Noticed any U-Haul trucks in the area lately? Probably. Texas continued its reign as America's No. 1 Growth State during 2017, according to U-Haul data analyzing the past year's U.S. migration trends.
Year-over-year arrivals of one-way U-Haul truck rentals rose 1 percent while departures climbed 3 percent from Texas's 2016 numbers. Some of the state's increase in overall U-Haul transactions can likely be attributed to an active hurricane season.
McKinney, Prosper, College Station, Temple and Kaufman paced Texas's net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks. Austin, Midland, Pflugerville, New Braunfels and Irving were among other notable cities to post strong net gains.
Despite a larger year-over-year increase in departures, arriving trucks still accounted for 50.3 percent of all one-way U-Haul traffic in Texas to maintain its status as the top net-gain state. Texas secured the No. 1 growth ranking for 2016 after settling for the No. 39 spot for 2015.
Growth States are calculated by the net gain of one-way U-Haul truck rentals entering a state versus leaving a state during a calendar year. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 1.7 million one-way U-Haul truck rental transactions that occur annually.
Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina and Tennessee rounded out the top five, and North Carolina was seventh, continuing a strong growth movement in the Southeast. California overtook Illinois on the list as the biggest net-loss state.
While migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, U-Haul growth data is an effective gauge of how well states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents.
"We say that everything is bigger in Texas, and you've heard the slogan 'Texas Strong' during the (Hurricane Harvey) recovery," said Matt Merrill, U-Haul Company of West Houston president. "We're not waiting for anyone to come with handouts. Everybody is helping everybody. We know that it happened and we know what we went through. But you wouldn't be able to go through today and see that a hurricane hit. The recovery has been handled well."
U-Haul has more than 21,000 U-Haul locations around the country.
"Due to the attractive tax incentives for corporations, large companies are flocking into the Dallas area: Toyota, Dr. Pepper, Exxon, T.I., etc. Housing development is booming everywhere in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Everywhere you look, new businesses, homes and apartment/condo buildings are going up. … The economy is up as Dallas employment is at an all-time high. So why not move to Texas?,” said Debbie Morales, U-Haul Company of East Dallas president
U-Haul Growth State Rankings for 2017
1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Arkansas
4. South Carolina
5. Tennessee
6. Washington
7. North Carolina
8. Connecticut
9. Colorado
10. Vermont
11. Alabama
12. Iowa
13. Virginia
14. Idaho
15. West Virginia
16. Nebraska
17. Indiana
18. Delaware
19. New Mexico
20. Wisconsin
21. Utah
22. Wyoming
23. Mississippi
24. Oklahoma
25. Montana
26. Maine
27. South Dakota
28. Washington D.C.
29. Kentucky
30. Missouri
31. New Hampshire
32. Oregon
33. Nevada
34. Ohio
35. Minnesota
36. Alaska
37. North Dakota
38. Kansas
39. Rhode Island
40. Louisiana
41. Georgia
42. Maryland
43. Arizona
44. New York
45. New Jersey
46. Massachusetts
47. Michigan
48. Pennsylvania
49. Illinois
50. California
* Washington, D.C. is its own U-Haul territory and is listed among states for migration purposes. Hawaii is not included since state-to-state truck rentals are not applicable.
The original article was published in the Fort Worth Business Press.
January 9, 2018
