PHOENIX, Ariz. (Jan. 3, 2024) — The Jacksonville metropolitan area is the 11th leading U-Haul Growth Metro of 2024.
The Greater Jacksonville market, which includes growing communities like St. Augustine and Neptune Beach, posted the 11th largest net gain of U-Haul® customers using one-way moving equipment to and from metro areas last year in the U.S.
The Dallas-Fort Worth (Texas) Metroplex tops the growth metro list, followed by Charlotte (N.C), Phoenix (Ariz.), Lakeland (Fla.) and Austin (Texas). 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. This is the first year that metropolitan areas have been part of the annual growth reports and rankings.
“Jacksonville is a place where everybody fits in and enjoys living here,” stated Gina Rhoda, U-Haul Company of Jacksonville president. “Everyone seems to be happy. You feel welcomed anywhere you go in the city, which makes people want to stay. Jacksonville doesn’t feel clustered like other big cities do. You are five minutes away from everything you need, and yet when you’re at home, you don’t see or hear any of the noise.
“Greater Jacksonville is a family-friendly area as well. There are museums, the Jacksonville Zoo, professional sports teams, the beach, golf courses, and the St. Augustine Alligator Farm that residents and visitors both enjoy. There are new outdoor town centers and malls being built all over the area. We are also near an Amazon® facility and military bases that bring people here for work.”
Florida boasts seven of the top 25 U.S. growth metros, Texas has five and North Carolina has three.
2024 U-Haul Growth Metros
1. Dallas, TX
2. Charlotte, NC
3. Phoenix, AZ
4. Lakeland, FL
5. Austin, TX
6. Nashville, TN
7. Raleigh, NC
8. Palm Bay, FL
9. Houston, TX
10. Greenville, SC
11. Jacksonville, FL
12. Tampa, FL
13. Charleston, SC
14. Wilmington, NC
15. Sarasota, FL
16. Fort Myers, FL
17. Boise, ID
18. Richmond, VA
19. Bend, OR
20. Indianapolis, IN
21. Brownsville & McAllen, TX
22. Tyler, TX
23. Daytona Beach, FL
24. Spokane, WA
25. Springdale, AR
* The metro areas of McAllen and Brownsville are combined for U-Haul analytic purposes.
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 the App Store or Google Play.
Contact:
Jeff Lockridge E-mail: publicrelations@uhaul.com
Phone: 602-760-4941 Website: uhaul.com