U-Haul stats: NM ranks 19th in latest growth index

Matthew Narvaiz, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read
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Jan. 3—U-Haul's annual growth index shows that slightly more people rented U-Haul trucks to come to New Mexico in 2022 than to leave the state — but barely.

The numbers show a significant change from 2021, when there was a much larger percentage of people arriving than leaving.

New Mexico ranked No. 19 for 2022 in U-Haul's growth index, a drop of nine spots from the previous year.

According to U-Haul, New Mexico's departures increased by 6% year over year, while people who arrived to New Mexico increased nearly 5% from 2021.

But arrivals still led New Mexico's U-Haul traffic in and out of the state at 50.3%, with departures totaling 49.7%.

U-Haul tracks the data in every state across the country, including Washington, D.C. but excluding Hawaii, "according to the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a state or city, versus departing from that state or city, in a calendar year," the company said in a news release Tuesday.

For New Mexico, the No. 19 ranking is a drop from 2021's ranking of No. 10 when arrivals had increased more than 15% and departures increased 11% from 2020. New Mexico ranked No. 39 in 2020.

U-Haul said New Mexico's top growth market is Las Cruces, the same as it was in 2021. "Other notable net-gain markets include Taos, Santa Fe, Los Lunas, Carlsbad, Ruidoso-Ruidoso Downs, Belen, Truth or Consequences, Gallup and Alamogordo," the news release said.

Texas and Florida topped U-Haul's top performing states for growth rates, the second year in a row for Texas in the No. 1 spot. Florida, on the other hand, has been a top three growth state for the past seven years in U-Haul's rankings.

Texas and Florida also topped the latest federal population estimates in percent and numeric growth.

Other top-10 U-Haul growth states were South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio and Idaho, respectively.

"The 2022 trends in migration followed very similar patterns to 2021 with Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and the Southwest continuing to see solid growth," said John Taylor, U-Haul International president. "We still have areas with strong demand for one-way rentals. While overall migration in 2021 was record-breaking, we continue to experience significant customer demand to move out of some geographic areas to destinations at the top of our growth list."