Texas is the No. 1 growth state in America, according to 2021 transactional data compiled for the annual U-Haul® Growth Index.
People coming to Texas in one-way U-Haul trucks rose 19% year-over-year, while departures increased 18% from 2020 as overall moving traffic surged.
Arriving customers accounted for 50.2% of all one-way U-Haul traffic in Texas during 2021 to make it the leading state for netting do-it-yourself movers. Texas reclaims the No. 1 growth state status it held from 2016-18. It ranked second to Florida in 2019 and Tennessee in 2020.
Growth states are calculated by the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks entering a state versus leaving that state in a calendar year. Migration trends data is compiled from well over 2 million one-way U-Haul truck customer transactions that occur annually.
Local U-Haul Analysis
“Everything is bigger in Texas, and that includes the migration of DIY movers in U-Haul trucks,” said Zane Rowland, U-Haul Company of North East Dallas president. “People are moving here from all over the U.S. because they know Texas is thriving. Jobs, affordable homes … you name it, Texas has it.”
Florida ranks second among growth states for 2021, followed by Tennessee, South Carolina and Arizona. It is the second year in a row that Texas, Florida and Tennessee comprise the top three growth states.
California ranks 50th and Illinois 49th for the second consecutive year, indicating those states saw the largest net losses of one-way U-Haul trucks.
Texas Growth Cities
Texas’s leading growth cities include the College Station-Bryan market, Grapevine, Austin, Richardson, Carrollton and Conroe.
Other notable net-gain cities are Haltom City, Mesquite, New Braunfels, North Richland Hills, Longview, Prosper, Pharr and Irving.
While U-Haul migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, the U-Haul Growth Index is an effective gauge of how well states are both attracting and maintaining residents.
U-Haul is the authority on migration trends thanks to its expansive network that blankets all 50 states and 10 provinces. The geographical coverage from more than 23,000 U-Haul truck- and trailer-sharing locations provides a comprehensive overview of where people are moving like no one else in the industry.
Independent small business owners interested in joining the U-Haul Dealer Network at no cost and earning commissions from rental transactions at their locations can visit uhaul.com/dealer to learn more and submit an information form.
