The Gavin Newsom Effect: U-Haul Reports Californians Leaving the State in Droves

U-Haul has a new report out and once again – for the fifth year in a row – the once Golden State finished on top of the U-Haul Growth Index – meaning more Californians rented one-way U-Haul trucks to leave the state in 2024, than residents of any other state.

California ranked last in U-Haul growth.

We call this “The Gavin Newsom effect.”

2024 U-Haul Growth States

And right on time, Gavin Newsom’s faithful backyard yapper Brandon Richards (He/Him) cites Newsom’s accomplishments on X – only these all existed before Gavin became governor, and only because California is such a beautiful state with the best weather in the country:

California’s historical prosperity cited by Brandon already existed and has for many decades – in spite of destructive Democrat governors and legislators. As one reader noted, “California is only relevant today because of the weather, investments, and political decisions made between 1940 and 1980.”

Brandon left out California’s high taxes, high cost of living – highest-in-the-nation housing costs, highest-in-the-nation gas prices, failing public schools, and loss of parental rights – which all factor in the decision to leave the state.

A more accurate depiction of Gavin’s California is this meme: highest homelessness in the country, 1/3 of all poverty in the country, huge budget deficit ($55B), lowest public K-12 reading and math scores, three year Covid lockdown by Newsom – and these numbers need to be updated!

Uhaul reports that “the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area, better known as the DFW Metroplex, is the leading U-Haul Growth Metro of 2024.”

“Charlotte, Phoenix, Lakeland and Austin complete the top five U.S. growth metros, meaning they saw the largest net gains of U-Haul^® customers taking one-way equipment into and out of metro areas last year.”

“This marks the first year that metros have been part of the do-it-yourself moving company’s annual growth reports and rankings. The U-Haul Growth Index is compiled from well over 2.5 million one-way truck, trailer and U-Box^® portable moving container transactions that occur annually in the U.S. and Canada.”

Uhaul says Florida wins with seven of the top 25 growth metros: Lakeland, Palm Bay, Jacksonville, Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers and Daytona Beach.

Texas had five metros make the cut. North Carolina had three, all in the top 14.

Florida has five of the top 25 growth cities. Tennessee, Washington and Alabama each have three. Virginia boasts two of the top four cities, Fredericksburg and Lorton, both located within 50 miles of Washington, D.C.

2024 Top 25 U-Haul Growth Metros

Ocala, Florida tops the 25 U.S. growth cities to recognize city propers (outside the leading growth metros) that are netting the most one-way U-Haul customers.

“There are two main reasons people are moving to Ocala,” said Brady Rome, U-Haul Company of Gainesville president. “The primary reason is cost of living, simply being that it’s lower than almost anywhere in the state.

2024 Top 25 U-Haul Growth Cities (city propers outside the top metros)

“State-to-state transactions from the past year reaffirm customer tendencies that have been pronounced for some time,” said John “J.T.” Taylor, U-Haul International president. “Migration to the Southeast and Southwest continues as families gauge their cost of living, job opportunities, quality of life and other factors that go into relocating to a new state. Out-migration remains prevalent for a number of markets across the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast — and particularly California.”