Michiganders are on the move in 2025, both within and out of the state, a national moving company says its data shows.
U-Haul recently released its midyear data on metropolitan areas to which people in the United States are moving the most so far in 2025. U-Haul says nearly half of all residential moves in the United States occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends each year, leading the company to analyze moves six months into the year.
For the 35 cities it examined, Michigan was listed as a top origin state for eight destinations. The analysis displays a trend of Michigan residents mainly moving to nearby states within the Midwest region.
Detroit has seen its population rise, and is now welcoming new residents from the Midwest, northeastern and southern United States, according to the U-Haul data. The top five cities for in-state newcomers are in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula.
While some residents are moving out of state in 2025, Michigan saw a 0.6% population increase from 2023 to 2024, largely pushed by international migration, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Here are the cities Michiganders are leaving for:
Where are Michiganders moving to?
In U-Haul’s analysis, it listed the top states and metropolitan areas from which each city was receiving new residents. The results show Michigan residents are mainly settling in the Midwest, with eight regional cities placing Michigan in the top 10 origin states for new residents.
Michigan ranked as a top five origin state for five cities and is a top 10 origin state for three cities, the analysis showed.
Here are the cities, and where Michigan placed among the top 10 origin states for new residents:
Where are new Detroit residents coming from?
Detroit’s new residents in 2025 have come from a mix of regions, from the South to Midwest to Northeast, the U-Haul report demonstrates.
These are the top 10 origin states for newcomers to the Motor City:
These are the top five origin cities outside Michigan for new Detroit residents:
Within Michigan, new Detroit residents come from the following five cities, the U-Haul report shows:
How is Detroit’s population changing?
Detroit’s population has grown two years in a row following periods of decline, making Detroit the 26th largest city in the nation, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Detroit’s population grew to reach 645,705 residents in 2024 compared with 638,914 in the 2023 estimate, the data shows.
“For the first time since the 1950s, the mayor of Detroit can say that the city of Detroit is leading the population growth in the state of Michigan. In 2024, our population growth exceeded the national average,” Mayor Mike Duggan said in a May 15 announcement.
How did U-Haul compile the report?
To find its data, U-Haul recorded all one-way U-Haul rentals, and the cities to which the rentals were primarily going, according to the analysis. As a result, the study identified the most common cities for people to relocate to in the first half of 2025.
Is Michigan’s population growing?
Michigan’s population grew by 0.6% between 2023 and 2024, largely driven by international migration, the Detroit Free Press reported.
While domestic migration saw some residents move out of state, Michigan gained more than 67,000 new residents from international origins. All Michigan counties except one, Arenac County north of Saginaw Bay, gained new residents due to international migration last year, according to the Census data.
Population growth in the United States, Michigan and its major urban counties is highly dependent on international migration, Kurt Metzger, demographer and founder of Data Driven Detroit told the Detroit Free Press. As natural increases decline and domestic outmigration continues, he said, international migration “is even more important now.”
The international newcomers drove population growth in Michigan’s largest two counties, Oakland County and Wayne County in southeast Michigan, the Census data showed.
Oakland County added 15,052 residents, the fastest population increase and largest gain in residents since the 1990s. Wayne County reversed a five-year population decline, bringing in 8,692 new residents.
The Detroit Free Press and The Tennessean contributed.
Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: These cities are gaining new residents from Michigan. Where Michiganders are moving
Reporting by Jenna Prestininzi, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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