PHOENIX, Jan. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- North Port,
Fla., ranks as the top U-Haul® growth city in America for 2020,
according to Company data analyzing U.S. migration trends during
one of the more turbulent moving seasons in modern history.
North Port is the No. 1 growth
city as 3 Florida markets top the list of 25 cities where U-Haul
customers moved in 2020.
North Port, an up-and-coming
district in Sarasota County with
easy access to the Gulf Coast and Interstate 75, leads the list of
cities that saw many more do-it-yourself movers coming rather than
going in 2020 – a year defined by the coronavirus pandemic.
Kissimmee, at the doorstep to
world-famous theme parks, retains its No. 2 ranking on the list.
Port St. Lucie gives Florida a sweep of the top three growth
markets. Alabama's Auburn-Opelika corridor climbs to No. 4, while the
Wisconsin capital of Madison – the leading growth city of 2016 –
rounds out the top five.
Thirteen of the top 25 growth cities are in the Southeast, with
five in Florida. Tennessee, the top U-Haul growth state of
2020, lands two cities on the list along with Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Texas and Wisconsin.
Despite California's
out-migration numbers that rank it last among growth states, the
markets of Sacramento-Roseville and Redding made the growth cities list as popular
destinations for movers aiming to stay in-state.
Growth cities are calculated by the net gain of one-way U-Haul
trucks entering a city versus leaving that city in a calendar year.
Migration trends data is compiled from more than 2 million one-way
U-Haul truck customer transactions that occur annually. Neighboring
cities in certain markets are packaged together for U-Haul
migration purposes.
"People are packing up their U-Haul trucks and heading to
North Port because it's an
affordable place to live, and it's central to Fort Myers and Sarasota," said Dave
Thompson, U-Haul Company of Western Florida president. "I'm not surprised
North Port is the new No. 1 U-Haul
growth city because the atmosphere is relaxed, and it's close to
the beaches. Everyone wants to live in paradise. The North Port area is expanding. There are new
shopping centers and restaurants everywhere you look. The Atlanta
Braves baseball team just moved their spring training site to
North Port. There's something for
everyone here."
Arrivals of one-way U-Haul trucks into
North Port jumped 40% while
departures rose just 13% compared to the city's 2019 numbers.
Arrivals accounted for 62.3% of all one-way U-Haul traffic in the
North Port area.
Additional U.S. growth cities with substantial spikes in
customer arrivals include Kissimmee (30%), Knoxville (23%), Tyler (21%), Ashville (28%) and Charleston (40%).
"We have an influx of customers moving to Kissimmee because the cost of living is
relatively low," said Miguel
Caminos, U-Haul Company of Orlando president. "Year-over-year population
and median household income is growing 3% to 5% annually. Keep in
mind this is a small city, not really a metro like neighboring
Orlando. One of the major draws
for most people considering a move here is all the activities and
attractions."
While U-Haul migration trends do not correlate directly to
population or economic growth, the Company's growth data is an
effective gauge of how well cities and states are attracting and
maintaining residents.
U-Haul is the authority on migration trends thanks to its
expansive network that blankets all 50 states and 10 Canadian
provinces. The geographical coverage from more than 22,000 U-Haul
truck- and trailer-sharing locations provides a comprehensive
overview of where people are moving like no one else in the
industry. Find local U-Haul stores and neighborhood dealers at
uhaul.com/locations.
2020 U-HAUL GROWTH CITIES
1.
|
North Port,
FL
|
2.
|
Kissimmee, FL
(2)
|
3.
|
Port St. Lucie, FL
(6)
|
4.
|
Auburn-Opelika, AL
(12)
|
5.
|
Madison,
WI
|
6.
|
Ocala, FL
(3)
|
7.
|
Knoxville,
TN
|
8.
|
Surprise,
AZ
|
9.
|
St. George, UT
(20)
|
10.
|
Tyler, TX
|
11.
|
Sacramento-Roseville,
CA
|
12.
|
Johnson
City-Kingsport, TN
|
13.
|
Milwaukee,
WI
|
14.
|
Asheville,
NC
|
15.
|
Huntsville, AL
(13)
|
16.
|
Redding,
CA
|
17.
|
Charleston,
SC
|
18.
|
Athens, GA
|
19.
|
Colorado Spring,
CO
|
20.
|
Edmond, OK
|
21.
|
Fort Wayne,
IN
|
22.
|
Augusta,
GA
|
23.
|
Melbourne,
FL
|
24.
|
Conroe, TX
|
25.
|
Fort Collins,
CO
|
* Previous year's rankings in parentheses, if applicable.
About U-Haul
Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of
do-it-yourself movers, with a network of 22,000 locations across
all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7
offers secure access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day
through the customer dispatch option on their smartphones and our
proprietary Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has
enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to approximately 176,000 trucks,
127,000 trailers and 41,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly
774,000 rentable storage units and 66.7 million square feet of
self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout
North America. U-Haul is the
largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive
aftermarket industry, and is the largest retailer of propane in the
U.S.
Contact:
Jeff Lockridge
Sebastien Reyes
E-mail: publicrelations@uhaul.com
Phone: 602-760-4941
Website: uhaul.com
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SOURCE U-Haul