U-Haul ranks Texas and Florida as the top two preferred destinations for Americans who are resettling.
Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and Virginia were the preferred destinations of one-way U-Haul truck customers in 2022, ranking as the top growth states on the annual U-Haul Growth Index.
Texas was the No. 1 growth state for the second consecutive year and the fifth time since 2016. Florida, which ranks second, has been a top-three growth state for seven consecutive years.
South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio and Idaho rounded out the top 10 growth states.
U-Haul transactional data confirms that migration to the Southeast and Southwest U.S. — trends that were amplified and accelerated during the pandemic — continued through last year, although overall do-it-yourself moves slowed slightly in most states from the record-breaking number of moves in 2021.
Demand for equipment out of California, Illinois and New York remained strong in 2022, as more people opted to leave areas of the West Coast, Northeast and Midwest.
California and Illinois ranked 50th and 49th, respectively, for the third consecutive year, meaning those states saw the greatest net losses of one-way U-Haul trucks. New York ranked 46th; Massachusetts, 47th; and Michigan, 48th. Arkansas ranked 43rd; Oklahoma, 42nd.
U-Haul compiles an index based on the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a state or city, versus departing from that state or city, in a calendar year. Migration trends data is compiled from more than two million one-way U-Haul truck transactions that occur annually across the U.S. and Canada.
“The 2022 trends in migration followed very similar patterns to 2021, with Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and the Southwest continuing to see solid growth,” said John “J.T.” Taylor, U-Haul International president. “While overall migration in 2021 was record-breaking, we continue to experience significant customer demand to move out of some geographic areas to destinations at the top of our growth list.”