Wisconsin is the No. 4 U.S. Growth State for 2016, according to the latest U-Haul migration trends report.
An established growth state at No. 13 on this list for 2015, Wisconsin rose nine spots as its year-over-year arrivals of one-way U-Haul truck rentals held steady. Its departures dipped by 1 percent last year.
Arrivals accounted for 50.6 percent of U-Haul traffic in Wisconsin in 2016 thanks to locations like Madison, the No. 1 U-Haul U.S. Growth City for locations with a population of more than 50,000. Milwaukee, Hudson and Eau Claire also were among the cities to pace Wisconsin in its net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks.
Growth States are calculated by the net gain of one-way U-Haul truck rentals entering a state versus leaving a state during a calendar year. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 1.7 million one-way U-Haul truck rental transactions that occur annually.
While migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, U-Haul growth data is an effective gauge of how well cities are attracting and maintaining residents.
Follow the Top 10 Growth States daily countdown through Feb. 3 on Twitter @uhaul and view other migration trends reports at myuhaulstory.com.
Harley Davidson Museum in Wisconsin, the U-Haul No. 4 Growth State of 2016. Courtesy of TravelWisconsin.com
“Milwaukee is doing very well right now,” says Mike Schneider, U-Haul Company of South Eastern Wisconsin president. “Urban growth is strong. New condos are going up downtown. People are moving in from all over. There is a lot of stuff going on as you head south to Racine and Kenosha – everything along southern part of the state is growing fast.”
Adam Sonnleitner, U-Haul Company of Southwestern Wisconsin and Rockford president, shared the same sentiments for Madison and its surrounding area.
“We just opened a new store on the north side of Madison (U-Haul Moving & Storage at Warner Park at 2701 Packers Ave.),” Sonnleitner says. “People here are very dependent on U-Haul.”
Find U-Haul stores and neighborhood dealers in Wisconsin at uhaul.com/locations.
U-Haul is the authority on migration trends thanks to its expansive network that blankets all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The geographical coverage from more than 21,000 U-Haul locations provides a comprehensive overview of where people are moving like no one else in the industry.
What They are Saying about Wisconsin
“The two major areas we’re seeing growth in the northern part are the Green Bay and Appleton areas, more commonly referred to as Fox Valley. We’ve added two new store locations in the last two years, each hosting more than 1,000 self-storage units. Prior to this, we had one facility with 100 self-storage units serving the Green Bay area. … A lot of the U-Haul growth has to do with all of our new independent neighborhood dealers.” — Justin Kaminski, U-Haul Company of Northern Wisconsin and the UP
“Amazon’s fulfillment center moved into Kenosha and is creating jobs. We have opened six new U-Haul stores since 2008 (and five since 2012) in this region, so we’re able to serve more people in the Greater Milwaukee area than ever before.” — Mike Schneider, U-Haul Company of South Eastern Wisconsin president
U-Haul Top 10 Growth States of 2016
10. Arkansas
9. Vermont
8. Louisiana
7. Idaho
6. Maine
5. Missouri
4. Wisconsin
Be sure to follow the growth state countdown in the following days here on myuhaulstory.com!
