Florida is booming and this is true of our housing market, economy and population generally.
Some of what you might not have known, however, is now available due to the details from the 2020 Census. The conversation starts with population and we’ve certainly added a lot of it over the past decade. There are now 14.6% more people in Florida. Furthermore, 64 of Florida’s 67 counties gained population over the past decade, naturally including all of South Florida. That’s as illustrative of Florida’s growth as anything. While almost every county gained population in our state, that wasn’t true of the country as a whole, where 42% of counties actually lost population last decade. And that’s just the jumping-off point for what’s different here as compared to just about anywhere else.
You might say that Florida is now growing from the middle out. That’s because, as expected, Orange County added the most people of any county over the past decade. But Florida’s also growing from the bottom up. Nationally, the under 18 population actually decreased by 1.4% over the past decade. In Florida, we have the fastest rate of growth for the under-18 crowd adding nearly 200,000 residents.
So, for those who’ve suggested the future of the country looks a lot like Florida. They’re right, and somewhat literally. Of course, all of this is also currently being digested and considered as the state legislature is working on drawing new maps to reflect these changes.