Overview
- U-Haul’s 2025 Growth Index, drawn from more than 2.5 million one-way rentals, found 50.6% of California customers left the state versus 49.4% arriving.
- The most common destinations for Californians using U-Haul were Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Texas, with Texas ranking as the top growth state nationally.
- Official tallies show California’s population ticked up 0.05% to 39.5 million in the year ending July 2025, even as roughly 216,000 residents moved out.
- Demographers cite cost of living and housing affordability as the leading reasons for sustained net out-migration, with partisanship viewed as an occasional contributing factor.
- Editorial coverage framed moves as policy driven and highlighted reports of billionaire relocations tied to a proposed wealth tax, while U-Haul’s broader analysis noted growth concentrations in Republican-led states.