In 2025, Texas was ranked No. 1 for new arrivals, according to a new study from U-Haul.
DALLAS — Data from U-Haul proves something Texans feel every day: Texas leads the country in new arrivals.
In 2025, Texas had the biggest share of newcomers in the country, according to U-Haul’s annual Growth Index, which analyzes one-way customer transactions. In 2024, Texas fell to the No. 2 spot for new arrivals after South Carolina surpassed it. But the Lone Star State is back on top, where it’s been for seven of the last 10 years.
The study is compiled from over 2.5 million annual U-Haul customers who rent vehicles for one-way trips across the U.S. and Canada. It ranks the states by their net gain of customers who rented a one-way vehicle from one state to another state.
U-Haul customers arriving in Texas made up 50.7% of all one-way traffic in and out of the state, U-Haul said. One-way trips into the state grew 3% compared to 2024, while moves out of the state increased by only 1%.
“I have seen growth around all of the major metros in Texas, where there are a lot of homes being built in the suburbs,” Cory Hall, area district VP of South Texas for U-Haul, said. “We are getting a lot of customers moving to Texas from Chicago, California, and New York. They come from lots of places, but we hear those three names a lot. People come here for a better quality of life.”
Unsurprisingly, U-Haul called out some of North Texas’ far-flung suburbs as top destinations for out-of-state movers. Celina, Forney, McKinney, Princeton and Prosper are all major growth markets, according to U-Haul.
Florida ranked second in migration, and the Sun Belt was broadly popular for new arrivals in 2025, U-Haul found. Eight of the top 10 states for in-migration are located in the South, according to the study.
Conversely, eight of the bottom 10 states are northern states.
California ranked last for the sixth year in a row.
“We see a lot of people moving to Texas from the Northeast and West Coast,” Matt Merrill, area district vice president of the DFW Metroplex for U-Haul, said. “A lot of tech companies and corporations continue to move their headquarters to Texas, which leads to families moving here for their careers