Florida A Popular Place To Move, According To New U-Haul Index

FLORIDA — Florida continues to be a popular choice for people choosing to relocate to a new state, according to U-Haul's newly released Growth Index.

Each year, the moving company releases the latest migration trends for each U.S. state based on the number of one-way moves by U-Haul customers. More than 2.5 million moves occurred last year through the company, according to the index.

While the ranking may not correlate directly to population or economic growth, the company claims the index is "an effective gauge of how well states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents."

Florida came in at No. 4 on the 2024 index, up two spots from the previous year. In 2024, fewer people left the state (49.6%) than arrived (50.4%), according to U-Haul data.

Metro areas in the state with notable growth are:

• No. 1 Ocala
• No. 3 Kissimmee
• No. 15 Clermont
• No. 18 Port St. Lucie
• No. 23 Panama City
• No. 4 Lakeland
• No. 8 Palm Bay-Melbourne
• No. 11 Jacksonville
• No. 12 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
• No. 15 North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota
• No. 16 Fort Myers
• No. 23 Daytona Beach

Nationally, South Carolina climbed three spots in the ranking to unseat Texas as the No. 1 growth state. Of all U-Haul movers coming and going from the Palmetto State in 2024, more than 51.7% were arrivals.

Texas came in at No. 2 followed by North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee.

California experienced the greatest net loss of do-it-yourself movers, landing at No. 50 for the fifth consecutive year. Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts rounded out the bottom five states on the index.

“State-to-state transactions from the past year reaffirm customer tendencies that have been pronounced for some time,” U-Haul International President John (J.T.) Taylor said in a statement. “Migration to the Southeast and Southwest continues as families gauge their cost of living, job opportunities, quality of life and other factors that go into relocating to a new state."

According to Taylor, out-migration remains most prevalent in several states across the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast.