Florida’s economy combines rapid population growth, a large service sector, extensive tourism activity, international trade, agriculture, and defense-related employment. The latest figures span different measurement periods: U.S. Census estimates generally cover 2020–2024 or 2023, labor-market data cover March 2026, and sector reports describe 2024 or 2025 activity.
Florida economy statistics at a glance
- Population: 23,462,518 estimated residents on July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census QuickFacts).
- Economy: About $1.7 trillion in 2025 (FloridaCommerce Annual Report 2024–2025).
- Employment: 9,988,508 total employment in 2023 (U.S. Census QuickFacts).
- Unemployment: 4.7% in March 2026 (BLS Florida Economy at a Glance).
- Tourism: 143 million visitors in 2024 (FloridaCommerce tourism release).
- Exports: $78.9 billion in 2025 (FloridaCommerce export release).
- Employer establishments: 645,575 in 2023 (U.S. Census QuickFacts).
Contents
- Population and demographic profile
- Housing, education, and household resources
- Income, businesses, and employment
- Labor market and industry employment
- Tourism’s economic role
- Exports and agriculture
- Defense and public finances
Population and demographic profile
Florida’s population estimate reached 23,462,518 on July 1, 2025, compared with 23,372,215 on July 1, 2024. The state had 21,538,187 people in the 2020 Census and 18,801,310 in the 2010 Census. From April 1, 2020, to July 1, 2025, Florida’s population grew 8.9% (U.S. Census QuickFacts).
The state’s population profile has important implications for labor supply, housing demand, health services, and consumer markets. In the 2020–2024 estimates, 4.9% of residents were under age 5, 19.3% were under age 18, and 21.8% were age 65 or older. Women represented 50.8% of residents (U.S. Census QuickFacts).
Florida’s reported racial and ethnic profile included 76.4% White alone, 16.9% Black alone, 3.4% Asian alone, and 28.7% Hispanic or Latino residents (U.S. Census QuickFacts). These categories are reported separately by the Census and should not be added as a single mutually exclusive total.
The state had 1,327,071 veterans in the 2020–2024 estimate, while 21.9% of residents were foreign-born. Florida’s population density was 401.4 people per square mile in 2020, across 53,652.17 square miles of land area (U.S. Census QuickFacts).
Housing, education, and household resources
Florida had 10,789,047 housing units on July 1, 2025, and 8,752,810 households in the 2020–2024 period. The average household size was 2.51 persons. Owner-occupied housing represented 67.6% of units, while the median value of an owner-occupied unit was $359,000. Median gross rent was $1,669 (U.S. Census QuickFacts).
Construction activity remained substantial: Florida issued 173,326 building permits in 2024. That annual permit count is a measure of permitting activity, not a count of completed homes or a direct measure of the state’s housing shortage (U.S. Census QuickFacts).
Education and connectivity indicators show the resources available to many households and workers. Among Florida residents age 25 and older, 89.9% had at least a high school diploma and 34.1% had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2020–2024. Broadband subscriptions were present in 91.6% of households. Among residents age 5 and older, 30.6% spoke a language other than English at home (U.S. Census QuickFacts).
Health coverage and labor participation also shape household economic conditions. In 2020–2024, 13.6% of Florida residents under age 65 lacked health insurance. The civilian labor-force participation rate was 59.3% for residents age 16 and older, and 55.2% for women in that age group (U.S. Census QuickFacts).
Income, businesses, and employment
Florida’s median household income was $74,568 in 2020–2024, while per capita income was $42,609. During the same period, 12.0% of residents were in poverty (U.S. Census QuickFacts). These measures describe household and individual income differently, so they should not be treated as interchangeable indicators of living standards.
The state had 645,575 employer establishments and 500,294 employer firms in 2023. Total employment was 9,988,508, annual payroll was $599.4 billion, and total employment grew 3.7% from 2022 to 2023 (U.S. Census QuickFacts). Florida also had 3,117,327 nonemployer establishments, showing the scale of businesses without employees on payroll.
Florida’s employer-firm ownership figures included 300,567 male-owned firms, 120,751 female-owned firms, 157,420 minority-owned firms, and 23,444 veteran-owned firms in 2023 (U.S. Census QuickFacts). The categories can overlap, so they are not a breakdown that should be summed to the total number of firms.
Selected 2022 receipts and sales illustrate the size of major consumer and service industries:
| Florida activity | Latest reported amount | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Retail sales | $484.2 billion | 2022 |
| Health care and social assistance receipts/revenue | $211.7 billion | 2022 |
| Transportation and warehousing receipts/revenue | $98.0 billion | 2022 |
| Accommodation and food services sales | $94.6 billion | 2022 |
Retail sales per capita were $21,767 in 2022 (U.S. Census QuickFacts). These figures describe receipts or sales in the named sectors and are not a single measure of Florida’s gross domestic product.
Labor market and industry employment
In March 2026, Florida’s civilian labor force was 11,146.1 thousand, employment was 10,623.4 thousand, and unemployment was 522.7 thousand. The unemployment rate was 4.7%, while total nonfarm employment was 9,993.2 thousand (BLS Florida Economy at a Glance).
Total nonfarm employment was down 0.2% over 12 months in March 2026. Employment by major sector was:
- Trade, transportation, and utilities: 1,988.6 thousand.
- Professional and business services: 1,629.0 thousand.
- Education and health services: 1,617.1 thousand.
- Leisure and hospitality: 1,330.7 thousand.
- Government: 1,141.3 thousand.
- Financial activities: 680.4 thousand.
- Construction: 651.5 thousand.
- Manufacturing: 424.6 thousand.
- Other services: 375.6 thousand.
- Information: 148.7 thousand.
The figures are seasonally presented major-industry employment measures from March 2026 and should not be added to the civilian employment total, because the concepts and coverage differ (BLS Florida Economy at a Glance).
Alternative labor-underutilization measures provide a wider view than the headline unemployment rate. For 2025, Florida’s U-1 rate was 1.6%, U-2 was 1.5%, U-3 was 3.8%, U-4 was 4.3%, U-5 was 5.0%, and U-6 was 7.9% (BLS Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization in Florida). U-3 is the standard unemployment measure; the broader measures include additional groups of workers with limited labor-market attachment or insufficient work.
FloridaCommerce reported that private-sector employment increased by 128,100 jobs, or 1.5%, over the year in June 2025. The state unemployment rate was 3.8% in August 2025, below the national rate for 59 consecutive months at that point. Private-sector over-the-year job growth exceeded the nation in 49 of the previous 51 months as of fiscal year 2024–2025 (FloridaCommerce Annual Report 2024–2025).
Tourism’s economic role
Tourism generated $133.6 billion in economic impact in Florida in 2024. Out-of-state visitors spent $134.9 billion, up 3.0% from 2023. Americans accounted for $120.1 billion of visitor spending and international visitors contributed $14.8 billion (FloridaCommerce tourism release).
Florida welcomed 143 million visitors in 2024. Tourism supported 1.8 million jobs, generated $79.9 billion in tourism-supported wages, and produced $33.6 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. Tourism accounted for 7.8% of Florida’s nominal gross state product in 2024 (FloridaCommerce tourism release).
The same tourism release reported that 99 cents of every dollar spent by a visitor stayed in Florida’s economy in 2024. Without tourism, Florida households would pay an estimated additional $1,730 annually in state and local taxes. VISIT FLORIDA reported a tourism return of $3.3 to the state for every public dollar invested, a separate return-on-investment measure (FloridaCommerce tourism release; VISIT FLORIDA About Us).
VISIT FLORIDA also reported that it helped attract 143.3 million visitors in 2025. Florida held 15.5% of the domestic market and 24.4% of the overseas market in 2024, while the state’s tourism brand was valued at $142 billion (VISIT FLORIDA About Us). The 2025 visitor figure and 2024 visitor figure come from different reporting periods and should not be compared as a one-year change without a common methodology.
Exports and agriculture
Florida businesses exported $78.9 billion in 2025. Export sales increased $6.4 billion, or 8.9%, from 2024 and rose $21.6 billion, or 37.8%, from 2018 to 2025 (FloridaCommerce export release). Manufactured products accounted for 92% of Florida-grown and Florida-made exports in 2025, with manufacturers exporting approximately $72.2 billion. Manufacturer export sales rose $6.3 billion, or 9.5%, over 2024 and $19.5 billion, or 37%, since 2018 (FloridaCommerce export release).
Brazil was among Florida’s top five export markets in 2025. SelectFlorida maintained $1.9 billion in export sales generated during fiscal year 2024–2025, an increase of $500 million from the prior fiscal year (FloridaCommerce export release).
Agriculture adds a distinct export channel. Florida agriculture and related-products exports totaled $6,596,634,249 in 2023. Those exports supported 83,117 jobs, generated $243.4 million in additional business tax revenue, and produced $10.0 billion in total economic impact (Florida Agriculture Export Report).
Florida agricultural exports reached 161 countries and territories in 2023, with 96 destinations receiving more than $1 million in exports. The top 10 commodities accounted for 58.1% of exports, while the top 10 destinations accounted for 56.4%. Canada bought $1,081,687,597 of Florida agricultural exports and Mexico bought $523,820,058 (Florida Agriculture Export Report).
Defense and public finances
Florida’s military and defense industry activity supported more than 865,000 direct and indirect jobs and had an annual economic impact of $102.6 billion. The activity increased by nearly 6,000 jobs from the previous study (FloridaCommerce defense impact analysis). The direct-and-indirect job figure includes broader economic effects, so it is not directly comparable with a payroll employment series.
FloridaCommerce reported that the state’s economy was about $1.7 trillion in 2025. The state maintained $15.7 billion in reserves in fiscal year 2024–2025 and had paid down $7.3 billion in debt since 2019 (FloridaCommerce Annual Report 2024–2025). FloridaCommerce also reported more than 4.0 million new business formations since January 2019 and GDP growth at an annualized rate of 3.5% from the second quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2025 (FloridaCommerce Annual Report 2024–2025).
These figures place Florida’s economy in context: population growth expands the potential workforce and consumer base, while tourism, trade, agriculture, defense, health services, construction, and professional services contribute through different channels and reporting periods.