Every figure on Why Florida, listed in full with what it supports. Nothing on that page is asserted without one of these.
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What it supportsFlorida's nominal gross state product was $1,834,641.4 million (about $1.83 trillion) in 2025. The fourth-place ranking is read off the same BEA series for other states: California $4,250,840.8M, Texas $2,904,427.8M, New York $2,467,674.0M, Florida $1,834,641.4M, Illinois $1,201,996.1M.
What it supportsReal GDP increased in all 50 states in 2025, ranging from 3.1% in South Carolina and Florida to 0.3% in North Dakota. Released 9 April 2026.
What it supportsPopulation growth as the state's primary economic engine; ~1.8 million net new residents since the 2020 Census; forecast growth of 1.28% a year 2025-30 against 0.41% nationally; 24 million residents in 2027 and 25 million by 2030; November 2025 unemployment of 4.2% (FL) against 4.6% (US); average annual wage at 91.9% of the US average in 2024, up from 87.3% in 2020; median gross rent of $1,812 against $1,487 nationally in 2024; county shares of state GDP in 2023 (Miami-Dade 14.91%, Broward 10.24%, Orange 9.39%, Hillsborough 8.96%, Palm Beach 8.25%) and Orange County's highest per-capita GDP; 145.1 million forecast visitors in FY 2025-26; 52.3% of 2020-30 population growth in the 60-and-over group and a 36.2% prime-working-age share by 2030; negative natural increase.
What it supportsFlorida's population was 23,462,518 on 1 July 2025, third-largest in the nation; it added 196,680 residents in the year, second-largest numeric gain; net domestic migration was 22,517, down from 183,646 in 2023 and 310,892 in 2022, ranking eighth among states; net international migration of 178,674 was the highest of any state. Released 27 January 2026.
What it supportsCalendar-2025 totals are the sum of the twelve monthly, not-seasonally-adjusted values in this series: Florida 647,734. The comparison states use the equivalent FRED series — California 553,931, Texas 544,146, New York 301,047.
What it supportsFlorida ranks 5th overall on the 2026 index; component ranks are individual income 1st (no individual income tax), unemployment insurance 8th, sales 16th, corporate 17th and property 20th. Corporate income tax rate of 5.5%.
What it supportsThe research and development tax credit is available to qualified target-industry businesses subject to Florida corporate income tax — manufacturing, life sciences, information technology, aviation and aerospace, homeland security and defence, cloud information technology, marine sciences, materials science and nanotechnology — capped at 50% of Florida corporate income tax liability after other credits, with the annual application window opening on 20 March.
What it supportsThe sandbox allows financial technology innovators to test new products and services under supervision using exceptions to, and waivers of, specified provisions of general law, under section 559.952, Florida Statutes and Rule 69V-559, Florida Administrative Code.
What it supportsStatewide 2025 venture totals of $5.83 billion across 575 deals, up 41% in value on a 2% lower deal count; Florida 7th among states by deal value and 5th by deal count; Miami-Fort Lauderdale $4.13 billion across 376 deals, up 49%, ranking 9th among US metros by dollars and 5th by deals, with 71% of state dollars and 65% of deals and an $11 million average; sector totals (fintech $1.22bn/110 deals statewide and $909m/85 deals in Miami metro, healthcare $1.07bn statewide and $821m/56 deals in South Florida, cybersecurity $462m, clean energy and climate $653m, aerospace and defence $134m, crypto and web3 $480m/38 rounds, AI $1.22bn in Miami metro); 55 exits worth at least $5.8 billion against 43 worth $564 million in 2024; $723 million raised across 14 Florida venture funds, all by South Florida firms, down from $1.3 billion; $738 million to teams with at least one female founder (13% of dollars, 19% of deals); named rounds and relocations including OpenEvidence, ReliaQuest, Syncromune, Ubicquia, ThreatLocker, Zero Networks, Beep, TMRW Sports, Seven Seven Six, The LegalTech Fund, Tampa Bay Wave's portfolio, JAX Hub, the Gold Coast Tech Accelerator, ServiceNow, AMPERA, Orion Edge and XTEND; and the $2.5 billion Florida Cancer Specialists exit.
What it supportsMore than $65 billion of direct defence spending in Florida in 2022 producing $102.6 billion of gross state product (7.3% of GSP) and 865,937 jobs; more than 20 military installations, nearly 137,000 DoD and Coast Guard personnel and more than 1.6 million veterans and military retirees; county-level direct expenditure and host installations — Duval $6.5bn (NAS Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport, MCSF Blount Island, Jacksonville ANG Base; $2.9bn compensation), Brevard $6.4bn (Patrick SFB, Cape Canaveral SFS, Naval Ordnance Test Unit; $4.7bn procurement), Hillsborough $6.2bn (MacDill AFB, US Central Command, US Special Operations Command), Okaloosa $5.6bn (Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field), Miami-Dade $2.4bn (US Southern Command, Homestead ARB).
What it supportsThe 94th successful orbital launch of 2025 from the Eastern Range flew on 10 November 2025, securing world leadership in orbital launches for a third consecutive year; Cape Canaveral's 2025 cadence was five launches short of the total combined launches of every other nation that year, outpacing the closest competitor by more than 25%.
What it supports109 launches from Florida in 2025 carrying more than 2,100 payloads totalling over 3 million pounds; a 220-project aerospace pipeline valued at $6 billion; more than $500 million invested in spaceports between 2012 and 2025; Blue Origin employing nearly 4,000 people in the state, SpaceX Gigabay about 600 jobs and AURA AERO about 1,030.
What it supportsFlorida ranked first for higher education in the U.S. News & World Report 2025 State Rankings, and every year since the rankings began in 2017; the State University System comprises 12 universities and more than 430,000 students and is the second-largest public university system in the nation; first for lowest tuition and fees and for two- and four-year graduation rates.
What it supportsA record $1.33 billion of research expenditure in FY2025, up 4.5% (about $57.3 million) on FY2024; record awards of $1.25 billion including $818 million federal, $102 million from the State of Florida and $140 million philanthropic; 446 technology disclosures, up from 369.
What it supportsUF Innovate's Sid Martin Biotech incubator was named the world's top biotechnology incubator by UBI Global for a third time.
What it supportsThe Corridor serves a 23-county region and matches industry investment in university research with up to $150,000 per project; more than 400 industry partners have participated over 30 years of the programme; every project requires student participation.
What it supports387 metro areas grouped into six tiers of AI readiness. The Star Hubs tier comprises 28 metro areas; Miami and Gainesville are named within it, both with AI job-posting growth above 250% between 2018 and 2025, and the University of Florida is named as a key driver of AI research. Tampa is placed in the Emerging Centers tier (14 metros) and is one of the four large business centres leading that group, in its 'talent and adoption' cohort. Jacksonville is placed in the Nascent Adopters tier (79 metros). Orlando is not named in the report.
What it supportsOrlando metro tech employment reached 77,700 in 2024 after adding about 1,800 jobs, a 2.3% year-over-year gain and the second-highest rate among the 30 most populous regions; the tech workforce grew 21% (13,400 workers) over five years.
What it supportsA simulation workforce of more than 45,000; more than $7 billion a year in simulation-related contracts (National Center for Simulation figure); the Navy, Marine Corps and Army simulation commands headquartered in Orlando; Central Florida Research Park adjacent to the University of Central Florida; SimLEARN at Lake Nona.
What it supportsMore than 53,000 financial services workers and more than 20 Fortune Global 500 financial firms operating in the Jacksonville region; four Fortune 500 headquarters — FIS, Fidelity National Financial, CSX and GuideWell; more than 900 fintech companies; fintech job growth of 27% from 2015 to 2025; about 70,000 fintech-related graduates a year within a 250-mile radius; a $3.6 million state grant for Florida's first Fintech Academy.
What it supports118,805 financial services jobs; about 120 estimated relocations in recent years; more than 300 hedge funds, private equity and financial services firms; an average salary of $135,805; more than 2 million square feet of Class A office space under construction.
What it supportsA $9 billion marine-industry economic impact in Broward County and $12 billion regionally; 142,000 regional jobs of which 111,000 are in Broward; $4 billion of wages, typically 16% above the state average; Port Everglades generating $30.4 billion of economic impact and more than 13,000 direct jobs.
What it supports29 projects closed in FY2025 — 13 newly recruited companies and 16 local expansions — accounting for 2,280 new jobs and $273 million of capital investment; more than 400 projects and 44,000 direct jobs since 2009.
What it supportsCore tech industries in Southwest Florida have grown 37.8% since 2019 and average tech wages exceed $122,000, nearly double the regional average; the Gulf Coast Tech Corridor spans Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties, extending into Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto; county-level cluster profiles; and the report's own account of the region's constraints — a small if fast-growing talent base, modest graduate retention and early-stage startup activity.
What it supportsOne-third of all US exports to Latin America originate from Miami; Miami International Airport serves more flights to Latin America than any other US airport; about 30,000 direct jobs in trade and logistics with roughly 340,000 supported by the wider industry.
What it supportsFlorida has 16 public deepwater seaports; maritime activity supports nearly 1.2 million jobs and contributes $195.9 billion in economic value — 12.2% of state GDP — plus $7.4 billion in state and local taxes; cargo is up 20.4% and cruise passengers up 29.7% since 2015.
What it supportsFlorida's average annual home insurance premium was $8,292 in 2025, an 18% increase on 2024 and the highest of any state, with second-placed Louisiana at $5,050; a further 2% rise to $8,458 is projected for 2026, following roughly 300,000 claims from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.
The bibliography above covers the economics page. Every other record on the site carries its own sources on its own page, under “Links & sources”:
223 organizations, 306 cited source links. Each one names where its details came from and when they were retrieved.
150 startups, 266 cited source links — public signals only: company sites, press and public portfolios.
73 major employers and anchor companies, 135 cited source links.