Residents are fleeing Democrat-run state in historic numbers for Florida

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A record number of New Yorkers packed up and moved to Florida in 2022, fleeing the state's high taxes, rising crime, and left-wing politics, according to a report. 

Census data showed that Florida was the fastest-growing state in the Union last year, and a whopping 64,577 of driver's license transfers came from the Empire State, the New York Post reported citing the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

License transfers are a reliable metric to track migration because they suggest a lasting decision to relocate, the Post reported.

Last year's number shattered the previous record of 61,728 New York residents who moved to Florida in 2021, according to the data. 

FLORIDA IS FASTEST-GROWING STATE IN THE US FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1957: CENSUS BUREAU

The top metro area where Americans moved to between July 2019 and July 2021 was Sarasota, Florida, according to Mayflower. (iStock / iStock)

The Tampa, Florida, skyline seen from Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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The 2022 numbers were a 39% increase in emigration from New York to Florida compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, and a 46% spike compared to five years ago in 2017.

"They come in every day," a Jacksonville DMV worker told the Post in an interview. "I hear all the complaints. I feel like a therapist sometimes," the worker joked.  

The worker said the New York ex-pats complained of high taxes pushing them out of the state. 

Though migration has slowed somewhat since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and drawback of New York's heavily-handed pandemic policies, a high volume of state residents left for Florida in the closing months of 2022. 

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Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis with his wife Casey DeSantis speaks during an election night watch party at the Convention Center in Tampa, Florida, on Nov. 8, 2022. (Giorgio Viera/Getty Images / Getty Images)

In the final quarter of 2022, a total of 15,595 New Yorkers transitioned to Florida, including more than 5,000 in December alone, the Post reported.

That figure is down by 8% compared to the last quarter of 2021, but still 30% higher than the same timeframe in 2019 and 45% more than five years ago, according to the Post. 

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Dozens of other states set records for outbound migration to Florida as well, including New Jersey, California, Illinois and Pennsylvania.