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Florida is the top state people are moving to. We want to know why

U.S. Census says 674,740 people moved to Florida in 2021

Generic moving boxes and furniture. (Pixabay)

ORLANDO, Fla. – Who is moving to Florida? A lot of people.

Nearly 8 million people left their homes and moved to another state in 2021, and more people moved to Florida than any other state in the country, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

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The Census tracked state-to-state migration flows in the 2021 1-year American Community Survey and found that 674,740 people moved into Florida, up from 601,611 in 2019.

New York saw the biggest jump in people leaving a state and moving to Florida — 91,758, up from 57,488 in 2019. No state had a bigger jump in people fleeing for Florida.

Other states in the top 10 include Georgia, California, New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Michigan and Ohio.

But Florida had its own migration.

Some 469,577 also left Florida in 2021, up from 457,301 in 2019. Only California and New York had more people moving out of their states.

People leaving Florida are going to Georgia more than any other state, which follows the trend of people moving to nearby states more than changing regions of the country.

Other states Florida residents are fleeing to include North Carolina, Texas, California, New York, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania.

The reasons that people are moving vary, but weather, the ability to work from home and taxes have all been past reasons, according to demographers. The COVID-19 pandemic may have been a catalyst as well.

So we want to know – did you move to Florida recently? Or did you leave Florida? We want to know why. Tell us the year you moved, your reasons, and if you left Florida, where did you go.

We may use your answer in a future story, or reach out for an interview.

You can listen to every episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate in the media player below: