People flocked to this North Carolina city in 2024. Now, it ranks No. 1 in US — again
North Carolina is home to the nation’s hottest place for people to start calling home — again, a new report finds.
Wilmington ranks No. 1 on a list of metropolitan areas that attracted new residents in 2024, according to data the moving company United Van Lines shared with McClatchy News on Jan. 2.
The city, near popular beach destinations, wasn’t the only North Carolina-based metro to receive recognition. The Charlotte, Raleigh and Hickory areas also ranked among the top places people flocked to last year, according to moving companies.
Wilmington topped its list after United Van Lines said it studied thousands of moves in metro areas across 48 states and Washington, D.C. It studied the percentage of people moving into and out of each place to determine where they settled down.
What makes Wilmington rank No. 1?
When compared to all metro areas across the country, Wilmington reigned supreme with 83% of inbound moves compared to 17% outbound, results show.
The Wilmington area regained the top spot that it held in the 2022 rankings, when United Van Lines praised the area for its “large historic district, vibrant riverfront” and proximity to the coast. The metro had slipped to the No. 2 spot on the 2023 list, McClatchy News reported.
The latest results were published as U-Haul shared similar lists in early January. The moving company in a news release said it studied “net gains of U-Haul customers taking one-way equipment into and out of metro areas” in 2024.
On both the U-Haul and United Van Lines lists, North Carolina ranked among the top 10 states gaining new people.
“While U-Haul rankings may not correlate directly to population or economic growth, the U-Haul Growth Index is an effective gauge of how well states, metros and cities are attracting and maintaining residents,” the company wrote.
Here’s how other North Carolina-based metros fared in the national rankings:
- Hickory at No. 9 for all metros (United Van Lines)
- Charlotte at No. 1 and Raleigh at No. 8 for larger metros (United Van Lines)
- Charlotte at No. 2 and Raleigh at No. 7 for all metros (U-Haul)
After Wilmington, these metros rounded out the nation’s top five favorite places to move, per United Van Lines:
- Springfield, Missouri, at No. 2
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at No. 3
- Flagstaff, Arizona, at No. 4
- Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas, at No. 5
This story was originally published January 3, 2025 at 1:20 PM.
