Moving truck and storage company U-Haul released its annual ranking of the top states for one-way movers in 2024, and Maine topped the list for the northeastern U.S.
Though it ranked No. 13 out of all 50 states, Maine is only one of two northeastern states to crack the upper half of the rankings, with the other being Vermont at No. 20. Maine also netted the third-largest increase in one-way movers from 2023 to 2024, rising 18 places from No. 31 in 2023.
The five highest-ranked states were South Carolina, Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee. The five lowest-ranked states with the least number of one-way movers were California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
For the rest of New England, New Hampshire ranked at 33, Rhode Island at 38 and Connecticut at 41.
U-Haul compiles the listings by looking at more than 2.5 million one-way truck, trailer and moving container transactions that occur over the year, assuming that one-way movers are planning to settle permanently in the destination state. The company said that while its rankings may not correlate directly to population or economic growth, it says its growth index is an effective gauge of how well states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents.
Though the U.S. Census Bureau data on state-to-state migration for 2024 has not yet been released, Maine ranked 18 out of 50 states for net in-migration in 2023, and was the highest-ranked northeastern state overall.
