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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Migration to Florida has plummeted by 93 percent in the past three years, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, as the state’s popularity among Americans moving across the country for new opportunities slips in favor of other destinations.
Last year, the Sunshine State gained just 22,517 new residents from net domestic migration, which calculates the difference between people moving into the state and people moving out of it. The 2025 figure was down from 58,411 in 2024, 183,646 in 2023, and 310,892 in 2022.
It is a dramatic fall from grace for Florida, which at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic migration boom was the nation’s top destination for professionals seeking a more affordable cost of living, sunny skies, and a thriving job market.
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It has now fallen to the number eight spot, trailing the likes of South Carolina, Idaho, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah, among others, according to Census Bureau data.
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Florida’s Pandemic Migration Boom
The rise of remote work during the pandemic, which allowed many U.S. professionals to move away from expensive job hubs and relocate to cheaper cities in different parts of the country, proved a massive boost for domestic migration to Florida.
The Sunshine State recorded the nation’s largest net in‑migration between July 2020 and July 2021, according to Census Bureau estimates, gaining roughly 259,000 residents from other states and abroad, even as deaths exceeded births during the height of the pandemic.
This influx accelerated through 2021 and early 2022, when Florida emerged as the top destination for Americans leaving high‑cost, densely populated states such as New York and California, according to Census and Internal Revenue Service migration data.
Back To Normal—With a Post-Pandemic Hangover
With the end of the pandemic and employers calling workers back to the office, often asking them to return to the same expensive metropolises on the West Coast and East Coast which they had left behind, U.S. mobility patterns have broadly normalized.
As a result, the number of Americans moving to Florida has also slowed down sharply. Between 2022 and 2023, net domestic migration to the state fell from about 310,000 people to roughly 184,000, before dropping further to around 58,000 in 2024 and just 22,500 in 2025, a decline of about 93 percent from its peak.
While the rollback of remote-work flexibility has played a crucial role in the slowdown of domestic migration to Florida, the state’s rising home prices, rents, property taxes, homeowners association (HOA) fees and homeowner's insurance premiums have also contributed to discouraging Americans from relocating there.
“Florida’s dramatic 93 percent drop in net migration compared with its 2022 peak reflects a market normalization after the pandemic-era relocation surge,” Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones said in a recent report.
“Higher home prices, rising insurance costs, hurricane risk, and the gradual return to in-office work have tempered the pace of inbound moves, shifting the state from breakneck growth to a more sustainable migration pattern.”
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Despite the plunge in people moving from other states, Florida remains one of the top destinations in the country for international immigration, which continues to lead the country’s demographics growth.
While every state and the District of Columbia reported lower net international migration between July 2024 and June 2025, the latest Census Bureau data available, compared with the previous year, the levels were still positive, especially in Florida.
The Sunshine State led the nation with the highest levels of net international migration within that time frame, at 178,674. It was followed by Texas with 167,475, California with 109,278, and New York with 95,634.
Which States Are Gaining From Florida’s Losses
While there is not a direct connection between Florida’s domestic migration losses and another state’s gains, it is significant to notice that neighboring Alabama had higher net domestic migration from July 2024 through June 2025 than the Sunshine State, with 23,358 total new residents.
Within that same period, 31 states had positive net domestic migration, up slightly from 27 states the previous year.
The biggest increase was reported by South Carolina, where the population grew by 79,958 or 1.5 percent between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025 fueled by a net domestic migration increase of 66,622.
Idaho saw the second-biggest net domestic migration increase, at 1.4 percent, followed closely by North Carolina at 1.3 percent and Texas at 1.2 percent.
While the South is still leading the nation in terms of domestic migration growth, it is important to note that where Florida has seen a trend reversal since the pandemic, the Midwest also has positive numbers.
“From July 2024 through June 2025, the Midwest also saw positive net domestic migration for the first time this decade,” said Marc Perry, senior demographer at the Census Bureau, in a recent report. “And while the net domestic migration was a relatively modest 16,000, this is still a notable turnaround from the substantial domestic migration losses in 2021 and 2022 of -175,000 or greater.”
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