State-to-State Migration Boosts Florida Population

The year is ending much as it began with glowing population numbers for the Sunshine State.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people who moved between states rose from nearly 7.9 million people in 2021 to approximately 8.2 million people in 2022, and Florida was one of the top states in the nation for state-to-state migration in 2023.

“Some of the largest state-to-state migration flows in 2022 involved people moving to and from highly populated states,” according to a Census Bureau release. “The two largest flows, which were not statistically different from each other in size, came either to or from the four most populous states: large numbers of people moved from California to Texas and from New York to Florida.”

The data, taken from the American Community Survey, showed population movement from state-to-state increased to nearly 20 percent of all immigration, up from 18.8% in 2021.

The report bookends positive population news for Florida this year. In January, the Census Bureau’s population estimates put the Sunshine State at the top of the list as the fastest growing state in the country with a 1.9% increase from 2021 to 2022. It was the first time since 1957 Florida was ranked No. 1 in growth, according to the Census Bureau.

St. Johns and Volusia counties also saw strong population growth in 2022, with St. Johns topping the 300,000 mark and Volusia closing in on 600,000.

The 13,666 new residents in St. Johns pushed the county’s total population to 306,841, up from 293,175 in 2021. In Volusia County the population topped 579,000 with the addition of 13,204 residents from 2021 to 2022.

“The increase in the number and share of state-to-state moves continued the decade-long trend of rising state-to-state migration even as overall migration has declined,” the release stated. “Between 2021 and 2022, the overall national migration rate – the number of movers in the United States relative to the population age 1 year and over – dropped from 12.8% to 12.6%.

The American Community data comes from surveys conducted by the Census Bureau asking respondents who moved in the past year to report their previous place of residence, allowing us to assess migration between origin and destination geographies, according to the release.

The largest state-to-state migration reported was from California to Texas, with the Lone Star State gaining 102,442 new residents. Florida was just behind, with 91,201 New Yorkers making the trip south.

However, the traffic flowed in both directions for Florida, with 51,380 hopping over the Florida/Georgia line to call the Peach State home.