This southern state breaks records with an all-time high population – 350 thousand new residents per year

Move over, California and Texas—there’s a new heavyweight in town.

Florida’s population has officially passed 23 million — an all-time high — thanks to a massive influx of new residents flocking to the Sunshine State from other parts of the U.S. and abroad.

As of April 1, Florida boasts 23,002,597 residents, according to the latest estimates from the state’s Demographic Estimates Conference, as reported by the Sun Sentinel. This milestone makes Florida the third most populous state in the country, behind only California’s 39.5 million and Texas’ 30.5 million.

Growth is nothing new — Florida has added between 350,000 and 375,000 people each year for more than a decade, with nearly 359,000 arriving last year alone. However, the growth rate is expected to peak this year at 1.6% before slowing in the coming years as the baby boomers age out of the workforce.

Interestingly, Florida’s population boom is driven entirely by migration. Since shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, deaths have exceeded births in the state, a trend that is expected to continue. Almost 10% of Florida residents are 75 or older, second only to Puerto Rico among US states and territories.

Other southern Republican states have seen similar increases in growth, while northern liberal states like New York have seen declines. The nation’s population grew by 1.6 million last year, with 87% of that growth concentrated in Texas, Florida and South Carolina, according to new Census Bureau data.

Texas led the nation in population growth between July 2022 and July 2023, adding nearly half a million new residents amid the ongoing migrant crisis at the border. Next were Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, all benefiting from immigration from other states.

“The increase in 2023 can be largely attributed to the region’s migration patterns,” the report explained, noting that 706,266 people were added through net internal migration, while net international migration contributed almost 500,000 to the total.

States such as New York, California and Illinois saw their populations shrink as residents fled due to high taxes and the rising cost of living. California lost 338,371 residents to other states, New York lost 216,778 and Illinois saw 83,839 departures. While these losses have been offset by new migrants crossing the US-Mexico border, the overall population of these states has still declined due to the exodus.

The South, however, is now facing a potential housing market crisis. The post-2020 rush to build new homes in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas has led to a supply glut.

Homebuilders went into overdrive during the pandemic, meeting demand from Americans seeking cheaper living options and remote work. This has created a potential bubble that could spell trouble ahead.

But unlike the financial crisis of 2008, today’s homeowners have significant equity in their properties, especially in the South. “Historically, Florida has a high share of homeowners who own their home outright,” Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, said in that earlier report.

“There’s a lot more equity in housing now, which makes it less likely that we’ll see the kind of price declines that led to trouble in the mid-2000s.”