Welcome Florida New Residents!
The Sunshine State
Florida, known for its juicy oranges and some of the nation’s most famous theme parks, is a rapidly growing state. It is unique in that most of the state is a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean; its location greatly exhibited by its culture and the activities it offers residents.
Relocating to Florida - Becoming a New Florida Resident
If you’re preparing to move to Florida, you’ll want to make sure to take care of all registration, driver’s license renewal and paperwork with the DMV. Top priorities will be in the list below:
- If you have a license issued from another state in the US, you can most likely convert it to a Florida license. (And that’s without having to redo your written or road tests!)
- You’ll need insurance for your car from a company licensed to do business in Florida. If your current insurance isn’t able to do business here, check out a Florida insurance agent.
- Make sure to register your vehicle within 10 days of one of the following events:
- Becoming employed by a Florida employer
- Placing a child (or children) in public school
- Establishing residency
- You also need to title your vehicle. You can title and register it at the same time - by going to your local Florida county tax collector’s office with the proper paperwork and information.
Important for Moving Quotes: Florida's Cost of Living & Neighborhood Info
Depending on where you live, there are a lot of factors at work to determine cost of living. A house on the coast, for example, will be about 20% more than living in middle of the state, rural Florida. Good news? Home prices tend to be 4% lower than the national average.
Other factors include healthcare and taxes; the costs of healthcare tend to be far higher but the taxes much lower than national averages.
Weather: As no part of this state is too far of a drive from the ocean, the weather on average remains quite temperate, though certain areas are classified as humid subtropical. With an average temperature of 70 degrees, it is the warmest state in America.
Snowfall here is a rare, but it has happened on the rare occasion. And although it is considered a very sunny state, there are a plethora of natural disasters such as thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes that do hit Florida.
Population: This (mostly) sunny state is home to 19.5 million residents as of 2014. New York has 19.6 million, however, rumor is that Florida’s population is growing and will pass New York’s soon.
Florida's Employment Rate & Economy: For Moving Companies
The most important factor of you moving, most likely, is work. You want to make sure there is job opportunity if you don’t already have a position lined up. As of October 2014, the unemployment rate was 6.3%, just about level with nation’s overall average.
Recent job growth has been at 3.1% and it is foreseen to continue growing. The average household income is about $43,000 – with highest number of jobs to residents being in management, sales, office, administrative support, business, and finance.
ULTIMATE FLORIDA ATTRACTIONS
Some of these are so famous, you probably already know them. But hey, they’re known for a reason, so they’re worth going on the list!
- Walt Disney World - Perhaps you’ve been to Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Ready to see the next level of Mickey & Minnie mania?
- Universal Studios Orlando - For anyone who loves movies and thrilling rides, this is a must. Great for the whole family, it is a place definitely worth investing an annual pass in.
- SeaWorld Orlando - This theme park offers so much more than just animals marine-life based zoology park. In it you can also find roller coasters, shows & tours.
- Everglades - Perhaps you want to escape the high level energy of the city life (or thrilling theme parks you spent the weekend at!) Hit this national park for miles upon miles of fishing, airboat tours, kayaking and, even...swamp buggy-ing.
FLORIDA FUN FACTS
- Clearwater,Floridais the city with the highest number of lightning strikes in America - how shocking!
- Wherever you may be in Florida, you are always within 60 miles of the coast.
- Look out for fit members of authority. If Highway Patrol officers in Florida are more than 15 pounds overweight, they actually lose their bonuses.
- If you have a pet elephant, you’ll want to pay attention. If you tie your elephant to a parking meter and leave him there, you will be charged a parking fee for it being parked there as if it were a car.
LIST OF CITIES AND TOWNS
- Miami
- Orlando
- Pensacola
- Tampa