Idaho is the No. 10 growth state in America, according to the U-Haul® Growth Index analyzing customer moves during 2022.
People arriving in Idaho in one-way U-Haul trucks increased 4% over 2021, while departures rose almost 5%. Overall moving traffic slowed throughout most of the U.S. but remained busy in the Gem State in 2022.
Despite a greater number of departures year-over-year, do-it-yourself movers arriving in Idaho still accounted for 50.4% of all one-way U-Haul truck traffic in and out of Idaho (49.6% departures) to keep it a top-10 growth state. Idaho ranked ninth among growth states in 2021.
“Idaho is a beautiful place to live. We have been on this growth trend for several years and I don’t see it stopping,” stated Doug McIntier, a Boise resident and the U-Haul Area District Vice President who oversees Company operations in Idaho and five other states.
“We have new industries coming in and creating job opportunities. Micron Technology® is gearing up to invest billions of dollars into their manufacturing plant in Boise. Idaho is also home to the Idaho National Laboratory, which is the nation’s leading center for nuclear energy research and development. These types of high-quality jobs are attracting a lot of new residents.”
The U-Haul Growth Index is compiled according to the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a city or state, versus departing from that city or state, in a calendar year. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 2 million one-way U-Haul truck transactions that occur annually across the U.S. and Canada.
Texas paced the nation in growth for the fifth time since 2016, while Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia round out the top five growth states. California ranks 50th and Illinois 49th for the third year in a row, indicating those states saw the largest net losses of one-way U-Haul trucks.
Idaho’s top growth cities are Nampa, Coeur d’Alene and Meridian. Other notable net-gain markets include Twin Falls, Ammon, Post Falls, Blackfoot, Kuna and Bellevue.
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 and cities are both attracting and maintaining residents. Visit myuhaulstory.com to view the additional growth state releases and national releases from the U-Haul Growth Index.
2022 U-Haul Growth States
| 1. | TEXAS (1) |
| 2. | FLORIDA (2) |
| 3. | SOUTH CAROLINA (4) |
| 4. | NORTH CAROLINA (19) |
| 5. | VIRGINIA (31) |
| 6. | TENNESSEE (3) |
| 7. | ARIZONA (5) |
| 8. | GEORGIA (23) |
| 9. | OHIO (24) |
| 10. | IDAHO (9) |
| 11. | COLORADO (7) |
| 12. | UTAH (28) |
| 13. | NEVADA (29) |
| 14. | INDIANA (6) |
| 15. | MISSOURI (39) |
| 16. | WISCONSIN (13) |
| 17. | MINNESOTA (17) |
| 18. | MONTANA (22) |
| 19. | NEW MEXICO (10) |
| 20. | ALABAMA (46) |
| 21. | IOWA (27) |
| 22. | OREGON (14) |
| 23. | WASHINGTON (15) |
| 24. | PENNSYLVANIA (48) |
| 25. | WEST VIRGINIA (26) |
| 26. | KENTUCKY (38) |
| 27. | DELAWARE (30) |
| 28. | CONNECTICUT (18) |
| 29. | MAINE (8) |
| 30. | VERMONT (12) |
| 31. | SOUTH DAKOTA (11) |
| 32. | NEBRASKA (20) |
| 33. | WYOMING (21) |
| 34. | MISSISSIPPI (37) |
| 35. | LOUISIANA (43) |
| 36. | WASHINGTON D.C.* (35) |
| 37. | NORTH DAKOTA (33) |
| 38. | NEW HAMPSHIRE (25) |
| 39. | KANSAS (40) |
| 40. | RHODE ISLAND (32) |
| 41. | ALASKA (16) |
| 42. | OKLAHOMA (44) |
| 43. | ARKANSAS (41) |
| 44. | MARYLAND (34) |
| 45. | NEW JERSEY (36) |
| 46. | NEW YORK (45) |
| 47. | MASSACHUSETTS (47) |
| 48. | MICHIGAN (42) |
| 49. | ILLINOIS (49) |
| 50. | CALIFORNIA (50) |
2021 growth rankings in parentheses
* Washington, D.C. is its own U-Haul market and is listed among growth states for migration trends purposes. Hawaii is omitted since state-to-state U-Haul truck moves do not occur.
“The colleges in Idaho are doing well,” McIntier added. “The University of Idaho, Boise State University and Brigham Young University Idaho are all great educational institutions. Students from all over the world are moving to Idaho to gain an education. Idaho is also a great place to live because the standard of living is high, the cost of living is relatively low, and there is still reasonable housing. I see people from California and Texas relocating to Idaho for affordability.
“U-Haul is following suit and remains in growth mode here. We are growing our dealer network every day and building a new U-Haul center near the BYU Idaho campus. There are also four new U-Haul stores coming to the Boise Valley, adding roughly 5,000 more self-storage rooms.”
U-Haul is the authority on migration trends thanks to its expansive network that blankets all 10 provinces and 50 states. The geographical coverage from 23,000 U-Haul truck- and trailer-sharing locations provides a broad overview of where people are moving like no one else in the industry.
Small business owners who are interested in joining the U-Haul Dealer Network at no cost and earning commissions from U-Haul rental transactions can visit uhaul.com/dealer to learn more and submit information to be contacted by a local representative.
