Has Florida attracted more income under DeSantis than any state in the country’s history?

Florida typically leads the nation for the state gaining the most net people –– or the amount of people moving into the state compared to those leaving –– but reliable records don’t trace the Sunshine State as the clear historical winner.

Gov. Ron DeSantis recently claimed that Florida has had the most income moved in during his tenure than “any American state in the history of the republic.”

While the first part of the statement is statistically true, saying it’s a record in the nation’s history is misleading. IRS data on migration only reliably dates back to 1990. 

In 2022 –– exactly halfway through DeSantis’ eventual eight-year tenure –– Florida gained the most net people with 245,334 and saw almost $36 billion in adjusted gross income moving into the state.

Though that puts it at the top, inconsistent data makes it unclear if Florida has been the undisputed champion over the past few hundred years.