Tennessee migration: New residents seek out 'Good Ol' Rocky Top' at record rate

Sandy Mazza, Nashville Tennessean
A skyline of housing in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, April 29, 2023.

It's not just Dolly Parton and the Osborne Brothers pining for "Good Ol' Rocky Top" while suffering "Tennessee Homesick Blues."

An estimated 96 new Middle Tennessee residents flooded the region each day of 2022.

Maybe it's the "grits and gravy and country ham" Parton sings about.

Or the low taxes.

Either way, the Volunteer State's population continues to surge thanks to in-migration, along with other popular southern destinations such as Texas, Florida and the Carolinas. Texas has been named the top-growth state six times in the past eight years.

Meanwhile, higher-cost states such as California, Illinois and New Jersey continue to shed residents.

"The expansion of the South — the nation’s most populous region — accounted for 87% of the nation’s growth in 2023, as the region added over 1.4 million residents," U.S. Census Bureau officials wrote in a December report. "The South is the only region to have maintained population growth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth in 2023 can largely be attributed to the region’s migration patterns as 706,266 people were added via net domestic migration, while net international migration contributed almost 500,000 to the total."

U.S. Census data estimates that almost 50,000 new people called the Nashville-Murfreesboro-Franklin region home in 2021 and 2022.

Maybe they're after something like what the Osborne Brothers sought:

"Wish that I was on old Rocky Top. Down in the Tennessee hills. Ain't no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top. Ain't no telephone bills."

Why move to Nashville? U-Haul ranks Tennessee No. 5 in U.S.

Regional Census data for 2023 is not yet available. But U-Haul's annual Growth Index reveals that it was another banner year for migration to the Volunteer State.

Tennessee was the fifth-most popular final destination last year for one-way-moving customers of U-Haul, a moving services company.

"I’m not surprised Tennessee remains a top-10 growth state,” stated Chris Hardin, president at U-Haul Company. "It’s tax friendly, offers a low cost of living and has something for everyone."

Statewide, 77,513 new residents were counted by the U.S. Census from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023.

In 2022, Tennessee was sixth on the list of top one-way U-Haul destinations, according to data encompassing more than 2.5 million one-way transactions in the U.S. and Canada. Cities in the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast continue to shed population while the Southeast enjoys — or laments, depending on perspective — sustained record growth.

Where TN cities rank: These are the Tennessee cities where population decreased, increased the most

"I see a lot of people from California and Florida moving here because they can sell their million-dollar homes and pocket a good chunk of that because of the housing affordability in Tennessee," Hardin said. "I also notice a lot of people coming to Tennessee to retire. Again, it’s affordable so your money goes a long way. That’s huge for people living on a fixed income."

According to U-Haul, Tennessee’s top-growing cities are Knoxville, Murfreesboro, Clarksville and Chattanooga. Nashville, Cookeville, Crossville, Dickson, Maryville, Hendersonville, Cleveland, Old Hickory and Johnson City also experienced high population gains.

"Migration to states in the southeast and southwest is still very pronounced," said U-Haul International President John "J.T." Taylor. "While one-way transactions in 2023 remained below the record-breaking levels we witnessed immediately following the pandemic, we continued to see many of the same geographical trends from U-Haul customers moving between states."

Top destinations for U-Haul moves in 2023

The U-Haul Growth Index is compiled from more than 2.5 million one-way U-Haul truck, trailer and U-Box moving container transactions that occur annually across the U.S. and Canada.

Top one-way destinations with U-Haul in 2023 are:

  • Texas

  • Florida

  • North Carolina

  • South Carolina

  • Tennessee

  • Idaho

  • Washington

  • Arizona

  • Virginia

  • Nevada

U-Haul Growth Index: States with lowest demand

Higher-cost states like California, Massachusetts and Illinois landed at the bottom of the list with the least number of one-way moves.

  • California

  • Massachusetts

  • Illinois

  • New Jersey

  • Michigan

  • Louisiana

  • Maryland

  • New York

  • Connecticut

  • Oklahoma

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why is Nashville growing so fast? Hint: It's not 'California Love'

Advertisement