Tennessee ranked fifth in the nation for growth based on the number of one-way entries to the state in 2024, according to data compiled by the moving company U-Haul.
The Volunteer State’s fifth place ranking is based on the yearly U-Haul Growth Index which analyzes each state’s net gain, or loss, of customers that utilized one-way U-Haul equipment throughout the calendar year.
South Carolina took the number one spot as the leading state for growth in 2024, climbing three spots in the rankings to unseat Texas, which has been the top state for growth for three straight years of the Growth Index.
The U-Haul Growth States of 2024 list is here!
South Carolina dethroned Texas to secure the top position in 2024.
Texas, the number one growth state for the previous three years (2021-23), now holds second place, followed by North Carolina in third, Florida in fourth, and…
— uhaul (@uhaul) January 2, 2025
In 2024, Texas dropped to second place for the most one-way entries in the state while North Carolina ranked third and Florida ranked fourth.
With Tennessee in fifth place, Arizona, Washington, Indiana, Utah, and Idaho rounded out the top 10 growth states of 2024.
Tennessee has ranked among the top 10 states for growth for five straight years, according to past Growth Index reports.
In 2020, the Volunteer State took the top honors in the Growth Index. In 2021, the state dropped two rankings to place third for growth.
In 2022, Tennessee dropped again in the rankings to sixth place, however, moved up one ranking in 2023 to again place fifth in the Growth Index.
The state ranked last in the 2024 Growth Index was California, which experienced the greatest net loss of movers.
California has ranked 50th for five consecutive years, the Growth Index notes.
Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois were also among the worst states for growth.
Notable rankings in 2024 were the states of Oklahoma (+30), Indiana (+19) and Maine (+18), which all experienced the largest rise year-over-year on the Growth Index.
Meanwhile, Colorado (-31), Nevada (-24), Wyoming (-22) and New Mexico (-21) saw the biggest drops in 2024 rankings.
“State-to-state transactions from the past year reaffirm customer tendencies that have been pronounced for some time. 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,” John “J.T.” Taylor, U-Haul International president, said in a statement.
“Out-migration remains prevalent for a number of markets across the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast — and particularly California,” Taylor added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “U-Haul Truck” by Artaxerxes. CC BY-SA 4.0.
