Southern states continued to net the largest numbers of one-way U-Haul customers last year. Booting Texas out of its three-year No. 1 spot, South Carolina climbed three rankings to top the U-Haul Growth Index in 2024.
Based on one-way moves last year, South Carolina had the largest net gain of U-Haul customers with Texas, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee rounding out the top five. The growth rankings are configured by each state’s net gain (or loss) of customers utilizing one-way U-Haul equipment in a calendar year.
“State-to-state transactions from the past year reaffirm customer tendencies that have been pronounced for some time,” says John “J.T.” Taylor, U-Haul International president.
“Migration to the Southeast and Southwest continues as families gauge their cost of living, job opportunities, quality of life, and other factors that go into relocating to a new state. Out-migration remains prevalent for a number of markets across the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast — and particularly California.”
California experienced the greatest net loss and ranked 50th for the fifth straight year.
Of all the U-Haul movers coming and going from South Carolina in 2024, more than 51.7% were arrivals. Since 2016, Texas has ranked first or second among U-Haul Growth States each year and Florida has been fourth or higher every year since 2015.
At No. 47, New York has its lowest growth ranking in a decade. For 2024, Oklahoma (+30), Indiana (+19), and Maine (+18) made the largest climbs year-over-year while Colorado (-31), Nevada (-24), Wyoming (-22), and New Mexico (-21) saw the biggest drops.
The top 20 U-Haul Growth States includes:
- South Carolina
- Texas
- North Carolina
- Florida
- Tennessee
- Arizona
- Washington
- Indiana
- Utah
- Idaho
- Oklahoma
- Arkansas
- Maine
- Ohio
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Virginia
- Minnesota
- South Dakota
- Vermont
While South Carolina bumped Texas from the No. 1 Growth State spot, U-Haul zoomed in for the first time to find the largest net gains of U-Haul customers taking one-way equipment into and out of metro areas last year.
The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro, known as the DFW metroplex, took the leading U-Haul Growth Metro of 2024, U-Haul reports. Charlotte, Phoenix, Lakeland, and Austin completed the top five U.S. growth metros.
“We are seeing unprecedented growth in the Dallas metro area, both within the city and also suburbs like McKinney, Plano and Addison,” says Sean Fullerton, U-Haul Company of South Central Dallas president. “The cost of living is also extremely reasonable throughout the whole metro. Job growth has led to wages and earnings going up, and tax breaks have led to a lot of people moving to the area.”
Florida claimed seven of the top 25 growth metros. Texas had five metros make the top 25. North Carolina had three, all in the top 14.
The top 20 U-Haul Growth Metros includes:
- Dallas, Texas
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Lakeland, Florida
- Austin, Texas
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Palm Bay, Florida
- Houston, Texas
- Greenville, South Carolina
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Tampa, Florida
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Wilmington, North Carolina
- Sarasota, Florida
- Fort Myers, Florida
- Boise, Idaho
- Richmond, Virginia
- Bend, Oregon
- Indianapolis, Indiana
