Americans are flocking to Republican states in large numbers while Democrat-controlled jurisdictions are seeing the fewest new arrivals, according to a U-Haul’s annual Growth Index.
South Carolina, which is controlled by the GOP in eight of the state’s nine executive offices, in addition to its governorship, State House, and State, topped the list with arrivals accounting for 51.7% of all one-way U-Haul traffic in and out of the state throughout 2024. Texas, having topped the list for three successive years, fell to second, while North Carolina rounded out the top three.
Liberal states saw the fewest new arrivals. California, for the fifth year in a row, ranked bottom of the 50 states, behind Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
“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,” said U-Haul International president John ‘J.T.’ Taylor. “Out-migration remains prevalent for a number of markets across the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast — and particularly California.”
The full list is below:
2024 U-Haul Growth States
| 1. | SOUTH CAROLINA (4) |
| 2. | TEXAS (1) |
| 3. | NORTH CAROLINA (3) |
| 4. | FLORIDA (2) |
| 5. | TENNESSEE (5) |
| 6. | ARIZONA (8) |
| 7. | WASHINGTON (7) |
| 8. | INDIANA (27) |
| 9. | UTAH (13) |
| 10. | IDAHO (6) |
| 11. | OKLAHOMA (41) |
| 12. | ARKANSAS (17) |
| 13. | MAINE (31) |
| 14. | OHIO (23) |
| 15. | GEORGIA (18) |
| 16. | ALABAMA (22) |
| 17. | VIRGINIA (10) |
| 18. | MINNESOTA (20) |
| 19. | SOUTH DAKOTA (19) |
| 20. | VERMONT (12) |
| 21. | DELAWARE (15) |
| 22. | WISCONSIN (26) |
| 23. | IOWA (24) |
| 24. | MONTANA (21) |
| 25. | KENTUCKY (29) |
| 26. | HAWAII (25) |
| 27. | ALASKA (34) |
| 28. | MISSOURI (28) |
| 29. | NEBRASKA (35) |
| 30. | WEST VIRGINIA (30) |
| 31. | NORTH DAKOTA (32) |
| 32. | KANSAS (33) |
| 33. | NEW HAMPSHIRE (40) |
| 34. | OREGON (37) |
| 35. | NEVADA (11) |
| 36. | WYOMING (14) |
| 37. | NEW MEXICO (16) |
| 38. | RHODE ISLAND (36) |
| 39. | MISSISSIPPI (39) |
| 40. | COLORADO (9) |
| 41. | CONNECTICUT (42) |
| 42. | MARYLAND (44) |
| 43. | MICHIGAN (46) |
| 44. | LOUISIANA (45) |
| 45. | ILLINOIS (48) |
| 46. | PENNSYLVANIA (38) |
| 47. | NEW YORK (43) |
| 48. | NEW JERSEY (47) |
| 49. | MASSACHUSETTS (49) |
| 50. | CALIFORNIA (50) |
Social media users offered their own insight into the data.
Others highlighted how California was once again bottom of the list.
