U-Haul Growth Metros and Cities of 2024: Dallas is Top Metro for In-Migration

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 3, 2025--

The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area, better known as the DFW Metroplex, is the leading U-Haul Growth Metro of 2024.

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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.

“We are seeing unprecedented growth in the Dallas metro area, both within the city and also suburbs like McKinney, Plano and Addison,” said Sean Fullerton, U-Haul Company of South Central Dallas president. “The cost of living is also extremely reasonable throughout the whole metro. Job growth has led to wages and earnings going up, and tax breaks have led to a lot of people moving to the area.”

Press release:U-Haul Ranks Top 50 Growth States of 2024

Florida boasts seven of the top 25 growth metros, with Lakeland joined by 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.

2024 Top 25 U-Haul Growth Metros

Ocala Tops Growth Cities List

U-Haul also announced its top 25 U.S. growth cities to recognize city propers (outside the leading growth metros) that are netting the most one-way U-Haul customers.

Ocala tops that list for the second time after ranking first in 2022 and second in 2023. It is the fifth consecutive year a Florida destination has headlined the U-Haul growth city rankings.

“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. It allows housing to be a more affordable option for families packing up their U-Haul and moving to central Florida. The second reason is the job market, which remains strong with the addition of so many manufacturing jobs. The healthcare industry has also seen massive growth in the past year and is a driving force of employment. And you can’t go without mentioning Ocala is the ‘Horse Capital of the World.’ The equestrian center is huge and continues to bring people here.”

The Sunshine State 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 Cities (city propers outside the top metros)

While U-Haul rankings may not correlate directly to population or economic growth, the U-Haul Growth Index is an effective gauge of how well states, metros and cities 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 23,000-plus U-Haul rental locations provides a broad overview of where people are moving like no one else in the industry.

U-Haul continues to benefit the environment through its shared-use business model. Truck and trailer sharing empowers communities to share moving equipment so that families and individuals don’t need to own large-capacity vehicles to transfer belongings. Sustainability initiatives like U-Haul Adaptive Reuse (the preserving and repurposing of existing buildings for new stores), truck modifications to improve fuel economy, and plastic Ready-To-Go Boxes ® that are shared hundreds of times before being recycled are among the ways U-Haul promotes green business. U-Box Load Share, the Company’s latest sustainability program, continues to earn awards for providing ecofriendly solutions to today’s gig economy.

About U-HAUL

Founded in 1945, U-Haul is the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers with more than 23,000 rental locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The U-Haul app makes it easy for customers to use U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 to access trucks anytime through the self-dispatch and -return options on their smartphones with our patented Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to 192,000 trucks, 138,700 trailers and 39,500 towing devices. U-Haul is the third largest self-storage operator in North America with 1,024,000 rentable units and 88.5 million square feet of self-storage space at Company-owned and -managed facilities. U-Haul is the top retailer of propane in the U.S. and the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry. Get the U-Haul app from theApp StoreorGoogle Play.

U-Haul named its top U.S. growth metros and cities of 2024 based on one-way customer moves last year. Dallas ranks first among all metro areas, while Ocala (Fla.) is the leading city proper. (Photo: Business Wire)

After a rocky few years and the disbanding of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes have seemingly stabilized. Now the question is: Can they still put on a good show?

The 82nd Golden Globes, beginning Sunday night at 8 p.m. EST, will hope to rekindle some of the frothy comic energy of the days when Ricky Gervais or Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted. Last year's comeback edition, hosted by Jo Koy, was widely panned, but it delivered where it counted: Ratings rebounded to about 10 million viewers, according to Nielsen. CBS signed up for five more years.

This time, comedian Nikki Glaser will be emceeing the ceremony from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. The Globes, now owned by Todd Boehly's Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions, will be broadcast live by CBS and available to stream live for subscribers to Paramount+ with Showtime beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.

While Glaser doesn't have as widely seen contenders as last year, when “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” were the headliners, the show does promise about as much star power as Hollywood can muster. Nominees including Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig, Denzel Washington, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Selena Gomez.

Jacques Audiard's Netflix musical “Emilia Pérez” comes in as the lead nominee, with 10 nods, followed by Brady Corbet's postwar epic “The Brutalist,” with seven, and Edward Berger's papal thriller “Conclave,” with six. Among the top-nominated series are “The Bear,” “Shogun" and “Only Murders in the Building.”

Here are a few things to look for heading into Sunday's Globes:

The best actor in a drama category is a bruiser, with a field of Ralph Fiennes ("Conclave"), Adrien Brody ("The Brutalist"), Daniel Craig ("Queer"), Colman Domingo ("Sing Sing"), Sebastian Stan ("The Apprentice") and Chalamet, for the Bob Dylan film “A Complete Unknown.” While Fiennes or Brody might take it, a win for Chalamet would be the first major award for the 29-year-old star — and surely would get the Oscar talk going.

Just days before the Globes, Blake Lively sued “It Ends With Us” director Justin Baldoni and several others tied to the romantic drama, alleging harassment and a coordinated campaign to attack her reputation for coming forward about her treatment on the set. Baldoni, who has denied it, joined in a suit accusing The New York Times for libel in its story on her allegations.

Whether or not any of this gets mentioned on the Beverly Hilton Ballroom stage, it will surely be on the minds of many attendees. Among the nominees for box-office achievement is “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which star and was co-produced by Ryan Reynolds, Lively's husband. Glaser, whose sharply barbed jokes at a roast of Tom Brady helped catapult her to this moment, isn't known for biting her tongue.

“Emilia Pérez” may have be favored over “Wicked” for the best comedy or musical award, but Jon M. Chu’s theatrical hit is also in the mix for the Globes’ nascent cinematic box office achievement award. Either, or both, of the leading ladies of ”Wicked” could also win: Erivo in the leading actress category, and Grande in supporting.

The Globes, taking place about two weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, could get very political if presenters and winners are so inclined to continue what's been a mutually antagonistic relationship between Hollywood and Trump. That may be unlikely, though; so far in Hollywood's awards season, most nominees have tried to stay out of the fray.

That's with a major exception, though, in “The Apprentice,” the young Trump drama starring Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong. Both were nominated by the Globes. Stan was also nominated a second time for his performance in “A Different Man.”

It's been an unusually uncertain awards season so far in many respects. No one movie has really stepped forward as the leading best picture contender, though several films — including “Conclave,” “Anora,” “Wicked," “Emilia Pérez” and “The Brutalist” — can all make a decent case. The Globes don't typically do much to sort out the field, but a strong showing from any of the above could add fuel to their Oscar campaign.

For more coverage of the 2025 Golden Globe Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/golden-globe-awards

Barry Adelman, from left, Nikki Glaser, Helen Hoehne, and Glenn Weiss roll out the red carpet during the 82nd Golden Globes press preview on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)