Florida is known as a destination for snowbirds, but new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau hints at a new trend.
The data shows Florida has seen a decline in the number of people who migrate to the state from other states.
In 2005, Florida had an influx of more than 250,000 domestic migrants and was considered a fast-growing state during a mid-decade population boom.
However, the state has recently been suffering losses in domestic migration, losing 9,000 Florida residents in 2008 and 31,000 in 2009 due to out-migration.
Ken Johnson, a sociology professor and a senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire Carsey Institute, published an article in which he notes the recession as a major contributing factor in Florida’s migratory hang-ups.
“The slowdown means the fast-growing states aren’t getting people and the slow-growing states that send migrants to places like Florida are losing less,” Johnson said.
He said there are two main groups of migrants moving to Florida: older, retirement-aged migrants who are often affluent and younger migrants who have the potential to have children.
But the overall population in Florida still continues to grow, Johnson said.
He said the growth is due to migration from other countries as well as the population’s natural increase rate.
Johnson’s article notes that the natural increase rate, the amount of births in relation to deaths, will now play a more important part in maintaining population size.
Stan Smith, a professor in the UF economics department and director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, said the decline in migration resulting from the recession is in turn prolonging the economic downturn.
“Florida usually is a national leader in adding jobs but has lost more than 800,000 jobs in the past two years,” Smith said. “People moving to Florida to look for jobs are leaving or just not coming in the first place.”
Smith said Gainesville has been at least partially spared due to UF’s presence as well as Gainesville’s large medical community and amount of government jobs.
However, Smith said some people view a decline in migration and population as a positive thing.
“It puts less pressure on the environment,” Smith said. “A decline means a slower increase in the need for new roads and new schools and less of a loss of green space or agricultural lands.”
