Phoenix Business Journal | April 14, 2026

Arizona ranks No. 4 in the nation for domestic migration, with influx of Californians, study reveals

While interstate moves might be declining nationally, Arizona continues to draw more residents than it loses to other states — ranking the state No. 4 for domestic migration.

Arizona drew roughly 51,387 more newcomers than it lost to the rest of the country in 2024, a new analysis shows. At the national level, interstate migration fell to 2.1% of the U.S. population in 2024, down from 2.3% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2022 — indicating that the pandemic-era relocation surge is easing.

That’s according to new analysis of Census data by StorageCafe, a self-storage search platform. StorageCafe is a subsidiary of Yardi, a cloud-based property management and real estate software company. The most recent data available was for 2024. New residents hail mostly from California driven partly by Arizona’s roughly 44% lower home prices. Other top origin states include Washington, Texas, Colorado and North Carolina. StorageCafe previously noted that Arizona gained 173 Californians a day for a decade.

StorageCafe Senior Consumer Trends & Market Analyst Emilia Man said in a statement that Arizona is still attracting a steady flow of new residents, but the conditions that once made relocation an easy financial win have changed.

“As housing costs rise and mortgage rates remain elevated, many movers are becoming more deliberate, prioritizing long-term stability, career opportunities and lifestyle fit over short-term savings,” Man said.

Texas and Florida ranked in the top two spots with net migration of 75,673 and 67,797, respectively. South Carolina (53,734) ranked No. 3 with Arizona and Nevada (43,466) closing out the top five.

Younger adults are increasingly drawn to the state

Looking deeper into the numbers, Arizona ranked No. 5 for Gen Z (12,593) net migration, No. 9 for millenials (8,450) and No. 7 for Gen X (7,041). 

Gen-Zers account for about 27% of inbound movers, highlighting Arizona’s appeal to younger adults. In 2023, that same demographic represented 26% of the newcomers to the state.

New arrivals report average incomes above $63,000 — higher than both state and national averages. Additionally, about 46% of newcomers purchase a home within their first year in Arizona.

However, a sign that demand is waning is a 1.6% year-over-year drop in self-storage street rates, per the study. Although there has been a decline in demand, that has not slowed momentum for the development of new self-storage units.

In a December 2025 report from StorageCafe, the company found that the metro Phoenix area ranked second in the nation for new self-storage construction with 2,086,684 square feet being added that year.

The report attributed several factors to explain Arizona’s resilience including an active job market that continues to draw employers and workers in technology, logistics, health care and advanced manufacturing. Geographic positioning also plays a role with Arizona being relatively affordable.

The West Valley has proven to be a major contender for affordability.

Goodyear and Peoria rank among the most affordable cities, according to MoneyLion’s 50 Most Affordable, Fastest-Growing Cities report. Likewise, buyer-friendly housing markets in cities such as Surprise and being able to get more bang for their buck when buying a home in places like Glendale could also be factors.

For its analysis, StorageCafe examined state-to-state migration patterns for 2024 using the U.S. Census Bureau’s ACS Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS). States were also evaluated based on the number of net newcomers per 1,000 residents, providing a population-adjusted measure of migration intensity. Self-storage rent levels and inventory data were sourced from Yardi Matrix, which provides commercial real estate intelligence and underwriting tools across the multifamily, office, industrial and self storage sectors.

Article by:

Mignon A. Gould | Phoenix Business Journal