More U-Haul Trucks Left California Than Any Other State in 2022, Texas Top Destination: Study

A U-Haul truck in a file photo taken in Illinois. Tim Boyle/Getty Images

More moving trucks left from California than any other state in 2022 for the third year in a row, while more Americans are flocking to Republican-led states like Texas and Florida, a new study published on Jan. 3 has found.

The study was conducted by the moving truck rental company, U-Haul, and found that Texas, Florida, and the Carolinas were the preferred destinations for one-way moving trucks in 2022, with those states ranking as the top growth states on the annual U-Haul Growth Index.

U-Haul’s Growth Index is compiled according to the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a state or city, versus those departing from that state or city each calendar year across the U.S. and Canada and is a strong indicator of what kind of job states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents, according to the company.

Texas is the top destination for U-Haul trucks for the second consecutive year and the fifth time since 2016, according to the study. That is followed by Florida, which has been a top-three growth state for seven years in a row. South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, and Idaho also saw strong growth rates in 2022, the study found.

Pictures of properties for rent or sale hang on the window of a real estate company on Sept. 29, 2021 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Meanwhile, demand for moving trucks out of California, Illinois, and New York was strong in 2022 as more people opted to leave areas of the West Coast, Northeast, and Midwest, the study found.

Texas’ ‘Booming Economy’ Attracting Americans

California ranked 50th on U-Haul’s Growth Index, meaning it saw the greatest net loss of one-way U-Haul trucks out of the state, followed by Illinois, which ranked 49th in 2022, as it did in 2021. Michigan came in at 48, Massachusetts at 47, and New York at 46 on the list of growth for 2022.

John ‘J.T.’ Taylor, U-Haul International president, said that the trends seen in 2022 followed very similar patterns to 2021.

“We still have areas with strong demand for one-way rentals. While overall migration in 2021 was record-breaking, we continue to experience significant customer demand to move out of some geographic areas to destinations at the top of our growth list,” Taylor said.

Data published by the Texas Realtors’ association in 2020 found that the number of people moving from California to Texas was up 36 percent from 2017, and the trend appears to have continued.

A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, when asked by The New York Post about being the top destination by U-Haul customers, praised the state’s “booming economy.”

“People and businesses vote with their feet, and they are choosing to move to Texas more than any other state in the country,” Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze told the publication.

Florida Serves as ‘Blueprint’ DeSantis Says

Separate data from the James Madison Institute, a Florida-based think tank, shows that between April 2020 to April 2021, almost 330,000 people moved to Florida, which is equal to roughly 903 people moving to the state each day. According to the think tank, this is part of a national trend that has been seen in recent years of Americans departing blue states for red states.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, second from left, waves as he arrives with his wife Casey, right, and their children Mason, Madison, and Mamie during his inauguration ceremony outside the Old Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla., on Jan. 3, 2023. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who was sworn in for a second term as governor on Tuesday, has said that Florida serves as a “blueprint for success” for other states.

“What we’ve shown in Florida is you can stand up for truth, you can stand on principle, you can fight the woke elite, and you can win,” DeSantis said during a speech delivered at the annual leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition on Nov. 19.

The study comes shortly after Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul vowed to tackle New York’s declining population during her inaugural address on Sunday.

“We must reverse the trend of people leaving our state in search of lower costs and opportunities elsewhere. We can do this,” Hochul said.

“We have to make our state more affordable. Yes, people want to be here ... And New Yorkers are just struggling to pay rent, food, and gas to get to their jobs. They’re hurting. Our people are hurting. We’re going to fight for them.”