The number of one-way U-Haul moving trucks arriving in Wisconsin outpaced the number of departures in 2018 and the state ranked 13th in the company’s Growth State rankings.
The rankings measure the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks entering a state versus the number of departures in a calendar year. U-Haul says the measure is not a direct correlation to population or economic growth, but the measure does provide a gauge of migration patterns.
Texas saw the largest net influx of do-it-yourself movers followed by Florida, South Carolina, Utah and Idaho.
Illinois saw the most net out-migration followed by Michigan and California. Last year marked the third time in four years that Illinois was last in the rankings.
Wisconsin saw a 5 percent decrease in both departures and arrivals from 2017 to 2018, according to U-Haul. Despite the decline, arrivals accounted for 50.1 percent of all one-way activity.
The Badger State has seen a net-gain in the U-Haul data and has been in the top half of states over the last several years, including 20th in 2017, fourth in 2016 and 13th in 2015.
U-Haul said Madison, Milwaukee and La Crosse showed the strongest gains in arrivals.
The U-Haul data presents a slightly rosier picture for Wisconsin than recent U.S. Census data, which relies on population estimates as of July 1. The Census data showed Wisconsin added 21,517 residents from 2017 to 2018, an increase of 0.37 percent that ranks 26th in the country. Most of the increase – around 68 percent – came from the number of births outpacing the number of deaths.
Wisconsin saw a net in-migration of around 7,000 residents, but that figure was primarily driven by international migration. Net domestic migration was actually down by around 1,000, according to the Census data.
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