More people are moving away from California, U-Haul says. Where are they going?
From towers of cardboard boxes to rolls of packing tape, moving is a ritual most Californians know all too well.
On average, people in the United States will pack up and start fresh more than 11 times in their lifetime — and summer is by far the busiest moving season.
Nearly half of all moves in the country take place between Memorial Day and Labor Day, according to a July 16 report from U-Haul.
“Summer is moving season, and odds are you have seen a U-Haul truck being unloaded at a home near you,” the moving company said in the report. “Or perhaps you were the one moving.”
Where are Californians heading?
Here’s what the U-Haul 2025 Midyear Migration Trends report revealed:
Where are California residents moving in US?
According to the 2025 report by U-Haul, people from California are primarily moving to Texas, Colorado and Tennessee.
The most popular cities to move to include the Houston, Denver and Las Vegas metropolitan areas.
People are moving to California. Where are they coming from?
U-Haul said customers are mostly moving into California from cities including Denver, Seattle and Portland, Oregon.
These are the top 10 states that people moving to California come from:
1. Arizona
2. Nevada
3. Texas
4. Washington
5. Oregon
6. Colorado
7. Utah
8. Florida
9. Illinois
10. New York
Which California cities are gaining the most new arrivals?
Not everyone is packing up and leaving California.
According to the U-Haul report, many residents are just moving from one part of the state to another — and these cities are drawing the most new arrivals:
- Riverside
- Bay Area, primarily the San Francisco and San Jose metros
- San Diego
- Sacramento
- Bakersfield
How did U-Haul come up with its findings?
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, U-Haul said, the biggest metropolitan areas across the United States are growing.
This is “a change from what was seen following the COVID-19 pandemic when people took advantage of remote work and migrated to less-crowded markets,” U-Haul said in the report.
To track the trend, U-Haul analyzed one-way moves from January through July 2025 by looking at where its equipment was leaving from and headed to in the nation’s 35 largest metro areas, with populations over 2 million.
This story was originally published August 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "More people are moving away from California, U-Haul says. Where are they going?."
