Americans flock to Southern states in 2024, according to U-Haul's Growth Index, with South Carolina It tops the list of moving destinations for the first time.
Arrivals account for 51.7% of all one-way U-Haul traffic in and out of state, according to Report Published Thursday.
Texas, which was the No. 1 state for U-Haul growth for three years in a row, fell to second place last year. North Carolina ranked third.
“The Carolinas are a great place to live,” said Jason Hardin, U-Haul's vice president for the Carolinas and Georgia. “We have Southern charm. We have a lot of history here. We have beaches. We have mountains. We have a low cost of living.”
Coastal living without the high prices found in other states, coupled with warm weather and Southern charm, can motivate people to move to the Carolinas, said Jason Hardin, U-Haul CEO. (Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/UCG/Universal Image Group via Getty Images)
The outlook was less optimistic in the Golden State, which ranked last in U-Haul's growth index for the fifth year in a row.
U-Haul calculates the net profit (or loss) for each customer state using one-way rentals. The company said it sees more than 2.5 million one-way moving truck, trailer and container transactions each year across all 50 states.
Transactions from 2024 “reaffirm customer sentiment that has been reported for some time,” John “JT” Taylor, president of U-Haul International, said in a statement.
“Migration to the Southeast and Southwest continues as families weigh their cost of living, job opportunities, quality of life and other factors,” Taylor said in the release. “Off-migration remains prevalent in a number of markets across the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast – especially California.”
Florida and Tennessee ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, among the states leading in growth. Arizona, Washington, Indiana, Utah And Idaho Rounding out the top 10.
Americans will flock to Southern states in 2024, according to U-Haul's annual growth index. (Image via Smith/Gado Collection/Getty Images)
Americans are flocking from big cities to these “former” southern regions.
U-Haul's ratings are not directly linked to population or economic growth – after three years of decline, California population It grew last year, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
However, the company says its Growth Index provides a look at how well states and cities are attracting and retaining residents.
Hardin said many of the people he sees moving to the Carolinas come from the Northeast looking for warmer weather, and from California looking for a lower cost of living.
“There's no reason you wouldn't want to move here,” Hardin added in a video shared by U-Haul.
Hardin also highlighted the abundance of entertainment and sports opportunities in the Carolinas, as well as an increase in manufacturing, healthcare and technology jobs.
In August, Meta announced plans to build its first data center in South Carolina. The following month, Google announced a $3.3 billion plan to expand its existing data center and add two new campuses, according to Local news reports.
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The country is also trying to position itself as a global power Electric vehicle And battery manufacturing.
