900 people a day are moving to Florida, many fleeing 'tax hell' in New York and New Jersey, the state's CFO said

• Jimmy Patronis, Florida's CFO, told Fox Business about 900 people a day were moving to the state.
• He said this was partly because of high taxes in states such as New York and New Jersey.
• He described those two states as "financial train wrecks."

About 900 people a day are moving to Florida, the state's CFO, Jimmy Patronis, told Fox Business on Monday, attributing it mainly to higher taxes in states such as New York and New Jersey.

Migration to Florida had steadily risen over the past decade before booming during the coronavirus pandemic as remote working and the warm climate drew people to the Sunshine State.

Florida also has no personal income tax. In comparison, New York unveiled proposals in April to bump up its income-tax rates for its wealthiest residents.

Patronis told Fox that states like New York and New Jersey were "financial train wrecks."

Read more: IBM is hunting for a smaller New York City office now that 80% of its employees won't come in every day. It's a sign of the times.

"Let's just talk about the empty nesters from New York, or the empty nesters from New Jersey," Patronis said. "They then decide to leave the tax hell that those states are in and move to the state of Florida."

He said such people brought money into the state without increasing pressure on the school system.

"It provides more money to our schools, though they're not using the services," Patronis said.

"It's a win-win," he added.

Both people and businesses flocked to Florida during the pandemic

Florida's population grew by 2.7 million, or 14.6%, from 2010 to 2020, according to US Census data. This is double the rate of overall US population growth.

As Patronis said, Florida is traditionally associated with retirees, but Troy McLellan, the CEO of the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, previously told Insider that more and more families and young highfliers were moving to the area.

Florida has also remained largely open during the pandemic, relative to other states. Kelly Smallridge, the CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, told Insider this, combined with the rise in remote in remote working, led people to choose Florida for their primary residence during the pandemic.

Companies have been opening offices in the state, too. The hedge fund Elliott Management is moving its headquarters to West Palm Beach, the private-equity firm Blackstone plans to open an office in Miami, and Subway is shifting some business units to Miami.