ILLINOIS (KTVI/NEXSTAR) — Thousands of people have moved across state lines in recent years, and 2023 was no exception, according to new data from equipment rental company U-Haul.
Each year, U-Haul releases its Growth Index report for the previous year. The company calculates the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a state or city against the net gain of U-Haul trucks departing that state or city for a specific calendar year. So, for example, if you moved from California to Texas with a U-Haul, it would count as a loss for California and a gain for Texas.
U-Haul says there are more than 2 million one-way U-Haul truck transactions each year within the United States and Canada.
According to U-Haul, movers preferred destinations in the southeast and southwest regions of the United States in 2023. Texas was deemed U-Haul’s most popular state for migration for the second straight year, and sixth time in eight years.
U.S. Census data released last year shows Texas’ population has increased more than any other state since 2022, Nexstar’s KXAN reports. Over 668,000 people moved to Texas from another state in 2022 — while offset by about 494,000 people leaving the state, Texas had a net gain of about 174,000 new residents.
U-Haul reports that equipment rentals arriving in Texas accounted for over 50% of all one-way U-Haul traffic in and out of the Lone Star State, fueling its growth.
These states saw the largest influx of movers in 2023, according to U-Haul.
- Texas
- Florida
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
At the bottom of the list was California, landing in the same spot as it did in 2022. According to U-Haul, the state saw the largest net loss of one-way movers. Like Texas, U-Haul’s ranking of the Golden State seems to align with Census data. More than 817,000 people left California in 2022 compared to the roughly 475,000 that moved into the state during the same time (Californians and Texans looking to relocate most often made the other state their new home).
Others at the bottom of the list, like Illinois, also saw population decreases, according to Census data.
These five states had the smallest influx of one-way U-Haul rentals, according to the company’s list:
- California
- Massachusetts
- Illinois
- New Jersey
- Michigan
Overall, U-Haul saw the largest increases in one-way rentals into Arkansas, Wyoming, Vermont, Washington, Delaware, and South Dakota. The states that saw the largest drops were Oregon, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, and Indiana.
“While one-way transactions in 2023 remained below the record-breaking levels we witnessed immediately following the pandemic, we continued to see many of the same geographical trends from U-Haul customers moving between states,” said John “J.T.” Taylor, U-Haul International president, via a news release.
U-Haul notes that its report doesn’t “correlate directly to population or economic growth.” It can, however, offer insights into where movers are moving.
