AUSTIN (KXAN) -- For the first time in four years, Texas was not named U-Haul's most popular state for people to move to.
Texas fell to the No. 2 spot on the do-it-yourself moving company's "growth states" of 2024 list, sandwiched by the Carolinas.
South Carolina took the No. 1 spot, and North Carolina ranked No. 3 for states with the highest net gain of movers using U-Haul's one-way moving equipment.
Rounding out the top five were Florida at No. 4 and Tennessee at No. 5. The top five states for 2024 were the same as the previous year's top five, just in different rankings (except North Carolina and Tennessee, which remained at their respective No. 3 and No. 5 spots).
According to U-Haul, South Carolina climbed three places in the rankings to unseat Texas, which was the No. 1 growth state from 2021-23.
Texas has ranked first or second among U-Haul growth states each year since 2016, according to the moving company.
California experienced the greatest net loss and ranked 50th for the fifth consecutive year.
“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," John “J.T.” Taylor, U-Haul International's president, said.
As for cities and metro areas, Austin remained steady at No. 5, unmoved from 2023's ranking, while two other Texas areas also made the top 10.
The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area, or the DFW Metroplex, led the U-Haul Growth Metro of 2024, and Houston took the No. 9 spot.
2024 was the first year that metros have been part of U-Haul's annual growth reports and rankings, though the company previously ranked cities.
“We are seeing unprecedented growth in the Dallas metro area, both within the city and also suburbs like McKinney, Plano and Addison,” said Sean Fullerton, U-Haul Company of South Central Dallas' president. “The cost of living is also extremely reasonable throughout the whole metro. Job growth has led to wages and earnings going up, and tax breaks have led to a lot of people moving to the area.”
