‘Florida man’ becomes ‘Georgia man’ | US Census shows surge in migration north
St. George, Georgia, welcome to Georgia sign. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
ATLANTA - The U.S. Census Bureau has released new estimates this month shows a slight jump in people moving between states.
More than 8.2 million people jumped state lines in 2022, up from 7.9 million in 2021, the data shows. This has been a growing trend over the last decade of interstate relocation, despite overall migration declining. That means each move goes "big" when someone wants to leave their home.
In Georgia, fewer people are leaving the Peach State as more people are making it their home, alongside the more than 10.9 million other residents. More than 15% of those new residents are moving north from Florida. In fact, 51,380 of the 327,795 new residents were from the Sunshine state.
California (25,960), Texas (23,754), North Carolina (23,175), and Tennessee (18,785) round out the top five states of origin, according to the number of people who have moved.
And oddly, 2,642 people decided to leave the island paradise of Hawaii to move to Georgia.
GEORGIA SHATTERS TOURISM RECORD WITH 2022 VISITOR BOOM
The U.S. Census Bureau also estimates about 59,370 moved from outside the country.
Georgia has been trending about a 1% boost in residents each year for the past five years.
However, the data does not show why people are moving to the Peach State.
One reason might be due to its growing industries. The Fortune 500 named 35 Georgia companies to its annual list in 2023. Metro Atlanta alone has top companies such as The Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, and UPS.
ATLANTA JOB MARKET LURES 67K NEW RESIDENTS IN ONE YEAR, COST OF HOUSING CONTINUES TO RISE
In October, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced the state topped the list of best places to do business for the tenth year in a row, according to Area Development, a magazine that covers "corporate site selection and relocation."
The governor says tax incentives, infrastructure and the technical college of Georgia’s Quick-Start job-training program help attract big companies to the state.
"Over 343,650 new jobs have come to Georgia," the governor said.
Georgia’s 114 colleges and universities also appear to be a big draw, with Emory University (ranked 24th), Georgia Tech (ranked 33rd), and University of Georgia (ranked 47th) listed as the top 100 ranked National Universities by U.S. News, and with Agnes Scott College (ranked 63rd) and Morehouse College (ranked 100th) in the top 100 National Liberal Arts Colleges.
Welcome to Florida sign in Becker, Florida on November 8, 1981. (Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
ANHEUSER-BUSCH INVESTS $13M IN CARTERSVILLE BREWERY
Now, to be fair to Florida, it saw 738,969 new residents in 2022, the largest number of migrations in the country. It also had the third-fewest people leaving for elsewhere in the country, so the "Florida man" doesn’t appear to be in danger of going extinct.
To dive more into the data, visit the U.S. Census Bureau report by clicking here.