Florida is Growing Extremely Fast. What Does it Mean for Floridians?

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The Sunshine State has been a top destination for retirement in America.

However, Florida is changing. Over 700,000 residents of all ages migrated to the state between April 1, 2020, to July 1, 2022. When COVID-19 broke out in 2020, many remote employees had the freedom to choose to work from anywhere they could plug their laptop chargers.

For the first time since 1957, Florida has become the state in America with the fastest growth rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Bigger than ever

The southeastern state, renowned for its balmy weather and white beaches, now has more than 22 million people.

Economist Sean Snaith said there are additional elements than the weather that make people move to Florida, such as a thriving job market and the absence of a state income tax in Florida, unlike most other states.

According to an examination of Census data, New Yorkers, Georgians, Ohioans, Pennsylvanians, and Californians are the most common U.S. residents to relocate to Florida.

Almost two-thirds of the population in Florida was non-resident even before the pandemic. One-fifth of those transplants were foreign nationals who relocated.

But an increase in population could raise the cost of living in Florida. According to Zillow, a real estate marketplace business, the property price in Florida increased by 14% over the previous year, whereas the national average only increased by 8.7%.

Snaith says population expansion is "nothing but good news" for the economy.

Good news for the economy are not good news for everyone

The third-most-populous state in the nation is Florida. Since the 1950s and the dawn of modern air conditioning, people have been moving South, and this trend only seems to be intensifying.

Everyone seems to be moving to Florida. And this may negatively impact the population that originally set to settle down south, the retirees. It's becoming more expensive to live on fixed income near major cities and elderly Floridains are finding it difficult to afford basic nessetities.

While the economy is growing, some Floridians are not welcoming the change.

What do you think about Florida newcomers?

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