Florida’s population exceeds 23 million. Where do people migrate from?

Have you recently felt a little crowded?

According to a report made public on Friday by the state Demographic Estimating Conference, Florida’s population surpassed 23 million for the first time this year, primarily as a result of immigrants from nearby states. But that is beginning to slow down.

According to the research, the Sunshine State had a population of 23,002,597 as of April 1, making it the third-most populous state after California (39.5 million) and Texas (30.5 million). According to the study, last year’s numbers were modified upward due to fewer births and deaths than predicted.

That is a roughly 15% increase since we reached 20 million for the first time in 2015, according to a recent article by C.A Bridges of Naples Daily News.

However, deaths continue to outpace births in Florida, and the rate of population growth is anticipated to fall further, according to the research.

How quickly is Florida’s population increasing?
The state has acquired between 300,000 and 380,000 citizens over the last decade, according to the research, with 358,735 added in 2023, or a 1.62% growth.

Over the next five years, Florida’s population growth is predicted to decelerate to an average of 319,019 new residents per year, net, or 874 per day. Florida’s population is expected to grow by only 0.85% during the next decade.

“These increases are analogous to adding a city slightly smaller than Orlando, but larger than St. Petersburg every year,” said the report’s authors.

Florida is one of the states with the lowest percentage of people moving to another state, yet the Census did note that in 2022, 51,380 Floridians crossed the border to live in Georgia and 41,747 Floridians relocated to Texas.

The Bureau of Economic and Business Research prepared a long-term prognosis that included the analysis.

Are most people relocating to Florida?
The Census Bureau determined Florida to be the fastest-growing state in the country in 2022, the first time since 1957. However, this slowed after the state had its peak gain during the COVID years.

According to data, Florida added 365,205 additional residents in 2023, remaining the second-largest numeric increase after Texas and the second-largest percentage of growth after South Carolina. Data revealed that 91,201 of them were from New York alone.

This year, the United States Census Bureau claimed that four of the five fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country, by percentage, were in Florida (The Villages was ranked first), while Polk, Pasco, and Marion counties were named three of the fastest-growing counties in the country. One study found that middle-class millennials were among the most ready to relocate here.

Immigration also played a role.

“Just as net international migration boosted the nation’s population gains, so is the case for most states,” Brookings Institution demographer William Frey explained. “Some of the biggest gains occurred in the high-immigration states of Florida, California, and Texas, with New York only modestly declining from its already high levels.”

A 2020 Pew Research Center study found that more than 4 million immigrants lived in Florida in 2019. Immigrants are also more likely to be young, pregnant, or have young families.

“Nationally, immigration is kind of the key to growth in the younger populus,” Frey explained to The Hill.

Where do new Florida residents come from?
According to the most recent migration numbers, among the 267,030 people that relocated here from another state in 2022, these are where the most new inhabitants came from.

New York: 91,201.
California: 50,701.
Georgia: 39,950.
Texas: 38,207.
Pennsylvania: 35,384.
Illinois: 35,262.
North Carolina: 24,601.
Maryland: 23, 422.
Michigan: 23,781.
Colorado: 20,980.
However, the Census Bureau calculates that 489.904 people left Florida in the same year.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News