Most Florida Transplants From NY Credit Taxes, Living Costs

Florida’s population has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years as Americans from Democratic-led regions of the country decide to relocate to the Sunshine State.

Last year accounted for a record-high number of moves from New York to Florida. In fact, data shows that about 20% of the roughly 300,000 Americans who moved to Florida last year came from New York.

While there are various factors that can influence a person’s decision to relocate, one study found that more than half of those who left New York for Florida cited one of two reasons: lower taxes and a lower cost of living.

Nearly two years ago, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis highlighted the state’s economic benefits under GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis as a primary motivator for those moving from New York and other blue states.

“If you’ve got a couple, let’s just talk about the empty nesters from New York or the empty nesters from New Jersey,” he began. “They then decide to leave the tax hell that those states are in and move to the state of Florida.”

He described such a scenario as a “win-win” for the state and those who choose to relocate.

“They’re going to bring their investments, their retirement, wealth, and they’re going to move to the state of Florida,” Patronis concluded.

DeSantis traveled to Staten Island, New York, recently where he weighed in on the trend of residents from that area moving to his own state.

“The reason you have what you have here and, in some of these other jurisdictions, is they are putting woke ideology ahead of your safety as New Yorkers or people from Illinois or wherever you have this type of policy taking place,” he said.

Prior to the DeSantis era, nice weather was consistently one of the top reasons cited by Americans who moved to Florida. In the most recent report, however, a mere 5.4% of respondents said it was their primary motivation.

Julianne Recine, who moved from New York City to Florida in July 2021, said that the Empire State’s strict COVID-19 policies were a primary factor.

“I didn’t want my son going to school on Zoom … and there was a high level of fear that made it hard to get together with people,” she said.