Everyone knows lots of animals migrate south for the winter. Heck, so do a lot of rich people! Those migrations also include a return trip when spring comes around again. But we’ve seen one migration recently that may not have a return trip, and that makes a huge difference!
Here are Five Fast Facts about the recent Florida migration:
- ☀️ Florida’s Gain - Florida has seen more people moving in than any other state in the past couple of years. The pandemic started it in 2020 and it’s continued ever since. In 2022 it was the nation’s fastest-growing state with almost a 2% population increase in one year!
- 📉 New York And California’s Loss - A lot of Florida’s growth is coming from New York and California (okay, so Californians are moving East not South, but you get the point). About 120,000 people have moved from those two states alone into Florida in 2022. And they’re bringing their income tax dollars with them - $24 billion of ‘em!
- 💻 WFH - One thing that is enabling so many people so much mobility is working from home - most of the nation went mobile in 2020, and a lot of them have never stepped foot back into an office again. And if you can work from anywhere then why not do it from somewhere really fun with great weather, low tax rates, and unrestrictive COVID policies? Yeah, that’s what thousands of other people thought, too.
- ❓❗ Why, Oh Why? - This migration is a cause for no small amount of heartburn for places like New York, which lost about $20 billion in income tax dollars. For every $6 of income that moved over the last couple years, $1 of those ended up in Florida. I guess you could say Florida’s gain is, quite literally, a loss for New York and other states with higher taxes and more lockdown restrictions.
- 💨 Ripple Effects - Most of the people leaving more expensive states are wealthier people, and that’s partly why it’s having such a big impact. But it’s not all roses - all that new wealth is also affecting things like Florida’s home prices. Some counties are up over 70%, and the available supply of homes is very, very limited, which further drives up prices. Apparently, a great new idea is only great and new until everyone else is doing it, too.
🔥Bottom line: It is unclear if this migration will continue, or if the things that are attracting people to Florida (tax rates and prices) will eventually level out and turn around, prompting people to head back out again. But, at least for now, it is clear that Florida has become THE place to live for a number of very important reasons.
Do you know anyone who has migrated to Florida?
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