New Yorkers are the No.1 movers to Florida. Find out why.

Watch out, New Yorkers! Florida is coming for you.

A large kiosk at the mall in Hudson Yards in Manhattan beckons you to experience Tampa Bay, NYC subway ads showcase the pristine beaches of St. Petersburg, and billboards in Times Square tout the hashtag #MovetoMiami.

But looking at migration numbers, one wonders if Florida needs to even bother advertising.

Since at least 2016, the Empire State has topped the list for sending its residents to the Sunshine State, data from the Census Bureau shows. During the coronavirus pandemic, many New Yorkers who could work remotely and were looking for warmer climes and more affordable housing options left the city in droves.

Nearly 65,000 New Yorkers traded in their state driver’s licenses for Florida’s in 2022, according to data from Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, according to the New York Post. That broke a record set the previous year, when roughly 62,000 New Yorkers left for the Sunshine State.

Aside from the draw of warmer weather and fewer taxes, Florida's pandemic-era government lockdown policies that opened up the state's economy a lot sooner than others also helped the state, some say.

In September 2020, while the coronavirus was still spreading, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, lifted all restrictions on restaurants and other businesses in the state and banned local fines against people who refused to wear masks as he sought to open the state’s economy. That was more than nine months before pandemic-era lockdowns in states like New York and California were lifted.

Jackie Bild, a real estate agent at Douglas Elliman based in Miami, says she has worked with a lot of New Yorkers moving to the state, especially since the pandemic.

"People talk about the Florida lifestyle and weather, but they also say government policy, like when during COVID when our city was more open and lenient on things, as another reason why they came here," she says. 

Democratic politicians in the Empire State, meanwhile, made political hay as the exodus continued.

Last April, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, launched billboard ads in five Florida cities soon after the passage of Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act, known by opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, denouncing the measure and inviting Floridians to move to New York, “a city where you can say and be whoever you want.”

New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, claimed former New York State Sen. Lee Zeldin – her rival for the governorship last fall – Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro and former President Donald Trump belonged in Florida.

“Just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong, OK? Get out of town. Because you do not represent our values. You are not New Yorkers,” she said during a campaign press conference in August.

Bild says roughly 30% of her buyers in the past 12 months were from New York City, and more than half of her clients in the past two years have been from out of town.

And it's not just retirees anymore. 

In fact, the Census Bureau's 2021 American Community Survey showed that Florida gained members of every generation, from millennials to baby boomers, while New York experienced  a net loss of every generation except Gen Z, the youngest adults.

REAL ESTATE:Housing market on the rise? Why pending contracts for home sales have industry buzzing.

GEN Z:Big cities are a big draw: These are the areas that Gen Z is rapidly migrating to

Companies are moving their headquarters to South Florida, so their employees are coming with them, Bild says. For instance, leading hedge fund Citadel announced last year that it would be moving its headquarters to Miami from Chicago. Other financial companies such as Blackstone and Goldman Sachs increased their footprint in Miami, earning the city the nickname "Wall Street South."

“And then you have successful people with big businesses who want to create their residency in Florida to save on taxes," she says. "Many jobs have become more flexible, and you no longer need to go into the office and be in the cold. And it’s more affordable than New York. Like, why not live in Florida?”

New York’s top income tax rate is 10.9%, and in New York City, the top rate is 3.876%. So, if you live and work in New York City, you could be paying a combined rate of up to 14.8%. In Florida, you pay zero in income tax anywhere you live.  

In January, the median sale price of a home in New York state was $486,200. In Florida, it was $386,500.

But that affordability might soon be eroding.

RealtyHop’s Housing Affordability Index, released in December, examining the share of income U.S. households would have to spend on homeownership costs to find out Miami to be the least affordable city, followed by Los Angeles and New York.

The median asking price increased 0.50% from $595,000 to $598,000. A family making the average household income of $44,581 would have to direct 86% of their paycheck toward housing costs.

In New York City, where the median purchase price of a home was $885,750, a resident with an average salary of $68,129 has to spend 79% of their income on housing, or $4,483.45 a month.

Affordability, of course, is relative.

As Bild says: "Florida is still affordable – for New Yorkers."

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a housing and economy correspondent for USA TODAY.  You can follow her on Twitter @SwapnaVenugopal and sign up for our Daily Money newsletter here.