S.D. shows slight in-migration growth in annual U-Haul study

Slightly more people moved into South Dakota than out of it in the past year, according to an annual report from U-Haul.

The state’s 50.9 percent positive in-migration score ranked it 18th nationwide — up one spot from last year.

Texas and Florida led the list of in-migration states, which analyzes annual one-way U-Haul customer transactions. California ranked last with the greatest out-migration number for the sixth consecutive year.

Texas reclaimed the title of No. 1 U-Haul growth state for the seventh time in 10 years. It climbed one spot from its previous ranking behind South Carolina, which slid to No. 5 after being the leading growth state for 2024.

North Carolina and Tennessee followed Texas and Florida as prime destinations. It’s the same top five from 2024 and 2023, although in a different order.

The top 10 also includes Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Alabama and Georgia.

Among metro areas, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington took top honors as the greatest growth metro for the second consecutive year. Other top 10 metros included Charlotte, Phoenix, Nashville, Charleston, Raleigh, Atlanta and the Brownsville-McAllen corridor along the southern border of Texas.

Among individual cities, Ocala, Florida, topped the list, while Minneapolis ranked No. 14.

A similar Migration Patterns Study from Atlas Van Lines late last year revealed that South Dakota was among the top 10 states where more people moved out than moved in from Nov. 1, 2024, to Oct. 31, 2025.