South Florida once lured hundreds of thousands of Americans fleeing pricier parts of the country with the promise of a more affordable life, but soaring costs since the pandemic have eroded one of the region’s biggest draws. A recent report from the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at the University of Florida found that migration to the Sunshine State from other parts of the country shrank to 201,191 newcomers last year, or roughly 551 per day. These may seem like big numbers—especially when compared to the influx of out-of-state newcomers experienced by other states—but for Florida, it represents a stark decline from the boom in domestic migration experienced during the pandemic.
In 2022, at its peak, 598,737 people moved to Florida from other parts of the U.S., or 1,640 per day, seeking good weather, affordable housing, a lower cost of living and a friendlier tax environment. But since then, the conditions that drove so many people to the state in the first place have drastically changed—especially in South Florida. The biggest hit has been taken by Miami, which has lost its longstanding allure for everyday New Yorkers and Bostoners, as the cost of living in the city has skyrocketed compared to a decade ago.
In 2025, the Miami-Dade metropolitan area led the state in domestic out-migration, with a loss of nearly 73,000 residents to other counties and states, according to Shimberg. Higher costs are undermining even the well-established trend of New Yorkers moving to the “Magic City”, as Miami has now become more expensive than the Big Apple. The Miami metropolitan area’s cost of living is now second only to that of the San Francisco metro area, having surpassed the New York City metro area and the Los Angeles metro area, according to the U.S.
Bureau of Economic Analysis’ (BEA) latest Regional Price Parities (RRP) report, a cost-of-living index that compares the overall price level in a state or metro area with the nationwide average. It was the cost of housing, mainly, that boosted Miami to this record position in the index. Consumer prices in the Miami metro have jumped 36 percent since 2019, while Miami-area home prices are now a staggering 79 percent higher than they were before the pandemic, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and S&P Case-Shiller data cited by a July Bloomberg report.
Within the same period, property taxes have jumped 62 percent, according to real estate data firm Attom. And between 2021 and 2025, home insurance premiums rose by roughly 75 percent, according to a report from national nonprofit group the Coalition for an Insurable Future. Additional pressure has been put on many Florida homeowners, especially in the Miami metro area, by higher homeowner association (HOA) fees, which have risen after the implementation of new building safety legislation passed after the Surfside collapse—when a beachfront condo partially collapsed in June 2021, killing 98 people.
Between 2022 and 2025, the median HOA fee i the state rose by about 68 percent from $232 in 2022 to $390 in 2025, according to Realtor.com. Facing these higher prices, low- and middle-income movers from the East Coast are abandoning the dream of settling down in Miami or South Florida. A new analysis of Realtor.com cross-market data found that home shoppers from New York City accounted for just 11 percent of non-local online traffic to Miami this fall, down roughly two-thirds from its 2023 peak.
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