From Unleash Prosperity Hotline Issue #1424:
Texas Wins the Moving Truck Wars
U-Haul keeps track of how many of its one-way moving trucks move from state to state. In 2025, Texas edged out Florida as the top destination state – though our VoteWithYourFeet website points out that wealthier movers are relocating in Florida.
Southern states took the top five U-Haul positions, including Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The balance of the top 10 included two more Southern states, Alabama and Georgia.
Amazingly, California, which was once the top destination state, had more moving vans relocating people out than any other state for the sixth year in a row. The state has lost four million people to net outmigration since 2000.
Illinois had the second greatest loss, while Northeastern states New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts rounded out the bottom five. The sixth greatest loss was in Maryland, with the balance of the bottom 10 including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, Michigan, and Rhode Island. New York has lost four million net residents since 2000, according to the Census Bureau.
Three of the top four states attracting movers have no personal income tax: Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. Nine of the top ten have a Right-to-Work law. All ten of the bottom-ranked states are forced-union states.
U-Haul notes that nine of the top 10 destination states voted Republican in the 2024 presidential election, while seven of the bottom ten states voted Democrat.
