Florida is the Fastest Growing State for First Time in More than 60 Years
FORT MYERS (FLV) – Florida is the nation’s fastest growing state for the first time since 1957, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2022 population estimates.
It is a “historic milestone” for Florida, the third most-populous state, to also be the fastest growing state “because it requires significant population gains.”
“Florida’s percentage gains since 1946 have been impressive: its 2022 population is just over 9 times its 1946 population of 2,440,000,” the Census Bureau said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken pride in the number of people flocking to Florida, attributing it to “keeping Florida free” during the pandemic.
The governor stood against lockdowns, mask mandates and vaccine mandates while other states did the opposite, leading to a tidal wave of people relocating to the Sunshine State.
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“The way that we handled COVID in Florida I think sent a signal to the rest of the country that many people saw as very favorable, whereas, some other states in areas maybe handled things very different,” Dr. Shelton Weeks explained to Florida’s Voice in July.
DeSantis has encouraged people like law enforcement officials to relocate to Florida. State lawmakers created a new program giving newly employed law enforcement officers in Florida a one-time $5,000 signing bonus.
At the same time, the governor has given strong statements to out-of-staters about Florida’s stance on freedom. Floridians have the option to purchase a new license plate with the words “Don’t Tread on Me.”
“The free state of Florida has a new license plate for pre-order that benefits the Florida Veterans Foundation and sends a clear message to out-of-state cars, ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ or Florida,” DeSantis said in August.
Earlier this year, DeSantis called San Francisco a “dumpster fire” when he talked about Democrats moving to Florida.
“They will not draw the connection between their leftists ideology and the destruction that’s all around them. So it is a problem because I do think there is a class of voters who would come to Florida and they would continue to vote the same way,” DeSantis said.
