Florida migration slowed sharply in 2025, with mid-sized counties continuing to grow

• Florida's migration boom cooled in 2025, with net migration dropping to about 201,000 residents from nearly 599,000 at the 2022 peak.
• Growth shifted to mid-sized counties, as Polk, Pasco and Marion continued gaining residents while several large metro counties saw domestic population losses.
• The findings highlight changing housing demand across Florida, suggesting many movers are choosing communities with more attainable housing and continued home construction, according to researchers at the University of Florida's Shimberg Center for Housing Studies.

New population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show migration to Florida slowed significantly in 2025, with the steepest declines occurring in some of the state's largest, most expensive counties.

The latest data show Florida added 201,191 residents through domestic and international migration in 2025 — about 551 people per day. That marks a sharp decline from the 2022 peak, when the state gained 598,737 residents through migration, or about 1,640 people per day. The figures are available through the Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse, produced by the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at the University of Florida.

Natural population change, the difference between births and deaths, remained nearly flat in 2025, meaning population growth was driven almost entirely by migration.

While migration slowed statewide, several mid-sized counties continued to attract new residents. Polk, Pasco and Marion counties remained among Florida's strongest destinations for domestic movers. This trend mirrors findings from the Shimberg Center’s 2025 Annual Report, which ranked those counties among the state's leaders in recent single-family home construction.

"As housing costs have risen, many movers appear to be looking beyond the state's largest urban counties to communities where homes are more affordable and new construction has kept pace with demand," said Anne Ray, manager of the Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse at the Shimberg Center.

Large metropolitan counties experienced pronounced slowdowns.

Miami-Dade County recorded the state's largest domestic population loss in 2025, with nearly 73,000 more residents moving to other counties and states than arriving from elsewhere in the United States. Broward County also continued to lose residents through domestic migration. In previous years, strong international migration offset those losses, but by 2025 both counties experienced overall migration declines.

Orange County also lost population through domestic migration, with domestic outflows offsetting gains from international migration in 2025. Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, which benefited from elevated migration during the early 2020s, also posted net domestic outmigration in 2025.

In contrast, several mid-sized counties continued to draw new residents.

Polk County ranked among the nation's top five counties for domestic migration for the fifth consecutive year, adding between 22,000 and 34,000 U.S. movers annually since 2021, although growth has moderated since its 2022-23 peak.

Pasco County recorded Florida's second-highest migration gains in 2025, while Marion County continued a steady pattern of attracting new residents over the past three years.

Previous Internal Revenue Service migration data suggest many of those new residents are relocating from elsewhere in Florida rather than from other states. During the 2021-23 migration surge, about 59% of domestic newcomers to Polk and Pasco counties came from other Florida counties. Marion County attracted a nearly even mix of in-state and out-of-state movers.

The Census Bureau estimates are available in the Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse's Population and Household Projections application, including county-level data on population change and migration history. 

"Migration patterns have important implications for housing demand across Florida," Ray said. "Tracking these changes helps local leaders anticipate where new homes and supporting infrastructure will be needed most."