Why are Texans moving to Tennessee

U-Haul data shows that more people moved to Tennessee than any other state last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, Texas led the way in U-Haul-based migration growth from 2016 to 2018 until Florida took the top spot in 2019. However, like other trends that were disrupted during the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 saw the rise in movers to Tennessee. And as a result, Texas and Florida were bumped down to second and third place, respectively.

Read more: Elon Musk and other tech powerhouses are flocking to Texas, pushing an already bonkers real-estate market to new heights. Take a look inside Austin, which is quickly becoming the next Silicon Valley.

On the opposite end, since 2016, California has ranked at the bottom three of U-Haul's list, and 2020 was no exception: last year, California plummeted to the absolute bottom of the list, which is no surprise given the recent Silicon Valley defection trend.

According to Jeff Porter, the president of U-Haul in Nashville, people are migrating from California to Tennessee because of the southeastern state's lack of income tax but plentiful supply of jobs. 

"Nashville is ever-growing, and even the era of COVID-19 isn't slowing that," Porter said in a statement on U-Haul's release. "We were seeing movement before the virus hit, but I think the situation has pushed a lot more people away from the west coast to our state."

One-way U-Haul users headed to Tennessee increased 12% year-over-year, while trucks leaving increased 9%, according to U-Haul. Arriving trucks made up 50.6% of one-way U-Haul users in the state. 

After the coronavirus-induced national emergency was called in March, the 30 most occupied cities in the US had more U-Haul trucks departing than arriving for the following three months. This indicated a desire to move from packed cities to less busy locations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to U-Haul.

As a result, arrivals to New York City decreased 35% year-over-year from March to December 2020, while the Bay Area similarly saw a 31% drop during the same period.

In line with this Tennessee boom and big coastal city departure, more people are now moving to the southeast, southwest, midwest, and Rocky Mountain areas, according to U-Haul.

Read more: The tech elite are abandoning Silicon Valley in droves because of 'monoculture' and high taxes — here's where they're headed 

The moving and storage giant calculated its list of 50 states — sorted by "migration growth" in 2020 — by finding the difference between the number of one-way U-Haul trucks that arrived in a state, and the number of trucks that left the same state. In total, the company analyzed over 2 million U-Haul users for its ranking.

It's important to note that U-Haul has Washington DC listed as a state. Hawaii wasn't included on the list.

Here's U-Haul's full ranking of states by migration growth. For comparison, the states' 2019 rankings are in parenthesis:

1. Tennessee (12)

2. Texas (2)

3. Florida (1)

4. Ohio (7)

5. Arizona (20)

6. Colorado (42)

7. Missouri (13)

8. Nevada (24)

9. North Carolina (3)

10. Georgia (16)

11. Arkansas (23)

12. Indiana (9)

13. Wisconsin (41)

14. Oklahoma (14)

15. South Carolina (4)

16. West Virginia (22)

17. Utah (8)

18. Kentucky (37)

19. Montana (26)

20. Minnesota (15)

21. Kansas (18)

22. Alabama (6)

23. New Hampshire (31)

24. Iowa (30)

25. South Dakota (28)

26. Vermont (10)

27. Delaware (21)

28. Virginia (39)

29. Maine (33)

30. Idaho (11)

31. Mississippi (25)

32. Nebraska (19)

33. Wyoming (27)

34. Alaska (17)

35. Rhode Island (35)

36. Washington (5)

37. North Dakota (32)

38. Washington, D.C. (38)*

39. New Mexico (36)

40. Michigan (48)

41. Pennsylvania (46)

42. New York (43)

43. Connecticut (34)

44. Louisiana (40)

45. Oregon (29)

46. Maryland (45)

47. Massachusetts (47)

48. New Jersey (44)

49. Illinois (50)

50. California (49)

Tennesseans began migrating to Texas by 1830. Sam Houston and David Crockett garnered celebrated legacies. Nashvillian Howell Tatum Davis and his relatives helped expand economic and social practices such as the cotton trade and slavery. 

[Letter to Howell Tatum Davis, March 1, 1847] by John W. HortonHowell Tatum Davis Family Papers,

Vanderbilt University Special Collections

Howell Tatum Davis, who lived in Matagorda, Texas, received this letter from his nephew John W. Horton. He resided in Nashville, as Davis once did. They were both from a prominent family who owned plantations. Horton discusses the health of family members and settling the family debt by selling off some of their slaves. This correspondence shows us that despite his migration to Texas, Davis still maintained his ties to Tennessee.

[Letter to Howell Tatum Davis, July 6, 1847] by Robert McClureHowell Tatum Davis Family Papers,

Vanderbilt University Special Collections

A number of Tennesseans moved to Texas purchasing land with which to farm cotton using the slave labor of African Americans. Such was the case for Robert McClure and Howell Tatum Davis. Shortly after the state was annexed into the U.S. in 1846, Robert McClure wrote this letter confirming that he would again hire out one of Davis' slaves for another season. McClure also indicates he was traveling to Houston to sell his cotton.

[Letter to Howell Tatum Davis, April 23, 1853] by Samuel W. HardemanHowell Tatum Davis Family Papers,

Vanderbilt University Special Collections

Samuel Hardeman was the cousin of Howell Tatum Davis. The Hardeman family was prominent in early Texas history. Samuel's father Bailey Hardeman helped draft the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1835. The family maintained plantations in Matagorda County, Texas, producing corn and cotton. This letter suggests Davis is transferring legal ownership of his male slave named Kit to Hardeman. Other letters in the collection note Davis owned two male slaves that he regularly hired out to others. The role of the cotton trade and the slave labor of African Americans, forced migrants to Texas from other areas of the South, was crucial in the economic and social development of early Texas.

Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas by Davy CrockettPublisher: T.K. and P.G. Collins; Philadelphia, 1836Sevier Collection,

Vanderbilt University Special Collections

Richard Penn Smith loosely based this work on the diary of Davy Crockett. The book discusses Crockett’s supposed escapades in his migration from Tennessee to Texas. Crockett led militia and served in Congress before losing his seat finally in 1835. As a politician, Crockett opposed some of the policies of Andrew Jackson, including the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Weeks after Crockett arrived in Texas in early 1836, he was killed at the Battle of the Alamo. Crockett became legendary in death, a martyr for manifest destiny as Americans of European descent expanded across the continent. The Davy Crockett narrative, as fact and myth, sparked the desires of white Americans to seek economic and political freedom. However this came at the expense of Native American, African American, and Mexican lives.

The Life of Sam Houston by Charles Edwards LesterPublisher: G.G. Evans; Philadelphia, 1860Stanley F. Horn Collection,

Vanderbilt University Special Collections

Sam Houston, first President of the Republic of Texas, was one of many Tennesseans who moved to the Lone Star State. Once Governor of Tennessee, Houston left for Texas by 1832, leaving personal and political troubles behind. This 1860 edition of The Life of Sam Houston was published while Houston was Governor of Texas. It includes an illustration of Houston in his hunting attire and discusses his life and military exploits. This included serving under Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Creek in 1814 to his victory at San Jacinto against Mexican forces in 1836. Houston helped forge major expansion of U.S. territory. A number of white Tennesseans supported this effort and, in turn, brought with them Antebellum economic and social practices such as slavery helping build the state.

[Letter to Andrew Jackson from James Gadsden]July 8, 1844Stanley F. Horn Collection,

Vanderbilt University Special Collections

South Carolina businessman and diplomat James Gadsden composed this lengthy letter to Andrew Jackson shortly before the former President's death. Gadsden discusses the Republic of Texas as its secession to the U.S. He expresses concerns that Sam Houston was being influenced by the British. Gadsden was appointed ambassador to Mexico in 1853. He purchased lands that later became the southern borders of Arizona and New Mexico.