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Florida fanatics are flocking to the Sunshine State.
Moving giant U-Haul analyzed U.S. migration trends for the past year, via one-way U-Haul truck rentals. Turns out Florida's influx of arrivals were second only to Texas in 2017.
One-way U-Haul truck rentals arriving in Florida were up 8% in 2017 over 2016, according to the company's analysis. Departures, however, were also up sharply, by 9% — an aberration and increase U-Haul attributes to the state's unusually active hurricane season.
U-Haul says some 1.7 million of its truck rentals were of the one-way variety in 2017. Arkansas, South Carolina and Tennessee, respectively, ranked behind Texas and Florida in the top five states. California ranked last, behind Illinois and Pennsylvania.
Breaking down the data even further, Brandon, Bradenton and Davenport, in Polk County, are among the 10 Florida cities that saw the biggest gains of one-way arrivals in 2017.
U-Haul, with 21,000 locations across the United States and Canada, points out that its migration trends analysis does not correlate directly to population or economic growth. But the growth data, say company officials, can be an effective gauge of how well states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents.
“I'm not surprised the Florida is the No. 2 growth state, even after the hurricanes in 2017,” states Cal Conner, U-Haul's eastern Florida president, in a press release. “We're Floridians — we don't leave.”
Top 10
1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Arkansas
4. South Carolina
5. Tennessee
6. Washington
7. North Carolina
8. Connecticut
9. Colorado
10. Vermont
Bottom 10
1. Georgia
2. Maryland
3. Arizona
4. New York
5. New Jersey
6. Massachusetts
7. Michigan
8. Pennsylvania
9. Illinois
10. California
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