New Yorkers continue to flee the state for Florida

The battle between New York and Florida has shifted, for now, from bagels vs. oranges, or snow against sun, to something more tangible: people.

Florida is getting them, in droves, from New York (and several other northeast states.)

Former Florida Gov. Rick Scott, now U.S. Sen. Scott, R-Naples, chastised New York officials in a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece, citing the Empire State’s potent mix of high taxes and a lower quality of life. “You did this to yourself, and you can fix it yourself,” Scott writes. “If you cut taxes and make state and local government efficient, maybe you can compete with Florida again.”

Scott, in noting how Florida passed New York as the third-largest state, also poked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who has been vocal in her support of higher taxes. Her mom, Blanca Ocasio-Cortez, recently moved to an Orlando suburb partially to escape New York’s high real estate taxes, according to separate stories in the Journal and Daily Mail. “There’s a reason Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s mom left New York for Florida,” writes Scott.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a response letter to Scott’s op-ed, painted the issue as makers and takers. Namely, says Cuomo, a Democrat, that New York gave the federal government more money than any other state while Florida is No. 2 nationally in taking money back.  Writes Cuomo: “New York doesn’t add to Florida’s bills — we pay them.”

The truth — no surprise — is a bit more nuanced and in the middle, at least according to recent data from the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research. In BEBR’s latest annual survey on why Floridian’s moved to the state from New York, responses including family, weather and a job transfer all placed ahead of low-cost of living. The survey doesn’t include answers for secondary reasons or account for a combination of factors.