Following analysis of its 2024 Growth Index data, officials with U-Haul® have noted that Kentucky finished 25th out of 50 states in growth last year — based on one-way customer transactions.
This is four spots up from its 2023 ranking, and it’s the first time the Bluegrass registered as a top 25 growth state since 2020.
U-Haul customers coming to Kentucky accounted for 50% of all one-way traffic in and out of the state last year, and in a look at year-over-year changes, U-Haul arrivals into Kentucky fell 1.5%, while departures fell more than 2% as overall moving traffic slowed.
Fewer people leaving resulted in a higher ratio of incoming traffic to outgoing traffic.
Chris Minnich, U-Haul Company of Louisville president, said Kentucky is growing because the state has “pushed to generate more revenue and bring more businesses here.”
He also cited that a huge battery factory coming to the Shelbyville area, coupled with Georgetown’s largest-in-the-world Toyota® plant, helps, while Louisville has Ford® plants all over its area.
Minnich also noted that a combination of metro and rural areas across the state makes a difference. Metro areas aren’t so big that one gets stuck in traffic for hours, and a landscape with hills, lakes and caves helps with tourism.
Kentucky, he closed, is “the leader of the bourbon industry – and a lot of jobs revolve around bourbon,” and there are a lot of horse breeders that live throughout the state and make that their business. As such, “there is a lot to like about Kentucky.”
Kentucky’s notable leading growth cities include: Berea, Bowling Green, Campbellsville, Danville, Elizabethtown, Elsmere, Georgetown, Leitchfield, Lexington, London, Paducah, Richmond, Shelbyville, Shepherdsville and Somerset.
North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee round out the top five growth states for 2024. It’s the same top five from 2023, but in a slightly different order.
For the fifth year in a row, California ranks dead last, 50th, with the largest net loss of one-way U-Haul customers.
Oklahoma (+30), Indiana (+19) and Maine (+18) are the biggest risers, while Colorado (-31), Nevada (-24), Wyoming (-22) and New Mexico (-21) saw the biggest slides.
South Carolina climbs three spots to dethrone Texas as the No. 1 growth state.
