Dallas repeats as leading metro, Ocala repeats as leading city proper on migration trends lists

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2026-- Second verse, same as the first. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area once again takes top honors as the No. 1 U-Haul growth metro, replicating its 2024 honor with the greatest net gain of one-way customers during 2025.

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Dallas is the leading U.S. growth metropolitan area for the second year in a row based on one-way U-Haul customer transactions throughout 2025. Texas boasts the top three metros and six of the top 25. Ocala tops the U-Haul Growth Index as the No. 1 U.S. growth city proper for the third time in four years. Florida dominates the growth cities list with eight of the top 10 markets, and 12 of the top 25.

Likewise, the city proper of Ocala, Fla., retains the title of No. 1 U-Haul growth city, a distinction it also held for 2024 and 2022.

Metros: Texas stronghold

Texas metros litter the latest U-Haul Growth Index, claiming the top three spots (Dallas, Houston, Austin) and six of the top 25 growth metros.

Top 10 metros for netting do-it-yourself movers in 2025 also include Charlotte, Phoenix, Nashville, Charleston, Raleigh, Atlanta and the Brownsville-McAllen corridor along the southern border of Texas.

Some major metros to make the top 25 did so by reversing recent migration trends: San Francisco, Denver and Philadelphia saw more orange-clad moving equipment leaving than arriving in 2024, only to post strong net-gain numbers in 2025.

Cities: Florida dominates

When it comes to cities luring U-Haul customers, Florida again rules the roost. The Sunshine State has eight of the top 10 growth cities and 12 of the top 25 for the past year.

North Port, Kissimmee and Clermont join Ocala as Florida growth cities in the top five, along with Myrtle Beach, S.C.Texas has four city propers make the list, while Idaho has two.

Several smaller cities are making their U-Haul Growth Index debuts such as St. Augustine, Fla.; Seguin, Texas; Leesburg, Fla.; Garner, N.C.; and Lacey, Wash.

Growth formula

U-Haul ranks metropolitan areas and city propers by their net gain (or loss) of customers who rented a one-way truck, trailer or U-Box^® moving containers in one metro or city proper and dropped off their equipment in another metro or city proper. Interstate and intrastate transactions are included.

The U-Haul Growth Index is compiled from well over 2.5 million annual one-way transactions across the U.S. and Canada.

While 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. Find migration trends press releases and past reports at uhaul.com/about/migration.

Industry leader

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 24,000 rental locations provides a comprehensive overview of where people are moving like no one else in the industry.

Celebrating 80 years of moving families to a better life, U-Haul is a veteran-founded and family-run organization that benefits the environment through its shared-use business model.

U-Haul strives to ease the stress of a residential move by providing customers with one month of free self-storage services at a U-Haul-owned facility near their destination when they make a qualifying one-way equipment rental. Take advantage of the free month offer on the U-Haul app, uhaul.com, in store or by calling 1-800-GO-UHAUL.

About U-HAUL

Founded in 1945, U-Haul is the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers with more than 24,000 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 approximately 203,000 trucks, 137,400 trailers and 41,700 towing devices. U-Haul is the third largest self-storage operator in North America and offers 1,111,000 rentable storage units and 96.5 million square feet of self-storage space at 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 the App Store or Google Play .

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260106117347/en/

Jeff Lockridge
Sebastien Reyes
E-mail: publicrelations@uhaul.com
Phone: 602-760-4941
Website: uhaul.com

Source: U-Haul Holding Company