Florida, Texas top U-Haul's list of most popular destinations for movers in 2022

TAMPA, Fla. - Florida and Texas have topped U-Haul's list of one-way destinations for customers in 2022, according to the company's annual "U-Haul Growth Index," which measured more than two million one-way trips last year.

The Sunshine State, which came in second, has been a top-three growth state for seven years in a row, according to U-Haul.

Brady Rome, president of U-Haul Company of Gainesville, credited Florida's tax benefits and employment rate as just some of the reasons he's seen people move to the Sunshine State.

"When you have warm weather, beaches and amusement parks, there is a lot of tourism. We see an influx of people every year from tourism. Many visitors choose to move here permanently," Rome said.

RELATED: Florida leads country in population growth for the first time in 65 years

Texas took the top spot for the second year in a row, and for the fifth time since 2016, the company says.

Meanwhile, California — the only other state with 30 million residents — ranked last on U-Haul's Growth Index as demand for trucks moving out of the state spiked.

"Demand for equipment out of California, Illinois and New York remained strong in 2022, as more people opted to leave areas of the West Coast, Northeast and Midwest," the company noted in its news release. "California and Illinois ranked 50th and 49th, respectively, on the U-Haul Growth Index for the third consecutive year, meaning those states saw the greatest net losses of one-way U-Haul trucks."

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Florida was the fastest-growing state in 2022, with an annual population increase of 1.9%, or 444,484 new residents. It marked the first time since 1957 that Florida had been the state with the largest percent increase in population. 

Texas overall saw the largest gains in total numbers, increasing by 470,708 people to put them over 30 million.

New York had the largest annual numeric and percent population decline, decreasing by 180,341, or -0.9%, the Census Bureau said.

California lost 113,649 residents, while the population in Illinois decreased by 104,437, according to data from the census.

RELATED: Despite cooling US housing market, Florida still top spot for Americans looking to move: study

"The 2022 trends in migration followed very similar patterns to 2021 with Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and the Southwest continuing to see solid growth," U-Haul International president John Taylor said in a statement. "We continue to experience significant customer demand to move out of some geographic areas to destinations at the top of our growth list."

South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia rounded out the top five states for growth in 2022, while New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois and California all ranked in the bottom five.

For more information on U-Haul's ranking, you can check out the full list by clicking here.