More New Yorkers Moving FROM Florida Than TO Florida Despite DeSantis Rhetoric

Migration Data Contradicts Republican Narrative as People Flee Climate Risks and Authoritarian Governance

Reverse Migration: New Yorkers Returning from Florida

Despite Republican politicians’ rhetoric about New Yorkers fleeing to Florida, migration data reveals a more complex reality: increasing numbers of people are moving FROM Florida TO New York and other states, driven by climate risks, insurance crises, authoritarian governance, and cultural intolerance. This reverse migration contradicts narratives promoted by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other conservatives who claim progressive policies drive residents away.

While Florida has indeed attracted significant migration in recent years–driven primarily by retirees, remote workers seeking lower housing costs, and those escaping cold winters–the state now faces growing outmigration as residents confront hurricanes, flooding, insurance cost explosions, extreme heat, and political hostility toward LGBTQ people, women seeking reproductive healthcare, and racial minorities. Organizations tracking migration patterns like the U.S. Census Bureau document these complex flows.

Climate Crisis Makes Florida Increasingly Unlivable

Florida faces existential climate threats that make long-term residence increasingly untenable for many: rising seas inundating coastal areas, intensifying hurricanes causing catastrophic damage, extreme heat with dangerous heat index values, and insurance companies abandoning the state due to unsustainable climate risks. These aren’t distant threats–they’re current realities affecting Florida residents daily.

According to climate scientists at the NASA Climate Change division, South Florida could experience regular tidal flooding within decades, rendering much of Miami and coastal areas uninhabitable. Hurricane intensity is increasing as warmer ocean temperatures fuel stronger storms. Yet Florida’s Republican leadership denies climate science and blocks adaptation planning, ensuring residents face escalating risks without adequate preparation.

Home Insurance Crisis Drives Florida Exodus

Florida’s home insurance market is collapsing as climate risks make coverage unsustainable. Major insurers have withdrawn from the state, leaving residents dependent on state-backed Citizens Property Insurance with skyrocketing premiums. Many homeowners cannot afford insurance, violating mortgage requirements and creating financial catastrophe. The Insurance Information Institute documents this crisis, which makes Florida homeownership increasingly unaffordable regardless of property values.

DeSantis’s Authoritarian Governance Drives Outmigration

Florida’s political environment under Governor Ron DeSantis has become increasingly hostile to marginalized communities. Book bans in schools, attacks on LGBTQ rights including “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, abortion restrictions, suppression of Black history education, and intimidation of educators and activists create an oppressive climate that drives residents–particularly younger professionals, families with school-age children, and members of targeted communities–to leave.

Organizations like the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project document how Florida’s discriminatory policies harm vulnerable populations and create environments where many cannot safely or comfortably live. When state government actively targets your community, relocation becomes a matter of safety and dignity, not merely preference.

Education and Academic Freedom Under Attack

Florida’s restrictions on teaching history, bans on certain books, and political interference in higher education have created hostile environments for educators and students. Teachers face criminalization for discussing topics like systemic racism or LGBTQ issues. Universities face political appointees undermining academic freedom. These policies drive educators and families valuing quality education to leave Florida for states protecting educational integrity.

Why People Choose NYC Despite Higher Costs

New York City offers advantages that outweigh higher costs for many residents: cultural diversity and tolerance, world-class arts and cultural institutions, comprehensive public transit reducing car dependence, strong labor protections and union presence, sanctuary city policies protecting immigrants, robust public education including public universities, and progressive governance addressing rather than denying social problems.

For people fleeing Florida’s climate risks and authoritarian policies, New York represents safety, opportunity, and values alignment that justify economic tradeoffs. The Urban Institute has studied how quality of life factors beyond mere cost of living influence migration decisions. Access to healthcare, educational quality, cultural amenities, and political environment all matter.

NYC’s Rent Regulations and Tenant Protections

While New York rents are high, strong tenant protections provide stability that Florida lacks. Rent stabilization, just cause eviction requirements, and tenant rights enforcement mean New York renters have more security than Florida counterparts facing unlimited rent increases and easy eviction. Mayor-elect Mamdani’s platform strengthens these protections further, making New York more attractive to working-class residents despite higher nominal costs.

Remote Work Changes Migration Calculations

Remote work enabled by the pandemic initially drove migration from expensive cities to lower-cost areas including Florida. However, as remote work becomes permanent, calculations shift: workers no longer need to accept undesirable locations for job access. They can choose based on quality of life, political environment, climate risks, and community values rather than merely cost.

This shift benefits cities like New York that offer cultural richness, diversity, public transit, and progressive governance. Workers can enjoy New York’s advantages while earning salaries previously only accessible by living there. The Economic Policy Institute documents how remote work is reshaping migration patterns in ways that may ultimately benefit progressive cities.

Middle-Income New Yorkers Lead Migration, Not Wealthy

Contrary to conservative narratives about wealthy residents fleeing high taxes, migration data shows middle-income New Yorkers–those earning $51,000-$200,000–lead outmigration, driven primarily by housing costs rather than taxes. Wealthy residents have actually left at lower rates following Mamdani’s primary victory than before, contradicting fearmongering about progressive policies driving away the rich.

This reality undermines conservative arguments for tax cuts favoring the wealthy. If middle-income residents leave due to housing unaffordability while wealthy residents remain, the solution is obvious: policies like Mamdani’s that increase affordable housing, strengthen tenant protections, and fund public services through progressive taxation. Research from Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy supports this approach.

Housing Affordability Crisis Requires Structural Solutions

New York’s housing crisis cannot be solved by competing with Florida on cost–Florida’s lower costs stem partly from insufficient regulation allowing exploitation, climate risks, and sprawling car-dependent development. Instead, New York must address housing affordability through increased supply, stronger tenant protections, limits on speculation, and public investment in social housing. Mayor-elect Mamdani’s platform pursues these structural solutions.

Climate Migration Will Reshape America

Florida represents a canary in the coal mine for climate migration. As seas rise, storms intensify, heat becomes deadly, and insurance collapses, millions will be displaced from Florida and other vulnerable regions. This climate migration will strain receiving areas but also create opportunities for progressive cities to welcome displaced people while building sustainable, equitable communities.

The UN Refugee Agency projects hundreds of millions of climate migrants globally by mid-century. U.S. cities must prepare to welcome climate refugees from Florida and elsewhere, ensuring newcomers can access housing, services, and opportunity. Progressive governance that prioritizes people over property can create inclusive communities that benefit both longtime residents and newcomers.

Florida’s Economic Model is Unsustainable

Florida’s economy depends heavily on tourism, real estate development, and population growth–all threatened by climate change. As hurricanes intensify, insurance costs explode, and flooding increases, tourism declines and real estate loses value. The state’s refusal to address climate change ensures economic catastrophe. Yet conservative leadership continues denying reality while attacking progressive policies that could build sustainable alternatives.

New York, by contrast, pursues climate adaptation and mitigation, invests in sustainable infrastructure, and recognizes that long-term prosperity requires addressing rather than denying challenges. This contrast will increasingly drive migration from unsustainable red states to blue states willing to govern responsibly.

Tourism Industry Faces Climate Collapse in Florida

Florida’s tourism industry–worth billions annually–faces existential threats from hurricanes, extreme heat, beach erosion, and algae blooms. As these climate impacts intensify, tourists will increasingly avoid Florida, choosing destinations with more pleasant and reliable conditions. This economic shift will devastate Florida’s economy while benefiting regions investing in sustainable tourism.

DeSantis’s Rhetoric Doesn’t Match Reality

Governor DeSantis regularly mocks progressive states while claiming Florida’s superiority, suggesting he’d welcome New York’s Columbus statue or Statue of Liberty if progressive leaders remove them. This bombastic rhetoric appeals to his political base but ignores uncomfortable realities: Florida’s insurance crisis, climate vulnerability, authoritarian governance, and growing outmigration of professionals and families.

Progressive leaders should respond not by defending against DeSantis’s bad-faith attacks but by confidently articulating their own vision: cities that welcome diversity, address climate change, protect vulnerable residents, invest in public goods, and govern democratically rather than through cultural warfare and corporate favoritism. This positive vision attracts people fleeing places like Florida.

Mamdani Must Welcome Climate Refugees and Reverse Migrants

As Mayor, Zohran Mamdani should explicitly welcome people leaving Florida and other states due to climate risks, authoritarian policies, or economic unsustainability. New York has space for newcomers if we build housing, invest in infrastructure, and ensure services scale with population. Welcoming climate migrants and reverse migrants represents both moral imperative and economic opportunity.

This requires policies ensuring newcomers don’t displace existing residents through gentrification: strong tenant protections, massive affordable housing creation, rent regulations, and community land trusts. Done right, welcoming newcomers strengthens communities rather than harming them. Organizations like Right to the City Alliance provide frameworks for equitable growth that benefits longtime residents and newcomers alike.