According to a recent U-Haul study, migration to the U.S. southeast and southwest continued to trend in 2022 — largely spurred on by the pandemic. By compiling the note gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in each state versus trucks departing from each state, the company determined that Georgia was the eighth highest growth state in 2022.
“The 2022 trends in migration followed very similar patterns to 2021 with Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and the Southwest continuing to see solid growth,” John Taylor, U-Haul International president, said in the report. “We still have areas with strong demand for one-way rentals. While overall migration in 2021 was record-breaking, we continue to experience significant customer demand to move out of some geographic areas to destinations at the top of our growth list.”
Sandy Springs is the No. 25 growth city in America, despite the number of U-Haul trucks arriving in the Georgia city declining almost 20% year over year.
“Georgia is a very business-friendly state with a lot of jobs,” Doug Weston, U-Haul Company of Atlanta North president, said in a report. “Georgia opened back up quickly after the pandemic and that was attractive to a lot of people. Amazon is building on every corner, lots of distribution warehouses. There’s the SK Battery America plants for Tesla and other new car productions.
“Georgia is in growth mode, especially with other states having a hard time keeping up with the supply chain. The Port of Savannah took a lot of the deliveries that California couldn’t, and that area is expanding. Companies are relocating their workforces to Georgia in record numbers.”
Texas took the top spot in U-haul’s report. Florida was the second highest ranked growth state, with South Carolina and North Carolina trailing just behind.
