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U-Haul growth states are ranked by their net gain or loss of
U-Haul customers over the past year. The report gauges how well
states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents, with
Illinois coming in 45th place. Illinois' place on the list grew
three spots from No. 48 in the 2023 report.
Texas District Vice President Matt Merrill said he sees a steady
flow of Illinoisans into the Lone State State, which ranked
second in the nation in the report.
“Nationally, we see a lot of customers moving out of our Blue
states coming down to the south to the Red states,” said
Merrill. “A lot of that has to do with pro-business and less
government control. In Texas specifically, we see a lot of
customers moving here from Illinois and the Chicago market.”
Merrill adds that the housing market is still very affordable in
Texas. Illinoisans continue to pay the second-highest property
taxes in the country.
District VP Jason Hardin said there is a reason South Carolina
and North Carolina both ranked in the top three.
“They’re moving here because of jobs,” said Hardin. “We have a
lot of tech coming in, manufacturing, such as Boeing, Volvo,
BMW.”
Meanwhile, Illinois’ unemployment rate, at 5.3%, is one of the
highest in the country.
According to U-Haul, South Carolina, Texas, North Carolina,
Florida and Tennessee were the top five growth states for the
year. Texas has ranked first or second among U-Haul Growth
States each year since 2016. Florida has been fourth or higher
every year since 2015.
“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
John “J.T.” Taylor, U-Haul International president. |
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