900 people a day are moving to Florida, many fleeing ‘tax hell’ in New York and New Jersey, the state’s CFO said

• Around 900 people a day are moving to Florida, Jimmy Patronis, the state’s CFO, told Fox Business.
• This is partly because of high taxes in states such as New York and New Jersey, he said.
• He described those two states as “financial train wrecks.”
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Around 900 people a day are moving to Florida, mainly because of high taxes in other states such as New York and New Jersey, Florida’s CFO Jimmy Patronis told Fox Business on Monday.

Migration to Florida had steadily risen over the past decade, before booming during the pandemic as remote working and the warm climate drew people to the Sunshine State.

Florida also has no personal-income tax. In comparison, New York unveiled proposals in April to bump up its income-tax rates for its wealthiest residents.

Patronis told Fox that states like New York and New Jersey were “financial train wrecks.”

Read more: IBM is hunting for a smaller NYC office now that 80% of its employees won’t come in every day. It’s a sign of the times.

“Let’s just talk about the empty nesters from New York, or the empty nesters from New Jersey,” Patronis said. “They then decide to leave the tax hell that those states are in and move to the state of Florida.”

He said that these people bring money into the state without increasing pressure on the school system.

“It provides more money to our schools, though they’re not using the services,” Patronis said.

“It’s a win-win,” he added.

Both people and businesses flocked to Florida during the pandemic

Florida’s population grew by 2.7 million, or 14.6%, between 2010 and 2020, according to US Census data. This is double the rate of overall US population growth.

As Patronis said, Florida is traditionally associated with retirees, but Troy McLellan, CEO of the Boca Raton Chamber, previously told Insider in May that more and more families and young high-flyers are moving to the area.

Florida has also remained largely open during the pandemic, relative to other states. This led to people choosing to make Florida their primary residence for the pandemic, Kelly Smallridge, CEO of the Business Development Board (BDB) of Palm Beach County, told Insider.

Companies have been opening offices in the state, too. Hedge fund Elliott Management is moving its headquarters to West Palm Beach, private-equity firm Blackstone plans to open an office in Miami, and Subway is shifting some business units to Miami.