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More and more workers are moving to Florida during the pandemic — and the sunny climate isn’t the only reason why.

Top companies are opening new offices in the state, and the rise in remote working is giving staff more freedom to choose where they want to live.

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

• Florida’s population grew by 14.6% in the last decade – and the pandemic has accelerated this.
• The state famously has no personal income tax, and its banking and finance industries are booming.
• But the rise in remote working, its lack of lockdown, and attractive house prices are also drawing people in.

“It’s not just retirees – it’s tech workers leaving San Francisco,” John Boyd, the CEO of The Boyd Company, said.

Businesses are flocking to Florida

“Florida certainly has a winning formula for business attraction,” Boyd told Insider.

In particular, Florida is becoming a hotspot for banking and financial services, while Miami is as emerging as “one of the hottest new tech hubs in North America today,” he said.

Hedge fund Elliott Management is moving its headquarters to West Palm Beach, private equity firm Blackstone plans to open an office in Miami, and Goldman Sachs is considering the state for its asset management division. Even Subway is shifting some business units to Miami.

Software company Civix and Sonesta International Hotels are opening new offices in Orlando, too.

Deloitte has invested $63 million in Orlando since 2014, while KPMG chose Orlando for its $450 million global training center, the largest capital investment in KPMG history, according to Casey Barnes, vice president of business development at the Orlando Economic Partnership.

Colliers previously told Insider that interest from out-of-state firms in South Florida real estate is “torrential” – and they’re looking for much bigger officers than before, too.

Average salaries are climbing

As these businesses open offices in Florida, the job market in the state is booming, too.

Andrew Hunter, the co-founder of job search engine Adzuna, told Insider Florida’s job vacancies are back at pre-pandemic levels and the number of unemployed is reaching record lows while average city salaries are climbing.

The number of financial-services employees in Florida has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels with nearly 600,000 people working in the sector. New York, on the other hand, is rebounding much slower and still has around 30,000 fewer employees in the sector than it did in early 2020, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.