If you’re looking for the kitchen, just follow your nose. If you’re looking to see where everybody’s moving, just follow the U-Hauls.

According to data from the moving company, Texas, Florida and the Carolinas were the top destinations for one-way U-Haul trucks in 2022.

With warmer climates and more affordability in the Southern regions, it’s not a big surprise that homebuyers are flocking to these areas. In fact, they have been for a while now.

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Migration to the Southeast and Southwest United States was amplified over the course of the pandemic as many opted to leave major city centers on the West Coast and Northeast in favour of larger homes and remote work. The shift away from large cities continued through 2022, with California and Illinois seeing the largest net losses of one-way U-Haul trucks.

“The 2022 trends in migration followed very similar patterns to 2021 with Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and the Southwest continuing to see solid growth,” John Taylor, U-Haul international president said. “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.”

U-Haul isn’t the only company noticing a mass migration to the warm and budget-friendly Southern U.S. According to data from Opendoor, nearly half of Americans are motivated to move for a lower cost of living – often turning their sights towards the South. The company ranked the top 20 most popular ZIP Codes across the country – 16 of them were in the South.

2022 is the second consecutive year that Texas has ranked as the no. 1 U-Haul growth state and has consistently been at the top of the list since 2016.

Unsurprisingly, Florida came in second place for 2022 and has ranked at a top-three growth state seven years in a row.

The top 10 2022 U-Haul growth states are as follows:

  1. Texas
  2. Florida
  3. South Carolina
  4. North Carolina
  5. Virginia
  6. Tennessee
  7. Arizona
  8. Georgia
  9. Ohio
  10. Idaho

To get a little more specific, here’s Opendoor’s list of most popular ZIP Codes:

  1. 37042 – Clarksville, TN
  2. 73099 – Yukon, OK
  3. 77494 – Katy, TX
  4. 78130 – New Braunfels, TX
  5. 75126 – Forney, TX
  6. 29486 – Summerville, SC
  7. 77433 – Cypress, TX
  8. 34747 – Kissimmee, FL
  9. 78641 Leander, TX
  10. 37128 – Murfreesboro, TN
  11. 78253 – San Antonio, TX
  12. 30052 – Loganville, GA
  13. 76227 – Aubrey, TX
  14. 34787 – Winter Garden, FL
  15. 30040 – Cumming, GA
  16. 30024 – Suwanee, GA
  17. 37066 – Gallatin, TN
  18. 92101 – San Diego, CA
  19. 34953 – Port Saint Lucie, FL
  20. 80134 – Parker, CO

Communities featured in this article

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