According to recent data, thousands of people decided last year they didn’t like where they were living, as several states in the south became hot spots for those moving across state lines.
The data comes from U-Haul’s Growth Index report, which calculates the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a state or city and compares it to U-Haul trucks departing that state or city. This means if you moved from Michigan to Florida, Michigan would have a net loss, while Florida would have a net gain.
According to the rental transportation company, there are more than 2 million one-way U-Haul truck transactions each year within the U.S. and Canada.
Among the top destinations for those moving to a new state were Texas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Texas has long been a popular destination for those looking to move, as U-Haul noted it was the top spot for the sixth time in eight years and the second straight.
U-Haul says that rentals arriving in Texas accounted for over 50% of all one-way U-Haul traffic in and out of the Lone Star State.
Since 2022, Census data shows that Texas’ population has increased more than any other state. In 2022 alone, the state had a net gain of about 174,000 new residents.
Among the states to see the least amount of one-way U-Hauls were California, Massachusetts, Illinois, New Jersey, and Michigan, in descending order.
The data showed that California saw the largest net loss of one-way movers, also following along with Census data.
John Taylor, U-Haul International’s president, shared in a statement that since the pandemic, trends have remained all but the same.
“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,” Taylor said.