why so many people move from Florida to Tennessee? (Knoxville: appointed, 2015)

[bluffcity]

I live in West Tennessee for almost 10 years now and thinking of moving to Orlando area. but see so many people move from Florida to Tennessee, wonder why? in my opinion, Florida has beach, more shopping options and low taxes similar to TN. except job is hard to find, why people are leaving FL?

[Lyndarn]

Originally Posted by bluffcity

I live in West Tennessee for almost 10 years now and thinking of moving to Orlando area. but see so many people move from Florida to Tennessee, wonder why? in my opinion, Florida has beach, more shopping options and low taxes similar to TN. except job is hard to find, why people are leaving FL?

Could it be that many fear in the near future that Florida low lying area's will be under water?? Between so many sink holes devouring homes ..roads and highways suffering the same//Why question it.. No politician in Florida wants to deal with it..so why not get outa Dodge?

Tennessee for myself hits my musical string but then again, In the past years weather related HITS are becoming far too common, no matter where you move to

Business will always go wherever they have to pay less to operate in order to profit..however, They may run out of States when huge corporate costs go down the drain in a( directly affecting the Market/401K's)weather event...

Sure they can Write it off...But profit margins will not be profitable .. Private $$ will never replace Government $$ offsetting that.. so the constant drumbeat demonizing Government sounds counter-intuitive ...LOL Govn't's Evil yet those Corporate folk love's the free ride they get until the money train runs out

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by bluffcity

I live in West Tennessee for almost 10 years now and thinking of moving to Orlando area. but see so many people move from Florida to Tennessee, wonder why? in my opinion, Florida has beach, more shopping options and low taxes similar to TN. except job is hard to find, why people are leaving FL?

The unemployment rate in TN is higher than in FL. Aside from Nashville and Knoxville, most everywhere else in TN is struggling immensely. FL has several large metros that are doing well to reasonably well - Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa. Also, the cost of living in TN where you can find jobs (Nashville) is starting to exceed that everywhere in most of FL but Miami.

[danielj72]

I know several people who moved here from florida. Reasons I have heard usually include hot humid weather, fear of hurricanes, high cost of living. (home owners insurance is the biggie there) and just how crowded it is. I have also heard there is a lot of crime and undesirable people who seem to be everywhere there. Tennessee seems to attract disgrunteled Floridians because we have a milder climate and most of them love our mountains and rugged scenery as they have none of that there. Even middle TN looks "mountainous" to them. Many people think of Florida as some kind of paradise, but going there for a long weekend to the beach and living there are two different things. There must be a lot of problems there or we would not be seeing so many people trying to get out of the Sunshine State.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by danielj72

I know several people who moved here from florida. Reasons I have heard usually include hot humid weather, fear of hurricanes, high cost of living. (home owners insurance is the biggie there) and just how crowded it is. I have also heard there is a lot of crime and undesirable people who seem to be everywhere there. Tennessee seems to attract disgrunteled Floridians because we have a milder climate and most of them love our mountains and rugged scenery as they have none of that there. Even middle TN looks "mountainous" to them. Many people think of Florida as some kind of paradise, but going there for a long weekend to the beach and living there are two different things. There must be a lot of problems there or we would not be seeing so many people trying to get out of the Sunshine State.

I think a lot of the moves are simply for more temperate weather and overcrowding.

The complaints about crime, poor paying jobs, bad economy, etc, also apply to TN. Florida's crime levels always come up, while most people never mention TN's high crime levels. There are lots of low end, low paying jobs in both states, and neither state is an economic powerhouse like NY, MA, CT, CA, or TX.

I've been to Tampa and Sarasota twice on vacation this year and may fly down for an interview in Lakeland next week. I like the Tampa area a lot, but it does feel crowded, but major cities anywhere will feel crowded. You still have Southern culture in the panhandle, interior FL, and Jacksonville, more generic American culture in central FL, and the northeast culture in south FL. There is a lot more diversity there than in TN IMO.

I'd much prefer FL to where I am in IN and where I grew up in the Tri-Cities. FWIW, I've probably had three job call backs in FL to every one I get in TN. FL economy is much better.

[85rx-7gsl-se]

My family moved to Middle Tennessee from FL as my dad secured a job here in the aerospace industry. After ten years in TN (middle and west), I would move back to FL if I get a chance. The pace in FL is so much faster. I like it, but can see why it would burn others out.

[DigitalNomad143]

Being from Florida I will say a lot of it has to be the idea that there are a lot of jobs and they believe the cost of living is cheaper up here in TN. In case anyone from Florida reads this, it isn't cheaper in Tennessee. Sure it is if you want to live in the country woods -- far from ANYTHING.

Here is a few examples...


If you live in Largo, FL -- a town in Pinellas County that is outside of Tampa, FL and you want to move to Franklin, TN
and you make a household income of 100K a year, you would need to make 147K in Franklin, TN in order to have the SAME lifestyle you had in Florida.


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Next example. IF you lived in Melbourne, FL and you wanted to move to Brentwood, TN, again making a household income of 100K a year... you will need to make $177K a year in Brentwood, TN.

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Picking another nice town that many are flocking to, Mount Juliet. Again, making 100K and moving FROM Orlando, FL

You would need to make 111K in Mount Juliet, TN to keep that same Florida lifestyle.

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I used 100K because it is a clean number, but you can switch the numbers around if you want to.


I have a philosphy of some of the people who are moving here. Some are "half backs" They are yankees who have moved from the Northeast US and moved to Florida. They miss their "seasons" and want to be a little closer to home. Maybe Florida was too hot, maybe too humid. So they move half way back to TN, NC, GA, SC -- there are a lot of them.

I believe true Floridians who lived near the beach will MISS Florida immensely if they move to Middle TN. Maybe not eastern or anywhere on water in TN, but if you live around only land in TN and you are used to living near water, you will miss Florida.

Now if anyone who lived in Florida for a few years bashes me for saying this, congrats you are one of the few. I would first like to know how long you actually lived in Florida, whether you lived near the water or not, if you were an outdoor person, liked sunshine and how long you have lived here. I'm sure there will be one or two.

Florida gets a ton of people who move there everyDAY. Some leave because they came down without a job. Some are running from somewhere else and when they see their lives don't improve moving there, they move somewhere else.

There are a TON of great paying jobs in the Nashville area right now. That is a huge draw. I'm from Florida, miss the water right now (we lived right on the beach). I know a family from the same town we lived in Florida who lives here too (Franklin, TN) and a job brought them here too (not the same company).

I miss how clean the city looks in the downtown Tampa and South Tampa areas. I miss the beaches. Great job here that pays A LOT is what brought us here.

Disadvantage of Florida is strip clubs everywhere. People vacation down there and let their hair down. There are GREAT areas to live with some of the best schools in the country, but you have to be smart with where you live. I will say that the outside of Nashville is very wholesome. Williamson county schools are GREAT, but so are Hendersonville and Mount Juliet. You can save a lot of money in those two towns. Downtown Nashville was a little surprising to me when I moved here -- a lot more of a party environment than I thought before moving here. We brought our son downtown one weekend and the peddling bars, people in hot tubs in the back of limos woo hooing and drinking looked like a blast, but wasn't necessarily where I thought my 11 year old son should be that day so we headed back home a little disappointed. We now know downtown is Nashvegas LOL

Anyways, hope that helps. Oh one last thing... there are a ton of people from NY, MN, California, EVERYWHERE moving to Nashville. There is quite a boom happening here. If you're an entrepreneur get going, there is money to be made in Nashville in 2015!!

[Serious Conversation]

What great paying jobs in Nashville? I've tried off and on to find employment in Nashville for the better part of two years. I can't find the jobs I've had in the Midwest or the amount of interviews I've had in Tampa or Jacksonville.

[DigitalNomad143]

What do you do Emigrations?

[JRR]

Originally Posted by danielj72

I know several people who moved here from florida. Reasons I have heard usually include hot humid weather, fear of hurricanes, high cost of living. (home owners insurance is the biggie there) and just how crowded it is. I have also heard there is a lot of crime and undesirable people who seem to be everywhere there. Tennessee seems to attract disgrunteled Floridians because we have a milder climate and most of them love our mountains and rugged scenery as they have none of that there. Even middle TN looks "mountainous" to them. Many people think of Florida as some kind of paradise, but going there for a long weekend to the beach and living there are two different things. There must be a lot of problems there or we would not be seeing so many people trying to get out of the Sunshine State.

We are planning on retiring to the Cookeville TN area. next year. Reasons we are leaving Central FL are the hot humid weather here, a real change of seasons, more interesting landscape, cost of living (Cookeville is less), less traffic, less crime and less angry people. Then there is the coming water crisis in Florida. The Floridan Aquifer is being depleted and saltwater intrusion into drinking water wells is becoming a problem in areas near the coasts. But immense amounts of water keeps getting thrown on lawns and gold courses to keep them green.