U-Haul Destination City No. 6: Brooklyn Remains a Family-Friendly Address

May 17, 2019

Most populated NYC borough saw the 6th highest inflow of moving trucks of any city in 2018

Brooklyn is the No. 6 U.S. Destination City according to the latest U-Haul migration trends report, sliding two spots from its ranking on last year’s list.

Brooklyn saw a 5% year-over-year drop in one-way U-Haul truck arrivals in 2018, but attracted enough customers to remain among the top 10 busiest cities for incoming traffic among do-it-yourself movers.

New York City boroughs are listed as independent cities for migration trends purposes.

“Brooklyn is a fun place to live, and when you’re younger, you gravitate toward that,” stated Will Wolff, U-Haul Company of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island president. “There are cultural advantages to living in New York City, and we see a lot of families coming into Brooklyn. The city is constantly trying to improve its amenities, working to make it safer and developing the waterfront to make more public spaces available.”

U-Haul has three Company-owned stores and 35 independent neighborhood dealers currently operating in Brooklyn. Find U-Haul truck and trailer sharing locations in Brooklyn and other boroughs at uhaul.com/locations.

Moving Season in New York City

U-Haul is counting down its top 10 U.S. Destination Cities as a prelude to Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer moving season. About 45% of all moves each year occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. The No. 1 U.S. Destination City will be announced May 24 on Twitter @uhaul.

View U.S. Destination Cities 6-50 below. The Bronx (23) is the only other New York location to make the list.

“There is always room to go up, and there are still plenty of new developments happening in the city,” Wolff added. “The values are very high. The rent can be expensive, but there is still demand. U-Haul has a strong presence in Brooklyn – a lot of dealers that rent our trucks and trailers, and they are needed to match the population there. U-Haul Moving & Storage of Parkslope (394 4th Ave.) is a store we just expanded. Our customers have been asking for self-storage, so we invested. We have plenty of rooms to rent there now.”

Rankings are based by the total number of arriving one-way U-Haul trucks into a city in the past calendar year. Destination Cities reflect the volume and regularity of do-it-yourself movers coming into a city, but do not account for departing one-way U-Haul trucks, and thus do not necessarily reflect growth like U-Haul Growth Cities and Growth States rankings do.

U-Haul released its complete Growth States rankings; its top 25 U.S. Growth Cities; and its top 25 Canadian Growth Cities for 2018 in January.

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. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 2 million one-way U-Haul truck rental transactions that occur annually.

2018 U-Haul Destination Cities

* Nos. 1-5 TBA May 20-24. Previous year rankings in parentheses.

6. BROOKLYN, N.Y. (4)

7. AUSTIN, Texas (7)

8. PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (8)

9. PHOENIX, Ariz. (13)

10. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (9)

11. TAMPA, Fla. (11)

12. COLUMBUS, Ohio (10)

13. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (14)

14. SAN DIEGO, Calif. (12)

15. LOS ANGELES, Calif. (18)

16. DALLAS, Texas (16)

17. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (17)

18. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (15)

19. TUCSON, Ariz. (19)

20. ATLANTA, Ga. (20)

21. MIAMI, Fla. (21)

22. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (27)

23. BRONX, N.Y. (23)

24. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (22)

25. FORT WORTH, Texas (25)

26. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (28)

27. RICHMOND, Va. (41)

28. ST. LOUIS, Mo. (NR)

29. PORTLAND, Ore. (26)

30. WASHINGTON, D.C. (24)

31. RALEIGH, N.C. (32)

32. DENVER, Colo. (33)

33. CINCINNATI, Ohio (29)

34. PLANO, Texas (31)

35. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (NR)

36. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (34)

37. OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (NR)

38. OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (36)

39. PITTSBURGH, Pa. (37)

40. COLUMBIA, S.C. (35)

41. BALTIMORE, Md. (30)

42. SAN JOSE, Calif. (42)

43. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (38)

44. FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (NR)

45. TULSA, Okla. (50)

46. BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (43)

47. RENO, Nev. (39)

48. SEATTLE, Wash. (40)

49. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (49)

50. FRESNO, Calif. (48)

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