Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Florida saw nearly twice as many new businesses open than New York did in 2021, according to federal census data.
The Sunshine State filed 632,105 new business applications, while the Empire State logged 309,170. Florida’s 2021 numbers were a 27% increase from the year prior, while New York’s were up 18% from 2020.
The numbers are sure to be a boon for DeSantis, who took a hardline stance throughout the pandemic by opting out of severe shutdowns. Throughout the crisis, he argued Florida would be better off in the long run for his Pandemic policies, where were among the most relaxed in the country.
New York, on the other hand, had some of the nation’s strictest policies, and census data seems to show that New York’s entrepreneurship suffered for it.
The numbers are sure to be a boon for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who took a hardline stance throughout the pandemic by opting out of severe shutdowns
Florida’s top three county’s few new business growth were Miami Dade County, with 135,710 businesses; Broward County, with 84,045 applications; and Palm Beach county, with 51,211.
New York’s best county barely bested Palm Beach: Kings County, which consists of Brooklyn, clocked 53,588 applications.
The state’s next best counties were New York County, with 52,976 applications; and Nassau County, with 26,384.
The data reflects trends that have become clearer since the end of the pandemic: Red states, which had more relaxed COVID mandates, recovered faster than their blue counterparts, and even saw some benefits from the crisis.
States like California and New York saw an increasing number of residents move out in favor of low tax and low cost of living states like Florida, Texas, and Tennessee.
New York saw its population drop by 365,336 from April 2020 to July 2021, while Florida saw an increase of 242,941 residents over the same period.
The data comes after a study found Republican-led states are continuing to outperform their Democrat rivals economically, and now have more people in work than there were before COVID.
Analysis by Moody’s found that red states – those that have voted for a GOP president in the last two elections – are up 341,000 jobs in total, compared to February 2020.
But it was a different story in blue states, which are still collectively 1.3 million workers down on totals taken just before the pandemic began two-and-a-half years ago.
According to a Moody’s Analytics study, 11 of the top 15 states for economic output, employment, retail sales and new home listings are Republican, with Florida leading the way.
On the other hand, eight of the bottom ten are Democratic run states.