More and more New Yorkers are drawn to Florida.

The Sunshine State Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles exchanged nearly 65,000 ex-New Yorker driver's licenses for a Florida driver's license in 2021.

More New Yorkers settled in the Sunshine State from January to December 2022 than in any previous year.

Most of the resettlers left the Empire State for Tampa, Orlando, and Miami.

Ben Witten, real estate chief at location analysis platform Placer.ai, told the Commercial Observer: “Many had expected the increased outflow from New York to Florida to halt or slow down once remote workers returned to the workplace are called or the migrants from New York yearn for the lifestyle of the Big Apple.

However, our data shows that the trend is continuing at breakneck speed.”

Lower taxes, good career opportunities

It's not just the sun that draws tens of thousands of New Yorkers south every year.

Many newcomers cited lower taxes, a lower cost of living and good career opportunities as reasons for moving.

In addition to positions in the tourism industry with attractions such as Disney World, Universal Studios and Legoland, Florida also offers jobs in the aerospace industry.

In addition, the Sunshine State is ahead in the healthcare sector.

According to a survey by the agency Morning Consult, which commissioned the organization Partnership for New York City 2022, violent crime and homelessness are also making more and more New Yorkers pack their bags.

Eight out of ten respondents said they felt less safe in the city since 2020 and 2021.

Four out of ten participants let it be known that they were thinking about moving.

As New York Mayor Eric Adams announced, the number of serious crimes such as murder, rape and robbery increased by more than 23 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year.

New York, from which around 39 percent more people left in 2022 than in 2019, the last year before the corona pandemic, is not the only American region with migration movements.

California, Illinois and Pennsylvania are also losing more and more residents to Florida.

After New York, however, no state let as many people move to the Sunshine State as neighboring New Jersey last year.

From January to December 2022, more than 32,000 people from the Garden State looked for a new place to live in Florida.