Every January U-Haul releases its Growth Index for the previous calendar year, and the results for 2025 continue a years-long trend of Americans moving from high tax states to low tax states.

For the third year in a row North Carolina finished third overall, after being rated fourth in 2022.

Americans for Tax Reform, a non-profit founded by conservative watchdog Grover Norquist, compared the top ten performing states to the bottom ten:

“The ten best ranked states in the index have significantly lower personal income tax rates than the index’s ten worst ranked states:

3.5 percent: Average top state personal income tax rate of the 10 best ranked states.

7.2 percent: Average top state personal income tax rate of the 10 worst ranked states.

As a group, the 10 worst ranked states impose a top personal income tax rate more than twice as high as the 10 best ranked states.“

With state income tax below 4%, the forward-thinking conservative House majority has enhanced North Carolina’s status as a desirable place to live and raise a family.