Escape From Manhattan? Not So Fast Miami

As the pandemic raged, word on the street was that fintechs were mulling a Manhattan exodus. Expensive midtown offices didn’t look great compared to Miami beaches.

But according to research by Bloomberg, there were no crowds of fleeing New Yorkers like it may have seemed. Only 2,246 people filed a permanent address change from Manhattan to Miami-Dade County, and 1,741 went to Palm Beach County.

3,987 NYC-area residents packed up shop and flew south for the Covid winter, never to return- But that’s only ~5.6% of the total 70,000 people that moved from NY state last year, according to Unicast, a real estate location analytics firm.

“The main problem with moving to Florida is that you have to live in Florida,” Jason Mudrick, a hedge fund manager, told Bloomberg.

In 2019, the US Census Bureau estimated a net 38,512 Greater New York State residents moved to the Sunshine State, suggesting that what was experienced in 2020 may have been nothing more than the routine annual migration. 2020’s Census data is not yet available so it’s difficult to say.

“We’re going to keep going with New York City if that’s all right with you,” Jerry Seinfeld wrote in an August 2020 NY Times Op-ed, “and it will sure as hell be back.”

Kevin Travers was a Reporter at deBanked.