Tourism, revenues up – and auto insurance rates
Florida is attracting wealthy Americans at four times the rate of any other state, our visitor count has now returned to pre-pandemic levels, and state revenue projections have been revised upward by more than $5 billion. The only not-so-good news: the Sunshine State now has the highest auto insurance rates in the country. It’s all in this week’s look at economic news around Florida.
Wealthy Influx: An analysis by SmartAsset shows Florida gained a net 20,263 high-income households during the first year of the pandemic. That’s about four times the number that second-place Texas gained. Its report analyzed IRS data to measure pre-pandemic net migration patterns from 2019 to 2020 among households in the U.S. with over $200,000 annual earnings. Five of the other top 10 states with the biggest increase are all in the Sun Belt. Washington D.C. still has the largest proportion of high-earners, while West Virginia has the smallest.
Florida Tourism Back to Normal: The number of visitors to Florida was up 20% in the first half of 2022 from the same period last year and exceeded the number during the first half of 2019, before the pandemic. Visit Florida reports that 69.34 million tourists visited during the first half of this year. Nearly 94% of those visitors are from other states in America compared with 6% foreign visitors. Total visitor count in 2019 was a record 131 million, so at this pace, 2022 may very well be another record year!
State Revenue Projections Up: In part because of increases in net migration and tourism and other sales tax revenues, the state’s Revenue Estimating Conference in its latest report increased revenue projections by $5.3 billion over the next two years. That’s additional money the Florida Legislature will have to consider when it reconvenes in its 2023 session next March. But the report comes with a big if. “The risk associated with the national economic forecasts is skewed to the downside with almost equal probability that the new forecast will unfold as predicted or fall short of expectations,” said Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research, which produces the estimates.
Auto Insurance Up: Florida now has the highest automobile insurance rates in the country, according to the Insure.com annual report. Florida’s average annual auto premium in 2022 is $2,560, compared with the national average premium of $1,682. Ohio has the lowest average premium in the nation at $1,023. “Notably, drivers in no-fault states such as Florida and Michigan pay more for auto insurance than drivers in other states,” according to the report. Also of note: Michigan, which was ranked second most expensive in 2021, now ranks fourth. Researchers attribute it to 2019 bipartisan reform in its no-fault auto insurance law, which took effect in July 2021. The Florida Legislature has considered eliminating our no-fault auto insurance law in each of the past few years.
LMA Newsletter of 8-22-22
