Heading for the Hills: South Dakota seventh most popular state where people are relocating (2024)

South Dakota’s influx of new residents continued in 2023, and the Black Hills in particular is attracting new residents from throughout the state and nation. South Dakota ranks as the seventh most popular state where people are moving to, according to new data from United Van Lines.

United Van Lines and U-Haul both released statistics during the first week of January that tracked migration trends in the United States for 2023.

“Specific to the Black Hills area, we’re seeing a lot more interstate migration to the Black Hills than we have previously,” said Shawn Odden, president of U-Haul of Fargo, which encompasses North and South Dakota and about one-third of Minnesota.

“There’s a lot more people moving into the Black Hills from other parts of the state,” he said. “We’re seeing a little bit less out-of-state movement than in previous years.”

The types of vehicle rentals U-Haul of Fargo is seeing – more large trucks and trailers – tend to indicate that families are moving into the Black Hills, Odden said. U-Haul also is seeing an increase in its portable storage line, which allows people to ship belongings from another city in lieu of renting a truck, and that service is “fairly consistently” used by families.

An unusual trend for 2023 is that people are moving to the Black Hills from locations all over the United States.

“It’s interesting to see that because that’s typically not the case,” Odden said. “There was no one major (location) we saw that was more prevalent, other than interstate relocation which is up significantly, specifically to Rapid City.”

Odden said U-Haul of Fargo closed on Jan. 10 on a parcel of land on Catron Boulevard. U-Haul will build a new multi-level storage facility that should open in about a year.

“In general, we expect to see continued migration toward the Black Hills. The data has indicated that folks from around the country find it a great place to live, so we expect that trend to continue,” he said.

United Van Lines’ National Movers Study shows that South Dakota is part of an overall trend of people moving from more expensive metropolitan areas to more affordable, less densely populated areas of the United States.

Rapid City and Sioux Falls are the two locations where United Van Lines does the most moves to, according to Eily Cummings, vice president of corporate communications for United Van Lines.

Among data the National Movers Study gathers is the top 25 inbound metropolitan statistical areas – the cities nationwide attracting the most new residents. Sioux Falls ranks fourth. Rapid City doesn’t rank on United Van Lines’ top 25 inbound metropolitan areas list. However, Cummings said Rapid City has more balanced numbers of people moving here and moving away. United Van Lines data shows slightly more people moving away than moving to Rapid City.

Where people are moving

U-Haul’s Growth Index, which analyzed one-way customer moves in 2023, also reflects an overall balance between the numbers of those moving to South Dakota and moving away.

Do-it-yourself movers arriving in South Dakota accounted for 50.7% of all one-way U-Haul traffic in and out the state, with a 49.3% departures rate. Black Hills communities are seeing a similar ratio of U-Haul arrivals and departures.

Rapid City— 50.2% arrivals, 49.8% departures, with arrivals and departures both down 10% from 2022.

Box Elder— 47.1% arrivals, 52.9% departures, with arrival numbers the same as 2022 and departures up 2% over 2022.

Sturgis— 53.2% arrivals, 46.8% departures, with arrivals down 12% and departures down 19% from 2022.

Spearfish— 53.0% arrivals, 47.0% departures, with arrival numbers down 14% and departures down 15% from 2022.

Belle Fourche— 56.5% arrivals, 43.5% departures, with arrivals up 13% and departures up 33% from 2022.

Why people are moving here

According to the National Movers Study, in 2022 and 2023 people were moving to South Dakota primarily to be near family and for the relatively lower cost of living.

“We’re seeing a lot of people moving into South Dakota from California, Colorado, Texas, Florida and nearby Minnesota,” Cummings said.

The study also showed that while 30% of United Van Lines customers were moving to South Dakota for employment, 60% were moving away from South Dakota for employment.

The reasons for relocating are more nuanced than ever before, Cummings said. Lured by the slower pace of life, movers are drawn to smaller and mid-size cities with proximity to natural beauty and cultural richness. Climate change also seems to be affecting places people move, as fewer movers opt for coastal locations and areas prone to wildfires, earthquakes and other natural disasters, according to the National Movers Study.

Cummings likens South Dakota’s current influx to a trend she saw in Idaho six or seven years ago. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Idaho had topped the top 10 list of states where people were moving.

“We saw this influx of a lot of people from California and some from nearby Washington. There was a lot of movement in Idaho. It changed housing prices,” Cummings said.

Now, Idaho has dropped out of the top 10 list and in 2023, Vermont replaced it as the top state attracting new residents. South Dakota’s appeal as a destination where people were moving to rose after the COVID pandemic began in 2020, Cummings said.

“2021 was the year everybody moved because they could move for remote work. So many people moved because they could now work from a variety of places, so many moved back to South Dakota to be closer to family,” Cummings said.

United Van Lines gathers data and demographic information for its National Movers Study through a customer service survey sent to everyone who moves with the company. About 35% of customers fill out the survey.

U-Haul’s Growth Index, meanwhile, ranks South Dakota as the number 19 growth state in the United States, climbing 12 spots from its previous ranking. The U-Haul Growth Index is compiled according to the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks, trailers and U-Box moving containers arriving in a city or state, versus departing from that city or state, in a calendar year. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 2.5 million one-way U-Haul customer transactions that occur annually across the U.S. and Canada.

The U-Haul Growth Index is described as an effective gauge of how well states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents. Their data ranks Texas and Florida as the top states where people are moving.