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California and Illinois remained three-time reigning champions in a competition those states would probably prefer to lose.
For the third consecutive year, residents in the Golden State and the Land of Lincoln sought to resettle elsewhere at a higher volume than any other state, according to U.S. Census Bureau data and one-way outgoing U-Haul reservations provided by the moving truck rental company on Tuesday. U-Haul said the number of moves slowed modestly from a peak in 2021 but remained at elevated levels nationwide.
The data suggests the so-called “Great Reshuffling” coined by Zillow CEO Rich Barton at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic three years ago isn’t over yet, despite COVID cases continuing to drop from 2020 and 2021 levels.
Michigan, Massachusetts and New York rounded out the list of top states Americans relocated from in 2022, according to the U-Haul data.
Texas and Florida, meanwhile, drew the most net in-migration in 2022, followed by North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, according to U-Haul.
The data is only the latest to confirm an ongoing wave of migration toward Sun Belt states that started during the pandemic and continued through 2022, according to the report and others like it.
“The 2022 trends in migration followed very similar patterns to 2021 with Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and the Southwest continuing to see solid growth,” said John Taylor, president of U-Haul International. “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.”
California and Illinois were returning champions for most U-Haul customers looking for one-way reservations out of their home states, continuing what has been an ongoing trend.
Likewise, Texas and Florida drew the first- and second-most new residents, respectively, for the second year in a row, according to the new data.
Texas saw the greatest population growth by volume between mid-2021 and late 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Florida, meanwhile, was the fastest-growing state in the nation during the same period, and North Carolina boasted the third-biggest population gain from net in-migration, according to Census Bureau data.
Top states for one-way U-Haul destinations
- Texas
- Florida
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
- Virginia
Bottom states for one-way U-Haul destinations
- California
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Massachusetts
- New York
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