Where’s Everyone Leaving?

By Altrendo Images @ Shutterstock.com

Yesterday, you read about U-Haul’s annual report and discovered that the top two destination states in 2023 were Texas and Florida. But which states were residents leaving in 2023? Here’s what the report says (abridged):

California is 50th and Illinois 49th on the list for the second consecutive year, indicating those states once again witnessed the largest net losses of one-way U-Haul trucks.

“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.”

Select Northeast markets showed year-over-year migration recoveries as Maine rose 21 spots, Vermont 14 spots and Connecticut 25 spots in the U-Haul Growth Index. Yet three of the six states with the largest net losses were also in the Northeast: New York (45), Massachusetts (47) and Pennsylvania (48).

California remained the top state for out-migration, but its net loss of U-Haul trucks wasn’t as severe as in 2020. That can be partially attributed to the fact that U-Haul simply ran out of inventory to meet customer demand for outbound equipment.

The bottom ten states in U-Haul’s Growth Index were:

  1. Arkansas
  2. Michigan
  3. Louisiana
  4. Oklahoma
  5. New York
  6. Alabama
  7. Massachusetts
  8. Pennsylvania
  9. Illinois
  10. California

Action Line: It’s a bad sign when U-Haul simply runs out of trucks for people who want to leave a state. Californians can’t get out fast enough, it seems. Click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, and be among the first to read my upcoming 2024 Super States rankings.