More people moved to these 4 SC cities than most others in the US in 2023, new U-Haul report says
Four South Carolina cities had big population gains in 2023, a new report from U-Haul shows.
The U-Haul Growth Index, unveiled on Wednesday, lists Charleston, North Charleston, Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach among the 25 U.S. cities that had the most population growth last year. Charleston and North Charleston were combined and ranked third highest, up from the 10th spot in 2022. Meanwhile, Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach were combined and ranked 10th highest in 2023, up from 17th a year prior.
U-Haul ranks growth cities by looking at their net gain or loss of one-way equipment from customer transactions in a calendar year. The U-Haul Growth Index is compiled from more than 2.5 million one-way trucks, trailer and U-Box moving container transactions that happen annually across the U.S. Neighboring cities in U-Haul markets are often packaged together in the rankings for migration trend purposes, the company states.
What about SC growth overall?
A separate U-Haul report released on Tuesday shows that South Carolina was again a top 10 growth state in 2023. However, South Carolina dropped a bit, ranking fourth highest in 2023, compared to third highest the previous year.
U-Haul calculates state growth with the same methods used to determine individual city growth.
U.S. Census trends
The U-Haul report falls in line with the latest U.S. Census population data for South Carolina.
The Palmetto State’s population grew by 1.7% to a total of 5,373,555 as of July 1. South Carolina was followed closely behind by Florida and Texas, both at 1.6% population growth, Census data shows.
In terms of numeric growth, South Carolina ranked fifth — gaining 90,600 year-over-year. South Carolina’s population growth only followed behind Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Texas.
The state ranked third fastest-growing in 2022 with a 1.7% increase in population, a gain of 89,368 people, Census data shows.
U-Haul top 25 growth cities for 2023
Palm Bay-Melbourne, FL
Ocala, FL
Charleston-North Charleston, SC
Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
Austin, TX
College Station-Bryan, TX
Charlotte, NC
Huntsville, AL
Dallas, TX
Myrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach, SC
Kissimmee-St. Cloud, FL
Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL
North Port, FL
Boise, ID
Wake Forest, NC
Conroe, TX
Knoxville, TN
Surprise, AZ
Auburn, Opelika, AL
Lakeland, FL
Murfreesboro, TN
Wilmington, NC
Queen Creek, AZ
Henderson, NV
Nampa, ID
U-Haul top 10 growth states for 2023
Texas
Florida
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Idaho
Washington
Arizona
Colorado
Virginia
