Florida led population growth nationally last year. Which county is growing the fastest?

Lianna Norman, Palm Beach Post
·3 min read
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Florida ranked first in population growth nationwide last year, welcoming 1,218 new residents each day.

Over 583,200 people traded in their out-of-state licenses at Florida DMVs in 2022, according to driver's license data collected by The Post earlier this year. And more than 13,000 of those Florida driver's licenses were issued in Palm Beach County.

In April, the phrase "move to Florida" hit its highest peak in Google searches since the pandemic-triggered migration to Florida in 2021.

These are screenshots from Google Trends data for the search term "move to Florida." The data shown here was captured on May 16, 2023.
These are screenshots from Google Trends data for the search term "move to Florida." The data shown here was captured on May 16, 2023.

Who's moving to Florida? What new driver's license data tells us

Palm Beach County ranks third in population growth rate statewide

Homes under construction at the site of the Avenir community on Tuesday, April 11, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Homes under construction at the site of the Avenir community on Tuesday, April 11, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Miami-Dade and Broward counties held the two highest rankings in the state for population growth last year, but coming close behind in third place was Palm Beach County. In Palm Beach Gardens alone, 4,000 new luxury homes are being built for its emerging Avenir community. And at least 500 new luxury condo units are being built on waterfront properties in Jupiter, Tequesta and Palm Beach Gardens .

The consistency with most of Palm Beach County's new builds seems to be luxury. But as the population grows and luxury buildings crop up on historically quiet waterfronts in the county, the need for affordable housing is undeniable.

The influx of high-income residents from other states comes with demand for housing options that match their income, distracting from already minimal opportunities for workforce housing.

Affordable units ahead: The Spruce, a new Northwood Village eight-story building, will have workforce housing

How Palm Beach Gardens is growing: Avenir welcomes homes, hospital, golf and more

Palm Beach Gardens grows: Palm Beach Gardens annexes 300 acres of commercial land along Northlake near Avenir

Can population growth be a bad thing?

Do more people bring more problems? Most Florida-born residents think so. The right amount of population growth can be great for a state's economy. A rise in a state's population means a rise in its workforce, which gives way for more money to be earned and sowed back into the economy.

How Wellington is growing: $22M aquatics complex OK'd for Village Park, complete with 4 pools

But too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. And healthy population growth can turn into overpopulation quickly. Overpopulation makes job opportunities and goods more scarce, causing prices to rise and create a prime environment for inflation. As prices rise, middle and lower class workers are forced to save less and spend more.

The gap in middle and upper class wages paired with the Desantis administration's new immigration laws are leaving Florida's new homes and other construction projects abandoned mid-build. Searching "Florida" on TikTok yields hundreds of videos showing empty construction sites, videos of stand-still traffic and lifelong Florida residents' video diaries on why they're choosing to leave their home state.

What are the five most-populated counties in Florida?

  1. Miami-Dade County: Miami-Dade county is home to about 2.7 million people, according to the last census, holding nearly 10% of Florida's total population and making it the seventh most-populous county in the country.

  2. Broward County: Immediately north of Miami-Dade, Broward county ranks second, with 1.93 million residents.

  3. Palm Beach County: Broward county's northern neighbor, Palm Beach County, takes third place with a population of almost 1.5 million people.

  4. Hillsborough County: The fourth most populated county lies on Florida's west coast. Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, is just shy of Palm Beach County with 1.48 million people.

  5. Orange County: The fifth most populated county in the state is the home of Mickey Mouse and Hogwarts. Orange County, which includes tourist-magnet Orlando, rounds up the top five fastest growing counties with 1.42 million residents.

Lianna Norman covers trending news in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at lnorman@pbpost.com. You can follow her reporting on social media @LiannaNorman on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County FL population: What is its growth ranking?