The COVID-driven rush of New Yorkers into Florida has turned into a stampede — with no end in sight. A record-breaking number of New York residents switched their driver’s licenses to the Sunshine State version last month, according to a New York Post analysis of Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles data.
A total of 5,838 New Yorkers made the switch in August — the highest recorded number for a single month in history, the numbers show.
Year to date, 41,885 New Yorkers have handed over their licenses after moving south, a torrid pace that’s pointing to a new annual record.
Some observers had speculated that the outbound flow would ease with COVID receding and cities opening back up. But the latest figures suggest otherwise.
Renowned fashion designer Alvin Valley moved his primary residence to Palm Beach during the pandemic and said the ongoing influx has been staggering.
“First it was the billionaires,” he said. “Then it was the rich following behind them. Now you have the middle class.”
Valley, who has already opened one Palm Beach boutique and has another in the works, said the Florida flight has been driven largely by quality of life concerns.
“A lot of families just began to feel like New York was becoming unlivable,” Valley said. “Especially for younger couples with kids in their thirties and forties. They don’t want to get on the subway. It’s a safety issue, it’s a schools issue.”
Acknowledging the Florida drain in April, Mayor Eric Adams deployed digital billboards in the Sunshine State to woo New Yorkers back to the city.
License switching suggests a permanent or extended move and serves as a proxy indicator of domestic migration trends.
California also set a new high for license exchanges with Florida in August, passing the 3,000 mark for the first time, logging 3,059 swaps.
The same applied to New Jersey last month, which saw a record 3,259 license switches.
Other states, including Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, all set new records for Florida driver’s license applications, the data shows.
Florida has received 321,881 out-of-state license trade requests in 2022!
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has leveraged the state’s newfound popularity, using it as a political bludgeon in his running feuds with New York and California officials.
