The pandemic appears to have driven an exodus from New York to Florida with more New Yorkers exchanging their drivers credentials for Florida IDs than from any other state over the past year.
According to data from the Florida's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 33,565 people from New York applied for Florida drivers licenses from September 2020 through March 2021.
The number represents an increase of 32percent over the previous year, when 25,370 New Yorkers applied for Florida IDs.
While the pandemic appears to have driven the uptick in transplants, Florida has for some time been a popular destination for New Yorkers, more than from any other state, with data from April 2019 to April 2021 showing 104,960 New Yorkers trading their New York drivers licenses for Florida ones.
New Yorker Sara Guando (left) moved to Tampa in February due to pandemic concerns. She was among the 33,565 who fled the state for Florida during the pandemic, according to Florida DMV data, and may stay there. Beth Goldin (right) plans to move to Florida in October
Florida was the number one destination for Americans moving during the pandemic, according to a study by Move.org, while New York was the second most popular place in which Americans were seeking to leave
Data from the Florida DMV appears to show a mass exodus of people from New York who exchanged their New York drivers licenses for Florida ones. Movers can be seen in Manhattan in September
New Jersey came in second with 53,901, with Georgia, Illinois and California trailing with 48,143, 46,042 and 43,801 respectively, according to an analysis by the New York Post.
The mass transplantation appears to have contributed to a population surge in the Sunshine State, with its Office of Economic and Demographic Research estimating that throughout 2020 it had added 387,479 new residents, a 1.83percent change from the previous year when it had added 368,021 to its population.
The state's annual Demographic Estimating Conference said the pandemic had led it to revise its population growth estimates upward, which it said was, 'supported by an apparent shift in lifestyle preferences away from the more dense urban areas found elsewhere.'
While the pandemic has prompted a large number of moves, New York's high cost of living also appears to be a driver of people down south.
Sara Guando, 34, who is originally from Ridge, Long Island, told ABC7 that she moved to Tampa in February, but that the cheaper locale might prompt her to stay there.
'I don't feel like I'm living paycheck to paycheck as much as I did on Long Island,' she said.
The pandemic appears to have driven population surge in the Sunshine State, with its Office of Economic and Demographic Research estimating that throughout 2020 it had added 387,479 new residents, a 1.83percent change from the previous year
Millennials appeared to make up the bulk of people moving throughout the pandemic
A third of people who moved during 2020 said it was due to the coronvirus pandemic
Huntington, Long Island resident Beth Goldin told the station she too planned to move to Florida in October. Her reasons were simple.
'Taxes are better,' she said. 'No more winter. I've already given away all my shovels.'
Bonnie Heatzig a real estate agent in South Florida, said that the largest influx of New Yorkers looking to move there came at the end of 2020.
'New York was closed, New Jersey was closed. There were people who were saying, "I really want to come down to Florida. I want to accelerate my plans."'
The most
