Houston tops list of most popular destinations for movers in U.S.

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This explains all the traffic. Sky Noir Photography by Bill Dickinson/Getty Images

Houston has moved up in Penske Truck Rental’s annual ranking of the country’s most popular moving destinations.

In 2021, Houston ranked first among the hottest U.S. moving destinations, Penske says. That’s up from the No. 6 position in 2020.

“It’s not hard to see why Houston is an attractive city for many people. A booming job market combined with low cost of living and sunny weather year-round make Houston a great choice for building a life and raising a family,” says Life Storage, an operator of self-storage facilities.

From 2020 to 2021, the Houston metro area gained 78,220 residents, putting it in third place for numeric population growth among U.S. metros (behind Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix, and just ahead of Austin).

Houston shares the Penske top 10 with three other places in Texas:

  • Sixth-ranked San Antonio, up from No. 9 the previous year.
  • Seventh-ranked Dallas, up from No. 8 the previous year.
  • Ninth-ranked Austin, down from No. 4 the previous year.

Penske compiles the annual list by analyzing one-way consumer truck rental reservations made over a 12-month span.

Houston and its big-city counterparts in Texas continue to see their populations swell for a number of reasons, including warm weather, no state income tax, relatively low housing costs, and plentiful job opportunities. From 2010 to 2020, Texas posted the third largest population increase (15.9 percent) among the states, with Utah ranked first and Idaho ranked second, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“There are lots of places in America with jobs and lower climate risks or jobs and racial diversity, but if you want all three, Texas will take care of you best,” The New York Timesnoted in 2021.

U-Haul, another provider of moving trucks, ranked Texas as the No. 1 destination for DIY movers in 2021.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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3 Houston innovators who made headlines in May 2025

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