A high-visibility puzzle in our nail-biting battle for the presidency has been the impact of immigration. Mounds of data that the US Census Bureau unveiled last week contain a vital key to unlock the answer, at least in Florida. Columns of raw numbers prove that we in Florida rely on immigration from abroad to build our booming economy. I began analyzing the data to view a separate issue, the patterns in the moves of residents between Florida and other states. I realized, however, that the bottom line from a census report on moves between states was different: a key element of Florida’s strong and rapid growth about which Gov. Ron DeSantis and other elected officials rightfully boast is fueled primarily not from other states but from other nations. Beware, dear reader: lots of numbers lie ahead. Let’s start with the basics. In 2023, Florida had an astounding 940,801 new residents aged 1 year and older who hadn’t lived in the state in 2022.  That gain is 4.2% of the state’s 22,395,466 residents (in all cases we’ll leave out those under 1 year old, because that’s the way the census study counts). That’s the eyepopping inflow: 2,577 new Floridians daily. But now break down those newcomers and compare them with those who leave Florida. While we did get 940,801 new Floridians, a hair more than two-thirds came from other states. They came from all 50 and the District of Columbia – 162 from Wyoming, 555 from South Dakota and 913 from Idaho at the low end, to 71,138 new Floridians from New York, 39,052 from California, 37,781 from Texas and 33,226 from New Jersey at the top. The other third of newcomers were from abroad, 303,868 of them (including 12,534 from Puerto Rico and 1,505 from US islands who are not foreign but get lumped in with foreigners). While these people were coming in, Floridians were on the move: 3,055,134 – an astounding 13.6% of us – moved during 2023. They included our newcomers during the year but also 2.1 million Floridians who moved around, whether it was just down the block or across the state. Florida also had another group: 510,925 people moved to other states in our highly mobile nation. If you subtract them from the 636,933 people who came into Florida from other states, our net stateside gain was just 126,008. Just more than half the people in that net gain came from New York and New Jersey alone, even after subtracting the Floridians who moved there. Not all the 303,868 from abroad were a net gain, either, because some Floridians moved to other nations and the census doesn’t track them. But comparing census gains year to year for Florida and factoring out the impact of births and deaths, more than 200,000 were from abroad, almost two-thirds of our total population gain. Was that foreign immigration bad for Florida, as some allege? Well, during the year Gov. DeSantis noted repeatedly, and correctly, that our economy was far stronger than that of the US as a whole. As he also noted, with people flowing in from everywhere our unemployment at 3% was far lower than the national rate of 3.9% at year’s end, and our job creation pace was far faster. Further, Bureau of Labor Statistics figures showed faster Florida wage increases than the nation’s rate, and our minimum wage of $13 was far above the national $7.25. A significant labor shortage in Miami-Dade in particular held back even higher economic growth – in fact, the county still lacks 150 bus drivers that we can’t find although immigrants are flooding in. If that’s not evidence enough, look beyond the census at the key election immigration flashpoint: as foreigners flock here, our dog and cat populations also continue to rise, not fall to hungry newcomers. In fact, during the year an overflow entering Miami-Dade’s pet shelters was highly publicized. Pets, not people, went hungry. No government statistics deal with the anecdotally well-known investments in our businesses by foreigners. They’re undocumented. Though not mentioned in the current report, an earlier census study showed immigrants with more average education than the average where they settle. So, are better-educated newcomers a drain on our state or a boost? As for benefits going to newcomers from abroad, they don’t initially qualify for Social Security or Medicare but still they help fund both via their payroll taxes. And because they help the economy grow, they help generate taxes to give us the benefits of growth and keep out what Floridians most dread: a State Income Tax. You may not like strangers or people from elsewhere, and if so newcomers from abroad are just as bad as those from New York or New Jersey or Wyoming or South Dakota or any other state. They might help us economically, but you just don’t like them around despite all the facts. Because the facts are clear. All the statistical evidence based on this census report points to immigration from abroad as a hidden impetus fueling Florida’s boom. Related Posts:That huge population ‘gain’ during covid was actually a lossEverybody wants to live in Florida – anywhere but MiamiMagnet pull of South Florida on US residents is just a mythFYI Miami: December 29, 2022Language, race and birthplace trends make landmark shiftsThe post Immigrants fueling Florida’s population and economic gains appeared first on Miami Today.