While one potential negative sign looms, Florida remains a population boom state

The Florida migration parade keeps on marching forward. 

The latest news: A pair of leading moving companies cite the Sunshine State as a top state people are moving to nationwide. 

One report, the annual U-Haul Growth Index, counts four Florida cities among the top 25 across the country for one-way destinations, including North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, at No. 6, and Lakeland, at No. 21. Ocala is No. 1, with a 6% year-over-year increase in arrivals against a 1% increase in departures. The Palm Bay-Melbourne region is No. 4.

Florida, overall, is the No. 2 state for in-migration in U-Haul trucks and vans, behind Texas and ahead of South Carolina. It’s the second year in a row Florida is in the No. 2 slot and the seventh consecutive year as a top-three in-migration state, according to a statement. 

In addition, 2022 marks the third consecutive year a Florida city topped the U-Haul list. The Kissimmee-St. Cloud MSA was No. 1 in 2021, the release states; the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton was No. 1 in 2020. (The Greater Sarasota-Bradenton market was No. 4 in 2021.) The Sacramento-Roseville, California, area is No. 2 on the 2022 list, behind Ocala, while Madison, Wisconsin, is No. 3. 

The U-Haul Growth Index is compiled from the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a city or state versus departing from that city or state in a calendar year. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 2 million one-way U-Haul truck transactions that occur annually across the U.S. and Canada.

One notable data point in the U-Haul report is a sign Florida could be losing its sought-after luster: People arriving in Florida in one-way U-Haul trucks dropped 10% in 2022 from 2021, the report found. On the flip side, people already here don’t want to leave, as departures fell nearly 11% in 2022 from 2021.  

The reasons officials cite for Florida’s prowess in attracting new people remains the same, coming down, in a word, to climate. That’s not just the sunshine but in tax climate, a business-friendly climate and more. “You’re going to have a better employment rate in Florida than anywhere in the U.S. There are plenty of job opportunities, and both businesses and residents find the tax benefits here very attractive,” U-Haul Co. of Gainesville President Brady Rome says in the statement. “When you have warm weather, beaches and amusement parks, there’s a lot of tourism. We see an influx of people every year from tourism. Many visitors choose to move here permanently.”

A United Van Lines report on the top 10 places its customers moved to in 2021, meanwhile, includes three Florida locales: Punta Gorda at No. 5,  Sarasota-Bradenton at No. 7 and Fort Myers-Cape Coral at No. 10.