Markets & Economy

Houston and Chicago named top moving destinations by Penske

Chicago is seeing minimal population growth; Houston's job market is down
by Staff Writer
Feb 5
  • The majority of households moving to Chicago are non-family households.
  • Stats from moving companies are not accurate population growth indicators.
  • In the past five years, 45 percent of those moving to Houston were families.

Houston and Chicago were recently named the 7th and tenth top moving destinations for 2015 by a Penske Truck Rental Report. This would appear to be good news for both metros; however, the ranking is somewhat deceiving and doesn't speak to the economical situations in either metro. In Houston job growth in 2016 is expected to reach roughly 22,000 jobs, following a down 2015 when job growth creation hit around 23,000. In the Chicagoland area minimal population growth is occurring, according to Michael Golden, co-founder of @properties, adding the majority of growth is stemming from non-family households moving to the city of Chicago. Chicago While the metro cracked Penske's top 10, it was also recently cited by a U-Haul study as a market that has the same percentage of one-way truck rental customers coming into and out of the city. Illinois as a whole was recently mentioned by United Van Lines as a top state for outbound rentals. Forbes doesn't think highly of Ch...