U-Haul Growth Index Confirms Blue to Red State Exodus

“With a strong job market and low cost of living, it’s a no-brainer. Texas doesn’t have an income tax, so families get more for their money”

If you want to annoy a blue-state governor, one of the best ways to do it is to point out to him or her that people are leaving blue states in droves, something that has been taking place for well over a decade now and which was confirmed last year by Census numbers and again earlier this month by U-Haul’s annual growth index report.

According to their analysis, the two states that netted the most one-way inbound traffic from U-Haul in 2021 were Texas and Florida:

The Lone Star State earned bragging rights as the leading growth state of 2021, narrowly besting Florida for tops honors, according to transactional data compiled for the annual U-Haul Growth Index.

Tennessee ranks third, South Carolina fourth and Arizona fifth among the top growth states.

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.

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“We see a lot of growth coming from the East and West Coast,” said Matt Merrill, U-Haul Area District Vice President of the Dallas Fort-Worth Metroplex and West Texas. “A lot of people moving here from California (and) New York. We also see a lot of people coming in from the Chicago markets. I think that’s a lot due to the job growth – a lot of opportunity here. The cost of living here is much lower than those areas. Texas is open for business.”

The Lone Star State earned bragging rights as the leading growth state of 2021, narrowly beating Florida for tops honors, according to transactional data compiled for the annual U-Haul Growth Index. (read more)