TEXAS, USA — The Lone Star State once again remained the top destination for one-way moves in 2022, according to U-Haul data.
This is the second year in a row Texas has topped the list and the fifth year it has claimed the No. 1 spot since 2016.
It's all according to the U-Haul Growth Index, which is compiled according to the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a state or city, versus those departing that state or city, in a calendar year. According to the release, the data is put together from more than 2 million one-way U-Haul truck transactions across the U.S. and Canada.
People arriving in Texas in one-way U-Hauls increased more than 1% from 2021, while departures also rose by about 1%, according to the moving company.
U-Haul reported that "do-it-yourself" movers arriving in the state accounted for nearly 50.3% of all one-way U-Haul traffic in and out of Texas, keeping the state as the one leading in growth.
The moving company reported that leading growth cities included Missouri City, Richardson and Conroe.
Texas was also the top growth state from 2016-2018 and again in 2021. It ranked second to Florida in 2019 and second to Tennessee in 2020.
In 2022, Florida claimed the No. 2 spot and has been a top-three growth state seven years in a row, per the release. South Carolina and North Carolina claimed the third and fourth spots, respectively.
"The 2022 trends in migration followed very similar patterns to 2021 with Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and the Southwest continuing to see solid growth," John Taylor, U-Haul International president, said in a release. "We still have areas with strong demand for one-way rentals. 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."
New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois and California were the bottom five states for growth in 2022.
The moving company added that U-Haul migration trends don't necessarily correlate directly to population or economic growth, but that it remains an effective gauge of how states and cities attract and maintain residents.
Read the full report here.