Where Boomers Are Moving in 2026, by the Numbers

Thinking about a move? You are not alone. Millions of Americans packed up and relocated in the past year, and a report from U-Haul shows exactly where each generation is headed.

The company’s 2026 Midyear Migration Trends report covers 52 weeks of customer moves from July 2025 through June 2026. It ranks states and metro areas by net gain of one-way trucks, trailers, and U-Box containers, a solid snapshot of where people are actually going.

Where Baby Boomers Are Landing

Our generation is pointing firmly toward the South and Southeast. The Carolinas topped the boomer state rankings, with South Carolina at number one and North Carolina at number two. Florida came in third, followed by Arizona and Alabama.

The top metro destinations for boomers tell the same warm-weather story. Gainesville-Ocala, Florida led the list, followed by Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Phoenix, Arizona. Rounding out the top ten were Charleston, Lake Havasu City-Kingman, Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, Spokane, Tucson, Daytona Beach, and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Nearly every metro on the boomer list sits in the Sun Belt. The only exception was Spokane, Washington, which came in at number seven.

Where Gen X Is Going

Gen Xers (those born between 1965 and 1980) are following a very similar path. Florida was their top net-gain state, followed by Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. The only California metro on the Gen X list was San Diego, which landed at number nine.

Their top metros were heavily concentrated in Florida, with Fort Myers leading the way, followed by Charleston, North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Wilmington also made the list.

What the Younger Generations Are Doing

Millennials and Gen Z are making some different choices and their moves may surprise you. California, which ranked last on U-Haul’s 2025 Growth Index for the sixth straight year, is actually drawing younger Americans in. California came in third among net-gain states for millennials and second for Gen Z.

U-Haul noted that the two younger generations may be helping slow California’s population loss. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that California’s population fell 0.5 percent between April 2020 and July 2025, while the national population grew 3.1 percent.

For millennials, only Florida and Texas ranked higher than California. For Gen Z, only Texas did. New York came in third for Gen Z, and New York City was that generation’s top net-gain metro, with Chicago, Denver, and Seattle also in their top ten.

Millennials showed up in the Midwest as well, with Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin all in their top ten states. U-Haul attributed that pattern to career moves. Their top metros leaned Sun Belt, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Orlando led the list, with Boise and the San Francisco Bay Area as the main outliers.

A Few States That Crossed Every List

Florida was the only state to rank in the top ten for all four generations. Texas made every list except the boomers’. Idaho appeared on every list except Gen Z’s.

One note on the data: millennials and Gen X together account for more than 60 percent of U-Haul’s one-way rentals. Because moves are assigned to the generation of the person who signs the contract, some Gen X figures may reflect parents renting trucks to move their college-age kids. And since you must be 18 to rent a U-Haul truck, the youngest members of Gen Z are not counted at all.

U-Haul is not the only moving company, and plenty of people relocate without renting a truck. Still, with millions of one-way moves tracked each year, the report offers a useful look at where Americans are putting down new roots.

Full Rankings at a Glance

Baby boomers, top states:

1. South Carolina
2. North Carolina
3. Florida
4. Arizona
5. Alabama
6. Tennessee
7. Arkansas
8. Idaho
9. Oklahoma
10. Georgia