on the move

Houston was a top-3 U.S. destination for movers in 2025, U-Haul says

Houston attracted more newcomers than almost all other U.S. metros in 2025.

Houston attracted more newcomers than nearly all other U.S. metros in 2025, according to a new migration report from U-Haul.

The Houston metro ranked No. 2 nationally in U-Haul's annual list of the top destinations for people on the move in 2025.

U-Haul's annual Top U.S. Growth Metros and Cities report is based on how many one-way transactions were made by do-it-yourself movers using a U-Haul truck, trailer, or U-Box moving container across the U.S. and Canada. According to the study's methodology, more than 2.5 million one-way moves took place in North America in 2025.

Houston ranked just one spot behind No.1-winner Dallas-Fort Worth, and the metro last ranked No. 9 in the 2024 migration report.

Additionally, Texas reclaimed the No. 1 spot as U-Haul's Top Growth State in 2025, which was held by South Carolina in 2024.

"U-Haul customers arriving in Texas accounted for 50.7 percent of all one-way traffic in and out of the state last year (49.3 percent leaving)," the report said. "Compared to 2024, customers coming to Texas rose 3 percent [year-over-year] while departures rose just 1 percent [year-over-year]."

Austin appeared behind Dallas and Houston to round out the top three U.S. growth metros for 2025. In 2024, Austin ranked as the No. 5 most-moved-to destination nationwide.

The far-flung Houston suburb Conroe ranked No. 20 in U-Haul's separate list of the top growth cities for 2025, after previously ranking 16th nationally in 2023.

"We continue to find that life circumstances — marriage, children, a death in the family, college, jobs and other events — dictate the need for most moves," said U-Haul International president John "J.T." Taylor. "But other factors can be important to people who are looking to change their surroundings. In-migration states are often appealing to those customers."

The top 10 growth metros in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
No. 2 – Houston, Texas
No. 3 – Austin, Texas
No. 4 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 5 – Phoenix, Arizona
No. 6 – Nashville, Tennessee
No. 7 – Charleston, South Carolina
No. 8 – Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 9 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 10 – Brownsville & McAllen, Texas

moving population growth population reports houston

millennial magnet

Houston stars among 30 hottest U.S. metros for millennial homebuyers

Photo by Jose Losada on Unsplash

Houston is a millennial magnet.

Houston and its surrounding cities have already proved to be magnets for millennials, and now a new national housing report has established the city as one of the 15 hottest destinations for millennials, whose local homeownership rate has nearly doubled since 2018.

The number of millennials who own their homes in Houston has grown from 227,365 to 418,698 households over the last five years (84.2 percent), according to a new housing analysis from RentCafe.

The study compared homeowner growth rates versus renter growth rates of millennials — based on Pew Research Center's definition as individuals born between 1981 and 1996 — across 107 U.S. metro areas from 2018 to 2023.

Houston ranked No. 29 in the overall list of U.S. metros that have seen the highest increase in millennial homeowners since 2018. About 49 percent of all Houston-area millennials own their homes, with the remaining 51 percent renting, the report found.

Houston also ranked 22nd in the national list of cities with the biggest growth rates among millennial-age renters. The number of millennial renter households jumped from 397,410 to 439,371 in five years, a 10.6 percent hike.

About 5.3 million millennials have become homeowners over the last five years nationwide, RentCafe's analysts said, which represents a massive 74 percent increase in millennial-owned households. The growth rate of renters was much lower in comparison.

"At the same time, the number of millennial renters in the U.S. rose by a modest 5 percent, adding approximately 600,000 households," RentCafe said. "This brings the total number of millennial homeowner households to 12.4 million, close to the 12.6 million millennial renter households."

While the rate of millennial homeowners is on the rise, the same can't be said for Gen Zers. Less than 15 percent of all Gen Z households in Houston own their homes, while the vast majority are renters, a separate RentCafe study found.

Elsewhere across the state, Austin (No. 7) and San Antonio (No. 10) ranked among the top 10 U.S. cities with the biggest growth rates among millennial homeowners.

The top 10 U.S. metros with the highest gains in millennial homeowners are:

No. 1 – North Port, Florida
No. 2 – Lakeland, Florida
No. 3 – Jacksonville, Florida
No. 4 – Stockton, California
No. 5 – Oxnard, California
No. 6 – Palm Bay, Florida
No. 7 – Austin, Texas
No. 8 – Tuscon, Arizona
No. 9 – Deltona, Florida
No. 10 – San Antonio, Texas

rentcafe study real estate housing report millennials houston

on the move

Houston was a top-3 U.S. destination for movers in 2025, U-Haul says

millennial magnet

Houston stars among 30 hottest U.S. metros for millennial homebuyers

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