Ohio is the No. 9 growth state in America, according to the U-Haul® Growth Index analyzing customer moves during 2022.
People arriving in Ohio in one-way U-Haul trucks dropped 2% over 2021, but departures fell 4% as overall traffic slowed.
Due to fewer people leaving the Buckeye State, Ohio netted a larger percentage of arrivals to climb 15 spots from its No. 24 growth ranking in 2021. Do-it-yourself movers arriving in Ohio accounted for 50.2% of all one-way U-Haul truck traffic in and out of Ohio (49.8% departures), which has registered as a U-Haul top-10 growth state three of the past four years.
“A lot of people originally from Ohio are returning home,” noted Alissa Nider, U-Haul Company of Akron president. “People grew up here, went away for school and got jobs in other places. But many are coming back. Especially in the work-from-home era, people can continue in their jobs and be in Ohio with their families.
“Ohio is also a pretty good spot to live. It’s the best of all worlds.”
I noticed this year a lot of our usual Florida snowbirds didn’t even leave. We didn’t have the outflow we usually do during the colder months. People can do anything in Ohio and they’re realizing it’s a great state to live in.
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.
Ohio’s top growth cities are West Chester and Dayton. Other notable net-gain markets include Miamisburg, Cleveland Heights, Hamilton, Bedford, Reynoldsburg, Canton-North Canton, Cuyahoga Falls, Delaware, Elyria, Springfield and Dublin.
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.
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.
