News : IOWA: No. 23 U-Haul Growth State

Migration Trends: Where People Moved in 2024

Iowa is the No. 23 growth state of 2024, according to U-Haul® Growth Index data analyzing one-way customer transactions during the past year.

The Hawkeye State inches up one spot from its 2023 ranking. It has been a net-gain state (with more U-Haul arrivals than departures) for the last three years.

South Carolina climbs three spots to dethrone Texas as the No. 1 growth state. U-Haul customers coming to Iowa accounted for 50.1% of all one-way traffic in and out of the state (49.9% departures) last year.

Looking at year-over-year changes, U-Haul arrivals into Iowa fell 1% while departures also fell 1% as overall moving traffic slowed.

U-Haul ranks growth states according to each state's net gain (or loss) of one-way equipment from customer transactions in a calendar year. The U-Haul Growth Index is compiled from more than 2.5 million one-way U-Haul truck, trailer and U-Box® portable moving container transactions that occur annually across the U.S. and Canada.

"Every time I am in Iowa, I see it continuing to grow. The Des Moines metro area is still exploding," stated Kellin Sybrant, U-Haul Area District Vice President. "Iowa is full of safe communities, affordable land and affordable housing. A lot of big employers recently moved to the area and the population followed them.

"We see growth occurring in Iowa City as well. The University of Iowa is there and fuels that city. Its growth has led U-Haul to develop a large center in town to meet the moving and self-storage needs of the students and residents. The school's medical programs are amazing. Iowa becomes a destination spot for a lot of students - and now families - because they attended school there and liked the area so much."

Iowa's notable leading growth cities include (in alphabetical order): Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Iowa City, Marion, Mount Pleasant, Oskaloosa and Spirit Lake.

North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee round out the top five growth states for 2024. It's the same top five from 2023, but in a slightly different order.

California ranks 50th for the fifth year in a row with the largest net loss of one-way U-Haul customers. Oklahoma (+30), Indiana (+19) and Maine (+18) are the biggest risers YOY, while Colorado (-31), Nevada (-24), Wyoming (-22) and New Mexico (-21) saw the biggest slides. Find past growth rankings and reports at uhaul.com/about/migration.

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)

2023 growth rankings in parentheses

While U-Haul rankings may not correlate directly to population or economic growth, the U-Haul Growth Index is an effective gauge of how well states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents.

U-Haul is the authority on migration trends thanks to its expansive network that blankets all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The geographical coverage from 23,000-plus U-Haul rental locations provides a broad overview of where people are moving like no one else in the industry.

U-Haul continues to benefit the environment through its shared-use business model. Truck and trailer sharing empowers communities to share moving equipment so that families and individuals don't need to own large-capacity vehicles to transfer belongings. Sustainability initiatives like U-Haul Adaptive Reuse (the preserving and repurposing of existing buildings for new stores), truck modifications to improve fuel economy, and plastic Ready-To-Go Boxes® that are shared hundreds of times before being recycled are among the ways U-Haul promotes green business. U-Box Load Share, the Company's latest sustainability program, continues to earn awards for providing ecofriendly solutions to today's gig economy.

About U-HAUL

Founded in 1945, U-Haul is the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers with more than 23,000 rental locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The U-Haul app makes it easy for customers to use U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 to access trucks anytime through the self-dispatch and -return options on their smartphones with our patented Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to 192,000 trucks, 138,700 trailers and 39,500 towing devices. U-Haul is the third largest self-storage operator in North America with 1,024,000 rentable units and 88.5 million square feet of self-storage space at Company-owned and -managed facilities. U-Haul is the top retailer of propane in the U.S. and the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry. Get the U-Haul app from the App Store or Google Play.