2025 U-Haul migration trends. Orange are the top 10 destination states, blue the bottom 10.
DB2
5 Likes
Iâll start my side gig, as a hot-shot driver uhauling trailers out of TX. What a way to start 2026!
3 Likes
With the saguaro cactus in the picture, it looks like theyâve already made it to Arizona.
DB2
2 Likes
So looking a little behind the numbers, it appears that people make their money in the blue states, then move to the red states to escape the weather.
3 Likes
Spoken like a retiree. I donât think U-Haulâs market is focused on the 65+ crowd. By the way, itâs orange, not red.
DB2
I know, right? No political point was being made at all about those states in focus on the graph so âchart orangeâ it is! 
Pete
2 Likes
That canât be legal, right?
JimA
In addition to everything being much too clean.
DB2
2 Likes
Thatâs probably true, I would think the younger and less affluent you are the more likely you are to DIY move rather than hire a company, which means theyâre probably not escaping âhigh taxesâ. Maybe theyâre just escaping the snow?
And I donât speak Orange, at least not for the next 3 years, so Red it is.
4 Likes
3 years and 12 days, but whoâs counting?
10 Likes
Yep. I just saw this post and came to comment on the relative affluence of U-haul users. But it was mentioned already a few times. Basically the U-haul statistics are most likely younger people moving away from places where they either canât afford housing or where they canât find a job that pays enough to cover their expenses (and in reality these two are the same thing).
This reminds me of something from the 1980s. A few weeks before my sister got married, my grandfather died. After the wedding, we cleaned out my grandparents house (in one of the blue colored states above) in preparation for showing and eventual sale. Some of the stuff still had quite a bit of life in it, so we loaded a bunch of stuff (some furniture, some kitchen stuff, etc) into a U-haul and drove it down to one of the orange colored states above to bring it to my sister and new BIL for their use as a newly married couple in their small rented apartment. I think itâs possible that the table and chairs that we U-hauled down (to Florida) is still in use at some great-grandchilds home.
I wonder if that one-way U-haul trip would have âcountedâ as âsomeone moving out of a blue colored stateâ?
2 Likes
Here are some Census Data:
Table 2. The 15 Cities With the Largest Numeric Increase Between July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024, With Populations of 20,000 or More as of July 1, 2023
| Rank | Area Name | State Name | Numeric Increase | 2024 Total Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York city | New York | 87,184 | 8,478,072 |
| 2 | Houston city | Texas | 43,217 | 2,390,125 |
| 3 | Los Angeles city | California | 31,276 | 3,878,704 |
| 4 | San Antonio city | Texas | 23,945 | 1,526,656 |
| 5 | Fort Worth city | Texas | 23,442 | 1,008,106 |
| 6 | Charlotte city | North Carolina | 23,423 | 943,476 |
| 7 | Chicago city | Illinois | 22,164 | 2,721,308 |
| 8 | Phoenix city | Arizona | 16,933 | 1,673,164 |
| 9 | Seattle city | Washington | 16,813 | 780,995 |
| 10 | Jacksonville city | Florida | 16,365 | 1,009,833 |
| 11 | Miami city | Florida | 16,337 | 487,014 |
| 12 | Washington city | District of Columbia | 14,926 | 702,250 |
| 13 | San Jose city | California | 13,634 | 997,368 |
| 14 | Columbus city | Ohio | 12,694 | 933,263 |
| 15 | Las Vegas city | Nevada | 12,292 | 678,922 |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 Population Estimates |
|---|
| Release Date: May 2025 |