U-Haul Ranks ALABAMA the No. 20 Growth State of 2022

Jan. 3, 2023 — Alabama is the No. 20 growth state in America, according to the U-Haul® Growth Index analyzing customer moves during 2022.

People arriving in Alabama in one-way U-Haul trucks fell 1% from 2021, but departures fell 5% as overall moving traffic slowed.

Due to fewer people leaving Alabama, it netted a larger percentage of arrivals to climb 26 spots from its No. 46 growth ranking in 2021 – matching Virginia for the biggest jump on the U-Haul chart in 2022. Do-it-yourself movers arriving in Alabama accounted for about 50.3% of all one-way U-Haul truck traffic in and out of the state (49.7% departures).

The U-Haul Growth Index is compiled according to the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a city or state, versus departing from that city or state, in a calendar year. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 2 million one-way U-Haul truck transactions that occur annually across the U.S. and Canada.

Texas paced the nation in growth for the fifth time since 2016, while Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia round out the top five growth states. California ranks 50th and Illinois 49th for the third year in a row, indicating those states saw the largest net losses of one-way U-Haul trucks.

Alabama’s top growth markets are Auburn-Opelika and Huntsville. Other notable net-gain cities include Foley, Fairhope, Tuscaloosa, Pelham, Daphne, Dothan, Cullman, Decatur, Enterprise and Troy.

While U-Haul migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, the U-Haul Growth Index is an effective gauge of how well states and cities are both attracting and maintaining residents. Visit myuhaulstory.com to view the additional growth state releases and national releases from the U-Haul Growth Index.