet in the Inland Empire and roughly 14 million in the Triad.
Asking rent shows the difference more clearly. Inland Empire space asks $12.17 per square foot, compared with $6.37 in Greensboro/Winston-Salem and $10.40 nationally, so Triad rents run a little over half the Inland Empire rate.
The Local Industrial Vacancy Rate: 2026
| Market | Industrial vacancy rate* | Tracked inventory | Estimated vacant space | Asking rent ($/sq. ft., NNN)* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC | 5.5% | 255.9 million sq. ft. | 14.1 million sq. ft. | $6.37 |
| Inland Empire, CA | 8.0% | 655.5 million sq. ft. | 52.4 million sq. ft. | $12.17 |
| United States | 6.8% | 18.3 billion sq. ft. | 1.2 billion sq. ft. | $10.40 |
Source: Cushman & Wakefield, Q3 2026. *Preliminary. Estimated vacant space is our calculation (vacancy rate × tracked inventory). Markets follow Cushman & Wakefield’s definitions.
The two markets moved differently over the same five quarters. Greensboro/Winston-Salem stayed between 5.4% and 5.8% while its asking rent rose from $6.17 to $6.37. Inland Empire vacancy rose from 7.4% in Q3 2025 to 8.5% in Q2 2026, then eased to 8.0% in Q3 on about 3.9 million square feet of net absorption, as its asking rent moved from $13.50 to $12.17.
Five-Quarter Local Industrial Vacancy Snapshot: Q3 2025–Q3 2026
| Reporting period | Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC | Inland Empire, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | 5.8% | 7.4% |
| Q4 2025 | 5.6% | 7.9% |
| Q1 2026 | 5.7% | 8.2% |
| Q2 2026 | 5.4% | 8.5% |
| Q3 2026 | 5.5%* | 8.0%* |
Source: Cushman & Wakefield, Q3 2026 market vacancy table. *Preliminary; historical values subject to revision.
Our View From Both Markets
We lease space in both markets. We moved into Kernersville because we outgrew our first North Carolina building, and the Triad gave us a strong deal at asking rents about half of Southern California’s. Southern California is the harder market for an operator. Together with Los Angeles (788 million square feet) and Orange County (252 million), the Inland Empire forms a region of roughly 1.7 billion square feet, about 9% of all industrial inventory Cushman & Wakefield tracks nationally, and in our experience institutional landlords hold most of the big-box supply. The Inland Empire’s 8.0% vacancy alone equals more space than the entire tracked inventory of markets such as New Haven or Syracuse.
What the vacancy rate cannot show is how cargo moves. The Port of Los Angeles handled a monthly record of 1,042,652 TEUs in September 2026, with loaded imports up 19% year over year and nearly 8.1 million TEUs through nine months. About two-thirds of the port’s cargo moves by truck to local markets and Inland Empire warehouses, according to port executive director Gene Seroka on a TD Cowen call reported by Railway Age, and about 26% of all port cargo moves on the port’s on-dock rail network. On-highway diesel averaged $6.276 a gallon nationally and $8.242 in California the week of October 19, 2026, after a 2026 high of $6.529 nationally the week of September 21 and against $3.620 a year earlier, the week of October 20, 2025. That truck-and-rail balance is the number we are watching.
If your freight comes in through the Los Angeles ports, transloading moves it from ocean containers to the next transport mode.
If you are comparing a Triad location with Southern California, talk to our team about your operation.
Sources
1. Warehouse Republic. Industrial Vacancy Rate: October 2026. U.S. industrial vacancy research compilation, October 28, 2026. Original compilation and analysis of the third-party reports below.
2. Cushman & Wakefield. U.S. Industrial MarketBeat, Q3 2026. Reporting period: Q3 2026, with historical data from Q3 2025. Accessed October 28, 2026. Used for national, regional, and local vacancy, inventory, and asking rent. https://assets.cushmanwakefield.com/-/media/cw/marketbeat-pdfs/2026/q3/us-reports/national/q32026usindustrialmarketbeat.pdf?rev=112a2b40c59940c98a21b71509262856
3. JLL. U.S. Industrial Market Dynamics, Q3 2026. Published October 20, 2026. Reporting period: Q3 2026. Accessed October 28, 2026. https://www.jll.com/en-us/insights/market-dynamics/industrial-market-statistics-trends
4. CBRE. Q3 2026 U.S. Industrial & Logistics Market Report. Published October 23, 2026. Reporting period: Q3 2026. Accessed October 28, 2026. https://www.cbre.com/insights/figures/q3-2026-us-industrial-and-logistics-market-report
5. Cushman & Wakefield. U.S. Industrial MarketBeat, Q2 2026. Reporting period: Q2 2026. Accessed October 19, 2026. Used to check earlier-release figures. https://assets.cushmanwakefield.com/-/media/cw/marketbeat-pdfs/2026/q2/us-reports/national/q22026usindustrialmarketbeat.pdf?rev=4556f30a33af45589791e0556df58c1a
6. Cushman & Wakefield. U.S. Industrial MarketBeat, Q1 2026. Reporting period: Q1 2026. Accessed October 19, 2026. Used to check the originally reported Q1 figure. https://assets.cushmanwakefield.com/-/media/cw/marketbeat-pdfs/2026/q1/us-reports/national/q12026usindustrialmarketbeat.pdf?rev=fbe74cd9636e4cd18e5a2b4c1e3dbe74
7. Railway Age. “For Port of LA, Another ‘Record-Setting’ Month.” October 2026. Used for September 2026 and year-to-date TEU volumes. https://www.railwayage.com/intermodal/for-port-of-la-another-record-setting-month/
8. Container News. “Port of Los Angeles Sets Monthly Cargo Record.” October 2026. Used for September 2026 loaded imports. https://container-news.com/port-of-los-angeles-sets-monthly-cargo-record/
9. Port of Los Angeles. Rail. Accessed October 28, 2026. Used for the on-dock rail share. https://portoflosangeles.org/business/supply-chain/rail
10. Railway Age. “State of the Ports; Lackluster Outlook; Transcon Merger Perspective.” TD Cowen call with Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka, 2026. https://www.railwayage.com/intermodal/state-of-the-ports-lackluster-outlook-transcon-merger-perspective/
11. U.S. Energy Information Administration. Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update and weekly on-highway diesel price series. Accessed October 28, 2026. https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/