TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — California and New York surrendered billions of dollars in taxpayer money to Florida in recent years, a new report shows.
America’s two largest states lost over $92 billion in tax money between 2020–2021, a MoneyWise analysis of IRS data found.
During both years, California and New York finished No. 1 and 2 respectively for the highest number of outbound residents. Both the Golden State and Empire State have seen their budget surpluses turn into deficits as a result of a mass exodus of residents.
Meanwhile, Florida saw the sharpest rise of all 50 states in net migration for the past two years, adding over 600,000 residents.
Florida collected $39 billion in taxpayer dollars during 2021 – an increase of $11 billion from 2020. The state also surpassed New York for the highest number of jobs among all 50 states and led all states in new tech businesses last year, with 2,715 added from the year prior.
With no state taxes, warm weather and iconic beaches, the Sunshine State has long been an attractive place to live. Over the past three years, however, the state’s conservative leadership has attracted many Americans who were unwilling to tolerate COVID restrictions and soft-on-crime policies common in blue states.
A Rasmussen poll from August 2022 indicated that Americans consider Florida to be the most desirable state to live in nationwide.
“You’ve really seen a Great American Exodus. These people are coming to kind of a political Promised Land, where they’re fleeing these blue jurisdictions,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told The Florida Standard at the time the poll was released. “We’re offering something for people that I think they viewed instinctively as more consistent with what America is supposed to be.”
