Roughly a week after Visit Lauderdale, the county’s tourism marketing agency, spent big money to participate in CNN’s live New Year’s Eve countdown to gain more visibility for the region, U-Haul, the worldwide self-moving firm, ranked the city of Fort Lauderdale No. 7 among growth cities nationally based on one-way residential moves. Ocala led a list of eight Florida cities in the top ten for 2025.
U-Haul ranked Florida as the No. 2 growth state for 2025, second only to Texas, according to its proprietary growth index that analyzed one-way customer moves from the past calendar year.
Florida’s “notable growth markets” (listed in alphabetical order) include Bradenton, Brandon, Clermont, Davenport, Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Haines City, Kissimmee, Lady Lake, Lakeland, Leesburg, Melbourne, North Fort Myers, North Miami Beach, North Port, Ocala, Palm Bay, Panama City, Port Charlotte, Port St. Lucie, Sarasota, St. Augustine, St. Cloud, Wildwood and Winter Haven.