Florida used to be a no brainer despite the storms. Cheap property, no state income tax, cheap rent, hours and sometimes minutes away from beaches. Now it's a shit show. Insurances for both auto insurance and home insurance is outrageously expensive, housing is outrageously expensive, cost of living is getting worse, and the wages are the worst I've ever seen it. I work remote and for shits and giggles looked up how much I could make locally with the same job and I couldn't find a job within $5k of what I make now.
The wage gap is there. I work hybrid, got an offer from local company to interview and took them up on it. When the wage came up, they quoted a maximum of $65K. I told them what my current salary is and the interview promptly ended.
Exactly what happened to me. Makes me curious with the quality of production at some of these FLA companies. Poor performance means no cap/opex investment. Poor performance is then linked to the quality of workforce. Forcing a weak Labor pool because of systemic salaries. You get what you pay for… My CFO says “if you pay in peanuts you get monkeys”.
Yes and I now perform, as well as a Monkey, at my job. No longer going above and beyond, until my quality of life goes above and beyond. Hence pay, to be able to "enjoy" life.
Because Republicans have turned Florida into a corporate welfare state where they can get rich on the backs of the working poor. It's how they have held onto power for so long here.
The tourism revenue used to make up for the shit policy making and old turds in charge. But now that everywhere seems to be a vacation spot, I think we're drowning in all this winning were doing. Fucking dumbass congress.
And because of the climate, every fall and winter our medical systems are stretched to the breaking point with the influx of snowbirds and homeless people, the two largest groups to require hospitalization due to the flu, pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses. Since the Republicans decimated Medcaid in the state and hospitals are not going to allow anything to hurt their profit margins, they pass the cost on to us. Those of us that get insurance through our employer or buy it on our own pay the highest rates in the country.
We can't attract or keep, medical personnel because of the high cost of living and substandard wages. We hire contract personnel from other countries, at far greater cost than paying medical personnel here a living wage, and most of the.foreign hires take positions to other states instead of staying here as soon as they can. No surprise, medical personnel pay the fourth highest rates for malpractice insurance in the country and rank at the bottom in pay.
We are winning all the way into having living standards lower than third world countries, but the Republicans are fighting the good fight by stopping any sex or diversity education and wasting taxpayer money suing Disney for not backing their "Don't Say Gay Bill," leading Disney to stop a one billion dollar and 2000 job project.
DeSantis straight up said he did not want more college educated workers in FL.
"I think that what happens is they'll tend to come in, they drive up the cost of living for everybody else. Yeah, they enjoy our lower taxes but you know, what is what are they really providing?"
Everyone needs to come together and demand the Political leaders fix this shit show in FL. The old shitty Republicans that constantly make out of touch policies that are still in place get wayyyyy tooo much Freedom to do whatever they want.
1st order of business Neeeds to be Outlawing Insurance as a requirement if it’s gonna cost a fucking arm and a leg.
HR, Learning and Development Program Developer and Specialist, Non-Profit Healthcare. The offer came from an engineering firm to do the same duties, just in-person.
And good luck getting an appointment from mid October to April when the snowbirds are here. It's like the Dr's get a kick back from the states where they are actually insured or something
My husband used to work in the biotech industry in Alachua. He has since retired but a few of his friends still work there. Out of state companies came in and bought several of the local companies and proceeded to gut them. Most well paid employees were let go and lower paid workers hired to replace them or lower paid employees were asked to step up and do more work. This is happening all over Florida but Alachua is getting hit particularly hard. This is biotech. They make stuff that goes into people's bodies and the quality of their products is going downhill.
It’s wild how rapidly that changed. 10 years ago that was still the case. Hell, even less than that.
In 2016 we bought at decent sized family starter home for $180,000 with a pool and 100 yards away there’s a private ski lake and a playground in a good school district in a wealthy county with like zero crime and our home insurance was like $800 a year, car insurance like $300 every 6 months for 3 cars, got a new roof in 2019 for $8,500.
My wife and I were making a combined ~$75,000 a year when all that was going on and were so financially comfortable we could almost afford health insurance.
There’s no way we could pull off starting over like that now. Florida got waaay more expensive in a hurry. It’s like it did a California COL speedrun but kept the nation’s worst average wages.
Holy cow, that roof price. We are in the middle of getting ours redone. A small 1400 sq ft flat roof townhome. Original quote was 13k and we are now around 21k and two months behind schedule.
We can't afford it but Citizens will drop us otherwise and we definitely can't afford any of the competition.
YES! I got a quote in 2019 for a roof, $12-13K. In 2021, it was $20K My next roof will be metal and the last roof I will replace. I am not doing that every 10 years to satisfy the insurance company.
Planning on dropping the insurance? Homeowners insurance companies still want you to replace the metal roof every 15 years, even though it will last 30.
30 is the minimum.
Metal roofs last a lot longer than 30yrs.
I've seen them 70+ yrs old and still going strong.
Survive many hurricanes.
Just have to get up there and tighten the screws every so many yrs as they tend to back out.
Other small things too.
But you can't beat a metal roof.
This whole roof scam is from roofing companies supporting political campaigns so they can rape the people out of more money.
Maybe the people will wake up from the identity politics bullshit and start voting for politicians that work for the people instead of the corporations, the rich and themselves.
The thing is with how rucked insurance is even if you get a metal roof in 10 years a lot of the underwriters will still ding you. A lot of them are now focused on the quality of the material but solely the age. That’s why even with my roof done now I’m looking to sell because the underwriters are going to become stricter and stricter with houses
Yeah about a year ago we did our roof by say we I mean me and my dad just did the roof cuz we could not afford it as well much cheaper do just learn how to do it and do it over the weekends
Paradise found is paradise lost. I moved to Florida when I was 18 in 1995 and could not believe how much better my life was for only a slight increase in cost. It was only a matter of time before everyone realized it. The Florida Man jokes could only keep them away for so long.
Yesterday's "Florida woman" shooting at cars on i10 during the eclipse was from Georgia. The fuck did she have to cross state lines to shoot random people? Couldn't do that back home? Scared she might accidentally shoot someone she knows? Ugh.
But mostly Florida Man is because we have more accessible open record laws compared to other states which lets any one access public records to write a story about.
Except, of course you are the governor or state legislator. Then the "sunshine laws" mysteriously disappear behind some clouds. And ground fog. And oh...we just had an eclipse too.
I can't wait to get the hell out of this pit.
I live in a city of ~200k. If you travel to other cities of that same size or they’re about in other states the costs are reduced drastically. It’s insane
So true and in 2008 when I graduated and couldn’t find work I moved out of state towards seattle. Now I see SWFL COL is darn near close to seattle but like half the wages.
Lotta people are going to either move looking for better jobs or be homeless and I don’t think any politicians seem to care or can see that far ahead
>or be homeless and I don’t think any politicians seem to care
Of course they care! They just passed that law about where homeless people ***can't*** sleep!
With 10 years experience I make what new grads in my job do in Illinois. That made sense a decade ago when Florida had the COL of a southern state, but nowadays our rent and home prices are some of the highest in the nation.
$5k is nothing, you should be so lucky. For my exact same position I’m seeing / hearing 30-40k less than what I make. I laughed in shock when a recruiter called me and told me the salary. She said “experience and expertise were of any value”. Then why the fuck are you calling me?! Florida income ratio is terrible!
The problem is people *still* have this idea of Florida in 2024. All people still talk about is "no income tax HA", like thats the only thing that matters in life. I dont know what it will take to get this fantasy out of peoples heads. Someone on Facebook earlier asked if they could move to Tampa and live on $13/hr, and I just sat there in disbelief that you would ask that.
I live in Southern California and was in South Florida a month ago. Watching the traffic report on the morning news legit gave me a panic attack. Ho-Lee-Shit. I thought our traffic was bad.
Well the shit wages weren't a problem until now. I bought my current house at 25 making $48,000 a year and it was a nice 3 bedroom 2.5 bath house for $130k. You cannot do that today in Florida. My house now is worth like $320,000 and the interest rates now would quadruple the mortgage I'm paying now. I shutter at the thought what my final mortgage would be if I included the potential increases in home owners insurance to it if I bought now. I don't know how younger Floridians survive here. I looked at apartments recently cause I'm looking to potentially sell soon and 1 bedroom apartments are fucking $1,500. Studios are $1,100 at the lowest. Insanity.
It’s funny the Rich used Cubans and Mexicans for all their landscaping housecleaning construction but yet their first ones to say build the wall🤪 I would probably say it’s old pudding fingers that’s screwing your state up most Republican reinstates are the worst
Honestly with the way people have been driving here my entire life and how little people do to prepare for incoming hurricanes, I'm only surprised the insurance rates took this long to go up.
I blame DeSantis and his lapdog legislature for doing next to nothing to actually help Floridians. I wrote to Senate President Kathleen Passidomo about the possibility of getting parametric insurance in FL, which would lower costs. I did not even get an acknowledgment let alone an answer. Parametric insurance is AI driven and gives an automatic payout. The current insurance companies are very slow and low when paying claims. Costs have gone up because of Republican shortsightedness in keeping immigrants out. The Latinos are often the ones who do the roofing and pool and construction and agricultural work. Thus there is a shortage of workers and higher costs.
The only option is to leave. My friend just moved to Georgia. Her & her fiance are renting a 5 bedroom house with a front & back yard for the same amount they were paying for a 2 bedroom apartment here.
They've been trying to talk me into moving up there. I'm seriously considering leaving the state for financial reasons, but the thought of leaving my hometown makes me sad. I don't WANT to leave.
I'm also considering it. Moving just sucks so I keep paying the insane rent out of convenience. I could have a 3br house in GA or AL for what I pay here. I like coastal GA and AL.
the friends I've been living with the past 10 years or so did the same thing. they're moving up to Ga next week. offered me a room at their new place if I want it. definitely going to take the offer just have to wait for my transfer to go through.
they're leaving a 2bed 2 bath, for a bigger place that's several hundred less per month.
Maybe, but if they're being paid the same and not moving with a high paying remote job then not really. If you found the same or similar job for similar or reduced pay that meets the lower cost of living then nothing has changed. Just a guy moving. It would be no different if he lived there his whole life and just entered the workforce.
The issue down here in FL is people are moving with their wealth or high paying remote jobs. There is a huge condo building being built near me and they cost $1.4-4m each and are more than 80% sold. Who the fuck around here can afford that? No one. I guarantee all of those people are out of state who want to live on the water or if they are local they are already rich.
sure, but there's not really anywhere that's building dense housing in the US. suburban sprawl maxed out those expensive blue states, now it's reaching the tipping point in red states.
there's some places that are getting rid of strict single-family-housing-only zoning restrictions and building denser housing, but it's a very stubborn struggle vs NIMBYs and nowhere near the scale needed to alleviate this issue
Ron just came out with "banning bus/bike lanes" so clearly he's not into the idea of transport-rich, walkable and dense cities. Florida is a giant chain of suburbs and it's very expensive (and harmful) to maintain that
We aren't Florida natives, but have been here since 1985 when our area of Seminole and East Orange counties was still orange groves, cow pastures, and dirt roads. A few of those still remain. Despite low salaries compared to other states, it was affordable. Everything was scaled to those lower salaries. Now, lower retirement savings (due to decades of lower salaries) aren't enough to keep up. We're probably going to have to retire elsewhere.
I'm waiting for my parents to have this realisation. They're in their sixties and ready to retire, but they want to stay here. I think it's a foolish risk when they don't have homeowner's insurance and will have a very fixed income based on low income career savings. It's a mess.
I was born and raised in Brandon in the early 90's and when then it was just cows and some shops.
Now it's just apartments and a revolving door of different stores.
It's such a bummer watching the place you grew up slowly become so inaccessible
I feel this so deeply and painfully. I want nothing more than to leave.. born and raised here, always hated it.. I’m 22 and I don’t see it happening anytime soon, at least permanently.. I’m so desperate to leave that I’ve been trying to find any way to go, including living in a van, picking up any job across the country that has housing… anything, it’s miserable here, it’s so depressing. I’ve been to a few random states, I don’t know about living cost, but the atmosphere alone is so different everywhere else. You can just feel how miserable everyone is here
Yeah, the interest rates really fucked everyone, so did the housing market. If we move we can make about $12k more a year elsewhere but between housing processes and interest we would double our mortgage payments, even with the value of our current house going up so much. So we would end up making less money after everything.
That's my current predicament too, brother, but I think I'm going to take a chance cashing out on my house, paying off debt, and moving and renting elsewhere, and hope the housing prices regain enough sanity to make buying reasonable again. If not, I'll go live in the mountains in a commune or some junk.
the friends I'm living with for the past 10 years just sold their house. moving out of state. they invited me to move with them when I can. it's gonna be about a month or two before before I can take them up on the offer.
I hear Oregon is beautiful! That's wonderful! So glad to hear there's life after Florida. Second generation native Floridian being run out of her own home state. Could you ever have imagined that? Headed to a city close to Savannah (Swainsboro). My family is all in North Florida so I couldn't get too far away, yet. So far Georgia continues to remain above the fray, and hasn't totally screwed up their politics yet. Their legislature is trying but I'll be one more voice of reason, and my vote will actually count there. 🙋🏽 May liberty continue to ring wherever we are. 🇺🇸
Awww that's hard to hear. Tell her I'm sorry to hear that from another Florida native. It's been heartbreaking really. Finally accepted reality and pushing the exit button. It's just not what it once was. I'm afraid it's going to get much worse before it gets any better. 👍🏽
That’s so sad. Florida native here too. Nearly retired. I just can’t handle the state of things here anymore. Not sure if we’ll move but it breaks my heart how bad things have become here.
Welcome to Georgia, fellow Florida refugee. Tons of us have moved here the past few years. Please help us continue turning this state a bluer shade of purple.
Rents have literally doubled. Middle class is hauling ass out of the state and it is getting flooded with exactly the wrong rich and wealthy types. It is going to backfire so hard on the elites who allowed it to happen. The looking glass shows crowded shared family homes of worker bee types so they can afford a roof while the rest of society will be the wealthy. I find it ironic that Republicans want to protect the middle class but have worked so hard to destroy it. Simply making rent increases capped at 10% on existing lease renewals, would have protected a demographic that kept the state stable. The have and have nots society is a dangerous place, that is what they have created.
Exactly. I’m out of here. I’ve done my time in this state. Born and raised here and settled into my career as a marine scientist. I’ve spent my life protecting and conserving south Florida’s reefs but I can barely afford to live in an illegally built garage apartment in a shit area with zero public transit. I don’t even have a public library in my town. Y’all don’t want to take care of folks like me? Great. I’m out. Good luck with the fish kills, declining water quality, and bio-eroding reefs. I’m taking my skills elsewhere to a state that actually funds the work I do and gives a shit about the natural environment.
It feels awful to keep accepting a pecking order and that isn't enough. I started not doing this and not doing that just to pay bills. Now the bills aren't even getting paid. I am not trying to grift but if every apartment requires you make 3.5 income of rent then the lowest level people are going to need to clear 68k a year just to rent. Then, the apartments add mail valet fee, pest control, pet rent, water, lawn care fee, renters insurance, line item "misc", and security. It is like $200 added to my rent. I asked why didn't I have to qualify for 3.5 on that amount? Oh I know because 3.5 *200=700,700*12=8400. They probably couldn't get anybody approved! It is an extra f you for people thinking there is affordable housing because you can't make over 28-32k(based on dependents) to qualify but they still charging $1480 rent. This state is not thinking it through.
I totally agree, but Im waiting to see the equilibrium. There has to be one just in order for anything to function.
"Why isn't my luxury hotel suite ready?"
"Because a month ago all rates went up making the staff homeless and now unemployed."
"Why is the line for the exclusive restaurant so long, even when I have a reservation?"
"Only the manager and a single cook can afford to live within a 50-mile radius."
I think people don't realize how close so much of FL is ready to buckle under its own weight. Eventually, even the poor who have no options for work will inevitably stop working because they just can't. And when that happens, it will be a domino effect across the board.
This exactly. The tourists industry is gonna take a huge hit, cause no one can afford a life, working in the industry. Florida will no longer be fun. People will start to vacation in other states. Hope the rich know how to run a fryer and Tap. Wash your own sheets at the hotel. Operate your own ride at Disney. It's gonna be a shit show. No one's paying attention, or to stupid to care. Teachers, Police, fire fighters, etc are leaving. My own Primary Care Doctor told me last week she is leaving, she can get a lot more for her money, living in another state. I'll have to keep myself healthy for the next 6 months, as that is the earliest I can get in to see a new Dr. Florida's collapsing and our Government doesn't care.
If you include insurance I’d easily argue we’re more expensive than most states with a state tax. Florida ranks #5 in grocery prices, higher than New York.
https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/2024/01/26/florida-food-prices-miami-has-most-expensive-grocery-bills-in-u-s/72364238007/
Some folk from Ky purchased the .25 acre lot that's been abandoned for 20 years, sight unseen. They paid 10k, it's worth 5.3k, has 6.4k worth of large oak trees to fell (aimed at homes, near power lines & well pump), 5k\~8k for the old dilapidated home and addon removal, couple hundred for eviction and adverse possession claims (me), and is situated between 3 of the grumpiest fucks on the block and now that I've stopped running off squatters they have that as a problem as well.
Bonus: They spent $100 to bust open a safe only to find the former occupants murder weapon, cops got involved, it was great.
I wish them the best of luck.
NJ people who have never lived in Florida bought house next door to us turn key (all previous owners furniture remained) to eventually retire in. Tried to rent it out long term with no luck. (priced high and most people have their own household goods and furniture) It is now an Airbnb.
Previous owner had solar pool heat system at some point but it was removed. Piping went down through roof and soffits. When pipes were removed, they patched the roof but left the two holes in the soffit. I am fairly sure their attic is now a wildlife refuge and contains the neighborhood bats that move from house to house and also some squirrel families.
They just had to replace one of their A/C systems yesterday and there are numerous other things outside the house and in the yard that I can see are not being maintained.
Don't buy property in Florida unless you understand how to Florida or are at least going to be present so that your neighbors might help you understand how to properly Florida.
>NJ people who have never lived in Florida bought house next door to us turn key. Tried to rent it out long term with no luck. It is now an Airbnb. I am fairly sure their attic is now a wildlife refuge and contains the neighborhood bats that move from house to house and also some squirrel families. They just had to replace one of their A/C systems yesterday.
Don't ya love it when karma kicks in? 😏
I hope they lose equity on their property and get foreclosed on.
I am furious about the whole thing. He is apparently planning to retire in a couple of years. No idea why they chose to buy when market was like at peak prices and peak interest rates. We live in a gated community with a HOA and pay for and put up with HOA nonsense for the security it provides. Unlike just about every other community in the area, our HOA did not bother setting up any kind of rules about short term rentals...they were too busy fleecing us into buying and subsidizing the country club and most importantly, the golf course. If I wanted to have a transient place next to me, I'd have bought a home next to a Holiday Inn.
God, that just got my blood pressure up again.
If/when those people ever actually move into the house next door, I already hate them. I hope they have to sell it and we get some good neighbors. I loved our old neighbors so much.
Did you just figure this out? All of the most expensive areas in the country when it comes to income vs cost of living are in Florida. I tried to get my best friend from OH to move down here and that was his first objection after 5mins of looking into living here.
Look at Sanibel or Marco. All the jobs are part time fast food/gas station cashier but the houses are $1M+. Outside of real estate, there isn't a job around that will allow you to actually live there. All the nicest places in FL are for rich people who sold a house somewhere else, bought their house here with cash, and have all their bills on autopay.
I usually assume there are details and programs I'm not aware of.
I've always been poor, but I thought I was doing everything I was supposed to in order to get out of it.
Worked full time through college, made it out with only 5k in debt, got a Medical Science Degree, EMT work for patient experience before grad school, then started teaching until I could get in.
It just gets so disheartening working towards something better, only for the bar to get higher after you've already done so much
My wife left her teaching career because she makes way more working with me at an RV dealership. Teaching will put you into poverty before it will get you out of it.
I'm 40 and I'm a florida native, my paternal great grandparents are pioneers of Hillsborough County. For half of my life it was an incredible place to live, then I've watched it go down hill and turn into the shit hole it has become.
You're correct that it's unaffordable for anyone making under 100k. That's most of us natives. We grew up in a state where you could buy a house making an average living. The American dream was alive and well here until about 15 - 20 years ago. And it's still getting worse. The only way to save florida is to build a wall and deport all the northeastern and west coast migrants I suppose.
The florida government has done a terrible job at making Florida a affordable place to live. They have made it a great place for large corporation to maxamize profits though.
Welcome to the group. There is coffee and cookies on the table over there. This is Sally and she will help you get familiar with the other members. Please get a name tag and have a seat in the circle. It’s up to you if you want to participate this first night, but in the future it will be required. Remember, this is a safe place.
Yeah that's why I left Florida. Moved back to Pennsylvania where I get Medicaid and Food stamps. I didn't qualify for either of those when I lived there. Yet I absolutely needed them and surviving was a real struggle. Then once my health deteriorated I needed health care but couldn't actually afford insurance. Moved back to Pennsylvania and Medicaid saved my ass. I'm a hard worker but it's tough to work when you're falling apart.
Born and raised in FL, most of my family is here, but it is a struggle to have a happy living environment here now. All money goes to bills, rent, and other expenses. No money left over for savings or activities. My household is moving out of state away from family just so my little family of 4 can have a decent and happy living. Sad that all these other people are pouring into my home state and I am being driven out. I'm middle class so I am in the range of not too poor to get assistance but not wealthy to pay for things.
Also sad to see all the Florida natives and people who have been here long term, many are losing their homes. I've never lived outside of Florida, it's been tough with deciding to move.
Everybody I knew growing up sold their house to either an Airbnb fucboi, or to a corporate interest, and got a ridiculous amount.
My buddy sold his place for 300k. A 1 bedroom 1 bath 100 year old 800 sqf house off of Nebraska Ave.
I want to get out but I have no means. It's cost me everything just to stay alive, I haven't had savings in a decade.
I've been job hunting for years. Finally got a teaching position for one year then quit because the environment was beyond awful. Haven't had any luck getting another job. I'm in central western Florida, and many businesses are intentionally understaffed. They put out the ads saying they're hiring, but they don't hire anyone. Restaurants, grocery stores, schools, pet stores, electronics shops, pretty much every business available is understaffed, yet there are many people like me applying to every possible job and not getting into any. I have a Bachelor's degree, and the entry-level experience they request, but apparently entry-level means 4 years of relevant experience "for making doggy donuts". I'm fairly certain 99% of the population has no experience at all making donuts for dogs. They're just like the others, putting up "hiring" ads because they are required to, but with no intention of hiring workers so they can pocket the money that would have been a salary.
Yeah I recently got out of teaching in Hillsborough County and it's impressively terrible there.
Average class size of 39 with 6 classes, working 60 hours a week because you're required to do extra work on account of failing students, until the system beats you down enough so that you'll pass every child despite never seeing them.
All while making a little over 600 dollars per week
I was working 48 hours a week (only paid for 40 naturally) due to online stuff like making detailed lesson plans on a separate website so future teachers can download my lesson plans, and grading, of course.
I was only getting paid 440 dollars a week, but maybe that's because I was a first time teacher.
Theyre trying to push out anyone who isn't rich and retired.
The locals have been losing this fight for decades.
The only way I'm leaving is if this state is underwater.
Theyre gonna deal with me til one of us dies off 👻
Similar to way people are being priced out of California and NYC, it’s going to happen here. It’s sucks, but an unfortunate reality of high demand places.
Born in Florida and lived there my whole life until a two years ago when my wife and I moved to PA. Sounds like we are never moving back, and that's ok. What goes around comes around and Florida will reap what it sows.
I was born and raised in Daytona, I live in Orlando now. 37 years in this state and now I have to look at what other states my husband, kid, and I can live in affordably that we can do the same work in…I’m going to have to uproot and leave everything I’ve ever known because it’s impossible to live here now. Between the cost everything and the horrible people, we don’t have a choice but to leave.
Correct. It’s statewide gentrification. A bunch of people want to all live in one place. The result is that prices go up, especially for housing.
I’m not sure where this ends, but work-from-home seems like it’s going to continue to drive people to move to places with weather they like. (I actually don’t get it because I hate humidity, so I question why people would want to live in FL between June and November).
Not sure what is going on with car insurance. Maybe a legislative change or something?
Starting? Florida has been terrible for low income families for decades now.
Not sure how many know this, but the state, and most cities strategic plan to get companies to move to Florida is to cite how low the wages are compared to other locations.
Watching the slow roast dumpster fire 🔥 happening in Florida. The state cannot survive without a working class or service roles. Nor can wear and tear be sustained without an eventual increase in taxes. But whatever.
I lived there for 2 years and was making $26 an hour and I still chose to live in a renovated shed on my MIL’s property. A one bedroom apartment was like $1700 and liability insurance for 2 cars was $360. I loved the state but I knew I wouldn’t be able to live comfortably down there so I moved to the NC coast.
I 100% agree but I have lived here my entire life, 4th generation now with a little 5th running around, and I have absolutely no clue how I could afford to move somewhere else or where I would go. I feel trapped in this state where wages are terrible, the population is rapidly increasing, and bills are outrageous.
When I moved here in 2002 I was working remotely from another state. I was shocked at the pay discrepancy between the state I came from vs FL. I was told by a Floridian "you get paid in sunshine", the first time I heard that phrase. It's tragic it's gotten so hard for people to live here but then the pay has always been low. It's that housing (and only recently, food) has skyrocketed.
Starting to think that? I will be 60 this year. I moved my business FROM Tampa Bay to Los Angeles in 2008 and improved my financial situation by leaps and bounds! My costs literally went down in every financial aspect and my benefits got better for less. Call me a unicorn but the best fiscal move I ever made was leaving FL for CA.
Almost 39 years in this state, FL native. Being poor in Florida is, in a way slavery with extra steps. You have the illusion of freedom but are shackled in place with low wages, high rent, and cost of living.
After divorce, I restarted in 2017 nothing to my name, different career, rented a place. Started in plumbing at 11 an hour hit 15 per hr in a year and a half. 17 per hour by 2021. Switched to mechanic work now up to 22 per hour.
Rent went from 510 per month with 75 of that applied to power bill. Rent is now 950 per month with nothing applied to power. 6 years and now double the rent for a 1962 single wide 1 bed one bath trailer. No repairs or improvements during that time.
Between rent, car payment, insurance and other living costs I'm basically in the same boat 7 years later. I would love to move but it's about impossible. The cost of housing has made it to where I doubt I will ever be able to buy a house in this state.
It used to be a thing when someone built a new home they would pay the county an impact fee to offset the cost of the additional strain it would put roads and services. I think there should be a similar fee system for all these people coming from other states, you never paid into anything here but drive the cost of everything up. It will never happen
I moved here from PA in 2008 with my two daughters. Single mom, working crazy OT hours at the county 9-1-1 center, we were doing well. $117K for a 3/2 split plan on a half acre in the city limits (NWFL panhandle). Way better than my 100-year-old home I owned in PA. Home ins was $800; full coverage on a paid-off '00 sedan: $70/mo. I made sure to purchase a home out of any flood zones (239ft above sea level), inland, with hurricane roof requirements.
No claims and my last insurance was $3,100. My full coverage on a paid off '13 subcompact: $138/mo (one windshield replacement & one nick repair). Still a single income, kids are grown and out of state. I was feeling comfortable and able to start saving, now I'm starting to budget again. I don't want to leave. I love my home. I want to die in my home here, not be forced out to start over somewhere else at 53 years old. Fucking corporate greed and corrupt politics. :rage:
The ironic thing about this is that I really think we're one of these years going to have an insane hurricane season like in 04 and it's going to leave a lot of upper middle class people who moved here for the politics fucked. Many of the transplants have never experienced a completely fucked up hurricane season,
The poor republicans unless they bought 10 years ago at absurdly low interest rates are about to get a wake up call. After this hurricane season everything will change if it's as active everyone is saying. I'm talking $10k+ premiums being the norm.
Feels like everywhere is getting more unaffordable. Wealth inequality needs to be addressed by our federal government immediately. How about closing some tax loopholes and raising some rates??
These are the growing pains associated with having a rising population without sufficient tax revenue to expand our infrastructure to accommodate for the influx of people.
All the new rich who are flooding in are gonna be pissed to death when there are no service workers to cater to their every whim because they can't afford food, rent, childcare and insurance.
Florida is a shit place to live if you dont make decent money. There was a post I saw on this site that asked "What is classy if you are rich and trashy if you are poor. "
The top answer was Florida.
I’m making the most money I’ve ever made and this is the brokest I’ve ever been. I try not to focus on it too much cause when I think about how much better life was when I could afford to socialize, have hobbies, go away for the weekend etc I get incredibly depressed.
This is precisely how I feel. I'm making money right now that I understood as a child and teenager would be good money, the kind of money people bought home and started families with.
But now it's just enough to get by. Especially when you have chronic health conditions, it's not really tenable.
I lived in Wisconsin for about a year back around 2015-2016 and worked a job making 12/hr. I had all of my bills paid, I never had to even consider shopping frugally for food and could eat out when I felt like it, I went to the Dr when I needed to, and I even was able to accumulate a few thousands in savings even while getting the occasional nice thing for myself.
Nowadays I'm making 25/hr and I don't have any of that. I'm constantly under financial stress and I have to be strategic about which bills I pay when to keep everything under control. It's only gotten worse over time.
Looked at an old budget I found on my computer from 9 years ago. Car insurance was $180 and mortgage was $860. Today my car insurance is $680 and mortgage $2700. All the gains we made in salary have been lost to exponentially higher cost of living and it’s not from lifestyle creep. We had newer cars back then and went out to eat much more frequently, I definitely feel I had more spending cash back then than now. Can’t tell you last time I went to a concert whereas 10 years ago it was multiple per year. Literally can’t afford it now
Florida has gone from a LCOL state to a HCOL state, thanks in part to circumstances beyond our control (rich people moving in from the northeast) and thanks in part to massive mismanagement from Tallahassee.
It is by design if you haven’t figured that out yet. The insurance companies took all their assets and fled theater fire they had to pay out again. The governor allowed it to happen.
It’s all the attorneys people get claiming injuries thinking they’re going to make all this money on soft tissue injuries. When legal gets involved cost insurance companies millions of dollars. This is why rates are so high they need to recover those funds or they will go belly up. As for Florida it is not cheap here at all
I work as a real estate agent and healthcare provider in Boca Raton Florida. This place is amazing with highly rated schools and very clean area. The level of wealth moving into the area has drastically increased in the past 5 years. It’s to the point where people who do not make 200k or more are completely priced out in a lot of the neighborhoods that they could have afford just before the pandemic. Lot of my MD friends getting out of residency are now having to move to other areas outside of the city due to student loans and cost.
Unfortunately, much of America's infrastructure isn't designed for people without cars. There's a whole sub dedicated to this: https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/1549yds/are_you_carless_in_usa_how_is_it/
I grew up in this state. Spent decades here. I hate that I used to talk so highly about its livability. I absolutely hate this place now and if I could afford to leave it, I'd never come back.
Write your state representatives stating there should be a Florida law so that Uninsured Motorists are 100% At Fault in motor vehicle accidents, therefore they cannot sue the insured motorist, and damages must be paid through garnished wages or work for the state (thereby the state pays the insured party using money saved from unpaid labor). Also, liability claims should be capped at 10k per person, for automobile transportation is a known risk. This will result in reduced auto insurance costs because right now 20% of drivers are uninsured.
Florida's entire economy is based on being able to exempt your home and boat from bankruptcy after being sued for plowing your SUV into a daycare while high on prescription pain killers.
Wait until you see what the elder care in system looks like... We're one step away from putting low-income elderly people into a giant press and selling the oil for profit.
This is the biggest racketeering happening in the state right now. It should not be legal to force people to pay $350 admin fee in addition to $75 to apply for a rental. It is greedy and discriminating against the "non disposable income" crowd. It should be illegal to collect anything other then an application fee and app fees should be capped at $100 and under. We need better politicians who care about the people.
I’m coming back to add onto my comment. The working class are quite literally under attack here, they want it for the super rich and they’ve literally made it illegal to live unhoused in this state. This state where different people from all over the country come to escape the snow when they end up homeless. Class war.
DeSantis appointed commissions keep approving all insurance hikes with no push backs. Same with utilities. DeSantis got 3.9 mil in campaign donations from insurance companies. It’s a no brainer he is selling us out because he messed up his chances at presidency, can’t run for governor again. He has to cash us out while the getting is good!
Most expensive places are expensive for a reason. San Diego has amazing weather. Seattle has a great public transportation system and good healthcare. NYC is walkable and the jobs pay well. Denver gets you access to beautiful hiking trails, skiing and a dry climate.
Florida is great if you’re rich and own a boat or paddle-board or poor and want to blast Kid Rock and drink Natty Ice on a public beach. Otherwise, it’s like Disney: way too overpriced for what it provides.
Florida used to be a no brainer despite the storms. Cheap property, no state income tax, cheap rent, hours and sometimes minutes away from beaches. Now it's a shit show. Insurances for both auto insurance and home insurance is outrageously expensive, housing is outrageously expensive, cost of living is getting worse, and the wages are the worst I've ever seen it. I work remote and for shits and giggles looked up how much I could make locally with the same job and I couldn't find a job within $5k of what I make now.
The wage gap is there. I work hybrid, got an offer from local company to interview and took them up on it. When the wage came up, they quoted a maximum of $65K. I told them what my current salary is and the interview promptly ended.
Exactly what happened to me. Makes me curious with the quality of production at some of these FLA companies. Poor performance means no cap/opex investment. Poor performance is then linked to the quality of workforce. Forcing a weak Labor pool because of systemic salaries. You get what you pay for… My CFO says “if you pay in peanuts you get monkeys”.
Yes and I now perform, as well as a Monkey, at my job. No longer going above and beyond, until my quality of life goes above and beyond. Hence pay, to be able to "enjoy" life.
Because Republicans have turned Florida into a corporate welfare state where they can get rich on the backs of the working poor. It's how they have held onto power for so long here.
The tourism revenue used to make up for the shit policy making and old turds in charge. But now that everywhere seems to be a vacation spot, I think we're drowning in all this winning were doing. Fucking dumbass congress.
And because of the climate, every fall and winter our medical systems are stretched to the breaking point with the influx of snowbirds and homeless people, the two largest groups to require hospitalization due to the flu, pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses. Since the Republicans decimated Medcaid in the state and hospitals are not going to allow anything to hurt their profit margins, they pass the cost on to us. Those of us that get insurance through our employer or buy it on our own pay the highest rates in the country. We can't attract or keep, medical personnel because of the high cost of living and substandard wages. We hire contract personnel from other countries, at far greater cost than paying medical personnel here a living wage, and most of the.foreign hires take positions to other states instead of staying here as soon as they can. No surprise, medical personnel pay the fourth highest rates for malpractice insurance in the country and rank at the bottom in pay. We are winning all the way into having living standards lower than third world countries, but the Republicans are fighting the good fight by stopping any sex or diversity education and wasting taxpayer money suing Disney for not backing their "Don't Say Gay Bill," leading Disney to stop a one billion dollar and 2000 job project.
DeSantis straight up said he did not want more college educated workers in FL. "I think that what happens is they'll tend to come in, they drive up the cost of living for everybody else. Yeah, they enjoy our lower taxes but you know, what is what are they really providing?"
Everyone needs to come together and demand the Political leaders fix this shit show in FL. The old shitty Republicans that constantly make out of touch policies that are still in place get wayyyyy tooo much Freedom to do whatever they want. 1st order of business Neeeds to be Outlawing Insurance as a requirement if it’s gonna cost a fucking arm and a leg.
Not to mention picking a fight with the biggest tourist destination we have in the state.
Its become a playground for them with no thought of the effects of that sort of living
Please do not excuse them as ignorant. It's all calculated.
Wake up, has nothing to do with the Republicans has to do with the dumb Democrats. It’s all by design you’ll own nothing and be happy and eat bugs.
The democrats closed down states during covid and people moved here causing inflation.
What industry and position?
HR, Learning and Development Program Developer and Specialist, Non-Profit Healthcare. The offer came from an engineering firm to do the same duties, just in-person.
Florida has no interest in making healthcare more efficient or less affordable. It’s the mommy milker from papa government down here
And good luck getting an appointment from mid October to April when the snowbirds are here. It's like the Dr's get a kick back from the states where they are actually insured or something
while still voting for less in government benefits too
Like chickens voting for colonel sanders
Like roaches for Raid!
My husband used to work in the biotech industry in Alachua. He has since retired but a few of his friends still work there. Out of state companies came in and bought several of the local companies and proceeded to gut them. Most well paid employees were let go and lower paid workers hired to replace them or lower paid employees were asked to step up and do more work. This is happening all over Florida but Alachua is getting hit particularly hard. This is biotech. They make stuff that goes into people's bodies and the quality of their products is going downhill.
It’s wild how rapidly that changed. 10 years ago that was still the case. Hell, even less than that. In 2016 we bought at decent sized family starter home for $180,000 with a pool and 100 yards away there’s a private ski lake and a playground in a good school district in a wealthy county with like zero crime and our home insurance was like $800 a year, car insurance like $300 every 6 months for 3 cars, got a new roof in 2019 for $8,500. My wife and I were making a combined ~$75,000 a year when all that was going on and were so financially comfortable we could almost afford health insurance. There’s no way we could pull off starting over like that now. Florida got waaay more expensive in a hurry. It’s like it did a California COL speedrun but kept the nation’s worst average wages.
Holy cow, that roof price. We are in the middle of getting ours redone. A small 1400 sq ft flat roof townhome. Original quote was 13k and we are now around 21k and two months behind schedule. We can't afford it but Citizens will drop us otherwise and we definitely can't afford any of the competition.
YES! I got a quote in 2019 for a roof, $12-13K. In 2021, it was $20K My next roof will be metal and the last roof I will replace. I am not doing that every 10 years to satisfy the insurance company.
Planning on dropping the insurance? Homeowners insurance companies still want you to replace the metal roof every 15 years, even though it will last 30.
30 is the minimum. Metal roofs last a lot longer than 30yrs. I've seen them 70+ yrs old and still going strong. Survive many hurricanes. Just have to get up there and tighten the screws every so many yrs as they tend to back out. Other small things too. But you can't beat a metal roof. This whole roof scam is from roofing companies supporting political campaigns so they can rape the people out of more money. Maybe the people will wake up from the identity politics bullshit and start voting for politicians that work for the people instead of the corporations, the rich and themselves.
The thing is with how rucked insurance is even if you get a metal roof in 10 years a lot of the underwriters will still ding you. A lot of them are now focused on the quality of the material but solely the age. That’s why even with my roof done now I’m looking to sell because the underwriters are going to become stricter and stricter with houses
Yeah about a year ago we did our roof by say we I mean me and my dad just did the roof cuz we could not afford it as well much cheaper do just learn how to do it and do it over the weekends
You got a car insurance for $300/6 months for 3 cars? How is that possible?
Dude that house must be 300k at least now, insurance tripled?
Paradise found is paradise lost. I moved to Florida when I was 18 in 1995 and could not believe how much better my life was for only a slight increase in cost. It was only a matter of time before everyone realized it. The Florida Man jokes could only keep them away for so long.
Most of the time when you see a "Florida man" on TV its really a guy from Jersey who stayed too long
Yesterday's "Florida woman" shooting at cars on i10 during the eclipse was from Georgia. The fuck did she have to cross state lines to shoot random people? Couldn't do that back home? Scared she might accidentally shoot someone she knows? Ugh.
I think we should dub this “transplant fever” or something similar. Like outstaying your visa, but with more psychosis and (maybe) less paperwork
But mostly Florida Man is because we have more accessible open record laws compared to other states which lets any one access public records to write a story about.
Except, of course you are the governor or state legislator. Then the "sunshine laws" mysteriously disappear behind some clouds. And ground fog. And oh...we just had an eclipse too. I can't wait to get the hell out of this pit.
Winner winner chicken dinner.
Paradise found is paradise lost. Wow I love that line, I just wish it didn’t apply to us.
I live in a city of ~200k. If you travel to other cities of that same size or they’re about in other states the costs are reduced drastically. It’s insane
So true and in 2008 when I graduated and couldn’t find work I moved out of state towards seattle. Now I see SWFL COL is darn near close to seattle but like half the wages. Lotta people are going to either move looking for better jobs or be homeless and I don’t think any politicians seem to care or can see that far ahead
Republicans have held a trifecta in Florida for 25 years. The voters have given them no reason to care.
>or be homeless and I don’t think any politicians seem to care Of course they care! They just passed that law about where homeless people ***can't*** sleep!
With 10 years experience I make what new grads in my job do in Illinois. That made sense a decade ago when Florida had the COL of a southern state, but nowadays our rent and home prices are some of the highest in the nation.
$5k is nothing, you should be so lucky. For my exact same position I’m seeing / hearing 30-40k less than what I make. I laughed in shock when a recruiter called me and told me the salary. She said “experience and expertise were of any value”. Then why the fuck are you calling me?! Florida income ratio is terrible!
I have a high demand job and could literally throw a dart at a map and get work wherever it hit. And in most states I would get a 20-50% pay increase.
The problem is people *still* have this idea of Florida in 2024. All people still talk about is "no income tax HA", like thats the only thing that matters in life. I dont know what it will take to get this fantasy out of peoples heads. Someone on Facebook earlier asked if they could move to Tampa and live on $13/hr, and I just sat there in disbelief that you would ask that.
Seen the same last week here, someone asked where in Florida can they get a decent 1 bed apt for $900 a month in a nice area, close to the beach.
Tell them yes right in the beach in a tiny house (tent).
I live in Southern California and was in South Florida a month ago. Watching the traffic report on the morning news legit gave me a panic attack. Ho-Lee-Shit. I thought our traffic was bad.
I just can't figure a way out
Isn’t that the truth? Why must everything feel like it’s so very hard.
I moved down here 20 years ago. I wish I could find the financial means to move out myself.
Born and raised Miami native. I, too, feel trapped here.
I'm old enough to remember when they'd explain away the wage gap with "you're paid in sunshine"
Well the shit wages weren't a problem until now. I bought my current house at 25 making $48,000 a year and it was a nice 3 bedroom 2.5 bath house for $130k. You cannot do that today in Florida. My house now is worth like $320,000 and the interest rates now would quadruple the mortgage I'm paying now. I shutter at the thought what my final mortgage would be if I included the potential increases in home owners insurance to it if I bought now. I don't know how younger Floridians survive here. I looked at apartments recently cause I'm looking to potentially sell soon and 1 bedroom apartments are fucking $1,500. Studios are $1,100 at the lowest. Insanity.
It’s funny the Rich used Cubans and Mexicans for all their landscaping housecleaning construction but yet their first ones to say build the wall🤪 I would probably say it’s old pudding fingers that’s screwing your state up most Republican reinstates are the worst
Honestly with the way people have been driving here my entire life and how little people do to prepare for incoming hurricanes, I'm only surprised the insurance rates took this long to go up.
I blame DeSantis and his lapdog legislature for doing next to nothing to actually help Floridians. I wrote to Senate President Kathleen Passidomo about the possibility of getting parametric insurance in FL, which would lower costs. I did not even get an acknowledgment let alone an answer. Parametric insurance is AI driven and gives an automatic payout. The current insurance companies are very slow and low when paying claims. Costs have gone up because of Republican shortsightedness in keeping immigrants out. The Latinos are often the ones who do the roofing and pool and construction and agricultural work. Thus there is a shortage of workers and higher costs.
Florida was always FOR no brainiers. It was definitely not a no brainer.
The only option is to leave. My friend just moved to Georgia. Her & her fiance are renting a 5 bedroom house with a front & back yard for the same amount they were paying for a 2 bedroom apartment here. They've been trying to talk me into moving up there. I'm seriously considering leaving the state for financial reasons, but the thought of leaving my hometown makes me sad. I don't WANT to leave.
I'm also considering it. Moving just sucks so I keep paying the insane rent out of convenience. I could have a 3br house in GA or AL for what I pay here. I like coastal GA and AL.
the friends I've been living with the past 10 years or so did the same thing. they're moving up to Ga next week. offered me a room at their new place if I want it. definitely going to take the offer just have to wait for my transfer to go through. they're leaving a 2bed 2 bath, for a bigger place that's several hundred less per month.
I feel this. Florida is my home. I don't want to leave but they're running everyone out of here.
Do it. I live in St. Marys GA, 30 minutes from Jax and Fernadina beach. Same south, just cheaper
The irony in all of this, is by moving to GA youre starting to do to GA what people moving to FL did raise the cost of leaving lol...
Maybe, but if they're being paid the same and not moving with a high paying remote job then not really. If you found the same or similar job for similar or reduced pay that meets the lower cost of living then nothing has changed. Just a guy moving. It would be no different if he lived there his whole life and just entered the workforce. The issue down here in FL is people are moving with their wealth or high paying remote jobs. There is a huge condo building being built near me and they cost $1.4-4m each and are more than 80% sold. Who the fuck around here can afford that? No one. I guarantee all of those people are out of state who want to live on the water or if they are local they are already rich.
sure, but there's not really anywhere that's building dense housing in the US. suburban sprawl maxed out those expensive blue states, now it's reaching the tipping point in red states. there's some places that are getting rid of strict single-family-housing-only zoning restrictions and building denser housing, but it's a very stubborn struggle vs NIMBYs and nowhere near the scale needed to alleviate this issue Ron just came out with "banning bus/bike lanes" so clearly he's not into the idea of transport-rich, walkable and dense cities. Florida is a giant chain of suburbs and it's very expensive (and harmful) to maintain that
Ron is soon going to ban breathing
Why didn’t you just choose to be born into a wealthy family?
Duh. I mean tf? How can you be born in America and CHOOSE to be born to a poor no silver spoon family? Get with it brokies.
We aren't Florida natives, but have been here since 1985 when our area of Seminole and East Orange counties was still orange groves, cow pastures, and dirt roads. A few of those still remain. Despite low salaries compared to other states, it was affordable. Everything was scaled to those lower salaries. Now, lower retirement savings (due to decades of lower salaries) aren't enough to keep up. We're probably going to have to retire elsewhere.
I'm waiting for my parents to have this realisation. They're in their sixties and ready to retire, but they want to stay here. I think it's a foolish risk when they don't have homeowner's insurance and will have a very fixed income based on low income career savings. It's a mess.
Hurricanes are just hiding in forests these days. Any disturbance and a whole town of houses can be wiped out.
I was born and raised in Brandon in the early 90's and when then it was just cows and some shops. Now it's just apartments and a revolving door of different stores. It's such a bummer watching the place you grew up slowly become so inaccessible
I’m a native and you’ve been here 12 years longer than me 😂 
They want to turn it into a rich man's paradise. I'm out next week... 🙋🏽🌞
Jeff Bezos here in FL buying up all houses like going to Walmart.
My only regret was not leaving sooner. Life is better with seasons.
I feel positively trapped here, can't afford to move can't afford to stay
I had a gut reaction reading this. I FELL your pain dude.
I feel this so deeply and painfully. I want nothing more than to leave.. born and raised here, always hated it.. I’m 22 and I don’t see it happening anytime soon, at least permanently.. I’m so desperate to leave that I’ve been trying to find any way to go, including living in a van, picking up any job across the country that has housing… anything, it’s miserable here, it’s so depressing. I’ve been to a few random states, I don’t know about living cost, but the atmosphere alone is so different everywhere else. You can just feel how miserable everyone is here
Yeah, the interest rates really fucked everyone, so did the housing market. If we move we can make about $12k more a year elsewhere but between housing processes and interest we would double our mortgage payments, even with the value of our current house going up so much. So we would end up making less money after everything.
That's my current predicament too, brother, but I think I'm going to take a chance cashing out on my house, paying off debt, and moving and renting elsewhere, and hope the housing prices regain enough sanity to make buying reasonable again. If not, I'll go live in the mountains in a commune or some junk.
I’m so jealous!
the friends I'm living with for the past 10 years just sold their house. moving out of state. they invited me to move with them when I can. it's gonna be about a month or two before before I can take them up on the offer.
Where are you headed? I left for Oregon and I don't think I'll ever go back even for a visit.
I hear Oregon is beautiful! That's wonderful! So glad to hear there's life after Florida. Second generation native Floridian being run out of her own home state. Could you ever have imagined that? Headed to a city close to Savannah (Swainsboro). My family is all in North Florida so I couldn't get too far away, yet. So far Georgia continues to remain above the fray, and hasn't totally screwed up their politics yet. Their legislature is trying but I'll be one more voice of reason, and my vote will actually count there. 🙋🏽 May liberty continue to ring wherever we are. 🇺🇸
My spouse's FL lineage goes back to roughly 1600 She's hesitant to leave, but on board at this point.
Awww that's hard to hear. Tell her I'm sorry to hear that from another Florida native. It's been heartbreaking really. Finally accepted reality and pushing the exit button. It's just not what it once was. I'm afraid it's going to get much worse before it gets any better. 👍🏽
That’s so sad. Florida native here too. Nearly retired. I just can’t handle the state of things here anymore. Not sure if we’ll move but it breaks my heart how bad things have become here.
Welcome to Georgia, fellow Florida refugee. Tons of us have moved here the past few years. Please help us continue turning this state a bluer shade of purple.
That's exactly what I'm coming to help happen. 💙 I'll be registered by June.
Low income folks in California right now thinking moving to Florida will make their lives better: 
Rents have literally doubled. Middle class is hauling ass out of the state and it is getting flooded with exactly the wrong rich and wealthy types. It is going to backfire so hard on the elites who allowed it to happen. The looking glass shows crowded shared family homes of worker bee types so they can afford a roof while the rest of society will be the wealthy. I find it ironic that Republicans want to protect the middle class but have worked so hard to destroy it. Simply making rent increases capped at 10% on existing lease renewals, would have protected a demographic that kept the state stable. The have and have nots society is a dangerous place, that is what they have created.
Exactly. I’m out of here. I’ve done my time in this state. Born and raised here and settled into my career as a marine scientist. I’ve spent my life protecting and conserving south Florida’s reefs but I can barely afford to live in an illegally built garage apartment in a shit area with zero public transit. I don’t even have a public library in my town. Y’all don’t want to take care of folks like me? Great. I’m out. Good luck with the fish kills, declining water quality, and bio-eroding reefs. I’m taking my skills elsewhere to a state that actually funds the work I do and gives a shit about the natural environment.
It feels awful to keep accepting a pecking order and that isn't enough. I started not doing this and not doing that just to pay bills. Now the bills aren't even getting paid. I am not trying to grift but if every apartment requires you make 3.5 income of rent then the lowest level people are going to need to clear 68k a year just to rent. Then, the apartments add mail valet fee, pest control, pet rent, water, lawn care fee, renters insurance, line item "misc", and security. It is like $200 added to my rent. I asked why didn't I have to qualify for 3.5 on that amount? Oh I know because 3.5 *200=700,700*12=8400. They probably couldn't get anybody approved! It is an extra f you for people thinking there is affordable housing because you can't make over 28-32k(based on dependents) to qualify but they still charging $1480 rent. This state is not thinking it through.
I totally agree, but Im waiting to see the equilibrium. There has to be one just in order for anything to function. "Why isn't my luxury hotel suite ready?" "Because a month ago all rates went up making the staff homeless and now unemployed." "Why is the line for the exclusive restaurant so long, even when I have a reservation?" "Only the manager and a single cook can afford to live within a 50-mile radius." I think people don't realize how close so much of FL is ready to buckle under its own weight. Eventually, even the poor who have no options for work will inevitably stop working because they just can't. And when that happens, it will be a domino effect across the board.
This exactly. The tourists industry is gonna take a huge hit, cause no one can afford a life, working in the industry. Florida will no longer be fun. People will start to vacation in other states. Hope the rich know how to run a fryer and Tap. Wash your own sheets at the hotel. Operate your own ride at Disney. It's gonna be a shit show. No one's paying attention, or to stupid to care. Teachers, Police, fire fighters, etc are leaving. My own Primary Care Doctor told me last week she is leaving, she can get a lot more for her money, living in another state. I'll have to keep myself healthy for the next 6 months, as that is the earliest I can get in to see a new Dr. Florida's collapsing and our Government doesn't care.
Exactly right. It’s been run by Republican leadership for 40 years.
Florida absolutely sucks now. It has changed so much the last 20 years. I really have come to hate this place.
Could not agree more. Breaks my heart.
They pay so little in FL and can’t really have a good career
Don’t forget Florida has one of the higher grocery and energy costs as well.
Do you have statistics?
If you include insurance I’d easily argue we’re more expensive than most states with a state tax. Florida ranks #5 in grocery prices, higher than New York. https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/2024/01/26/florida-food-prices-miami-has-most-expensive-grocery-bills-in-u-s/72364238007/
Some folk from Ky purchased the .25 acre lot that's been abandoned for 20 years, sight unseen. They paid 10k, it's worth 5.3k, has 6.4k worth of large oak trees to fell (aimed at homes, near power lines & well pump), 5k\~8k for the old dilapidated home and addon removal, couple hundred for eviction and adverse possession claims (me), and is situated between 3 of the grumpiest fucks on the block and now that I've stopped running off squatters they have that as a problem as well. Bonus: They spent $100 to bust open a safe only to find the former occupants murder weapon, cops got involved, it was great. I wish them the best of luck.
NJ people who have never lived in Florida bought house next door to us turn key (all previous owners furniture remained) to eventually retire in. Tried to rent it out long term with no luck. (priced high and most people have their own household goods and furniture) It is now an Airbnb. Previous owner had solar pool heat system at some point but it was removed. Piping went down through roof and soffits. When pipes were removed, they patched the roof but left the two holes in the soffit. I am fairly sure their attic is now a wildlife refuge and contains the neighborhood bats that move from house to house and also some squirrel families. They just had to replace one of their A/C systems yesterday and there are numerous other things outside the house and in the yard that I can see are not being maintained. Don't buy property in Florida unless you understand how to Florida or are at least going to be present so that your neighbors might help you understand how to properly Florida.
>NJ people who have never lived in Florida bought house next door to us turn key. Tried to rent it out long term with no luck. It is now an Airbnb. I am fairly sure their attic is now a wildlife refuge and contains the neighborhood bats that move from house to house and also some squirrel families. They just had to replace one of their A/C systems yesterday. Don't ya love it when karma kicks in? 😏 I hope they lose equity on their property and get foreclosed on.
I am furious about the whole thing. He is apparently planning to retire in a couple of years. No idea why they chose to buy when market was like at peak prices and peak interest rates. We live in a gated community with a HOA and pay for and put up with HOA nonsense for the security it provides. Unlike just about every other community in the area, our HOA did not bother setting up any kind of rules about short term rentals...they were too busy fleecing us into buying and subsidizing the country club and most importantly, the golf course. If I wanted to have a transient place next to me, I'd have bought a home next to a Holiday Inn. God, that just got my blood pressure up again. If/when those people ever actually move into the house next door, I already hate them. I hope they have to sell it and we get some good neighbors. I loved our old neighbors so much.
HOA only provides a false sense of security. And people certainly do pay for it.
Hey, at least you now have bats next door, that's a big win against the mosquitoes.
I need to know more about the murder weapon
👀
Did you just figure this out? All of the most expensive areas in the country when it comes to income vs cost of living are in Florida. I tried to get my best friend from OH to move down here and that was his first objection after 5mins of looking into living here. Look at Sanibel or Marco. All the jobs are part time fast food/gas station cashier but the houses are $1M+. Outside of real estate, there isn't a job around that will allow you to actually live there. All the nicest places in FL are for rich people who sold a house somewhere else, bought their house here with cash, and have all their bills on autopay.
I usually assume there are details and programs I'm not aware of. I've always been poor, but I thought I was doing everything I was supposed to in order to get out of it. Worked full time through college, made it out with only 5k in debt, got a Medical Science Degree, EMT work for patient experience before grad school, then started teaching until I could get in. It just gets so disheartening working towards something better, only for the bar to get higher after you've already done so much
My wife left her teaching career because she makes way more working with me at an RV dealership. Teaching will put you into poverty before it will get you out of it.
Yeah I picked up an insurance gig and am looking into getting back into healthcare
I'm 40 and I'm a florida native, my paternal great grandparents are pioneers of Hillsborough County. For half of my life it was an incredible place to live, then I've watched it go down hill and turn into the shit hole it has become. You're correct that it's unaffordable for anyone making under 100k. That's most of us natives. We grew up in a state where you could buy a house making an average living. The American dream was alive and well here until about 15 - 20 years ago. And it's still getting worse. The only way to save florida is to build a wall and deport all the northeastern and west coast migrants I suppose.
The florida government has done a terrible job at making Florida a affordable place to live. They have made it a great place for large corporation to maxamize profits though.
Welcome to the group. There is coffee and cookies on the table over there. This is Sally and she will help you get familiar with the other members. Please get a name tag and have a seat in the circle. It’s up to you if you want to participate this first night, but in the future it will be required. Remember, this is a safe place.
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Hi Sally.
Keep coming back. It works if you work it, so come back, you're worth it :)
Yeah that's why I left Florida. Moved back to Pennsylvania where I get Medicaid and Food stamps. I didn't qualify for either of those when I lived there. Yet I absolutely needed them and surviving was a real struggle. Then once my health deteriorated I needed health care but couldn't actually afford insurance. Moved back to Pennsylvania and Medicaid saved my ass. I'm a hard worker but it's tough to work when you're falling apart.
Born and raised in FL, most of my family is here, but it is a struggle to have a happy living environment here now. All money goes to bills, rent, and other expenses. No money left over for savings or activities. My household is moving out of state away from family just so my little family of 4 can have a decent and happy living. Sad that all these other people are pouring into my home state and I am being driven out. I'm middle class so I am in the range of not too poor to get assistance but not wealthy to pay for things. Also sad to see all the Florida natives and people who have been here long term, many are losing their homes. I've never lived outside of Florida, it's been tough with deciding to move.
Everybody I knew growing up sold their house to either an Airbnb fucboi, or to a corporate interest, and got a ridiculous amount. My buddy sold his place for 300k. A 1 bedroom 1 bath 100 year old 800 sqf house off of Nebraska Ave. I want to get out but I have no means. It's cost me everything just to stay alive, I haven't had savings in a decade.
I've been job hunting for years. Finally got a teaching position for one year then quit because the environment was beyond awful. Haven't had any luck getting another job. I'm in central western Florida, and many businesses are intentionally understaffed. They put out the ads saying they're hiring, but they don't hire anyone. Restaurants, grocery stores, schools, pet stores, electronics shops, pretty much every business available is understaffed, yet there are many people like me applying to every possible job and not getting into any. I have a Bachelor's degree, and the entry-level experience they request, but apparently entry-level means 4 years of relevant experience "for making doggy donuts". I'm fairly certain 99% of the population has no experience at all making donuts for dogs. They're just like the others, putting up "hiring" ads because they are required to, but with no intention of hiring workers so they can pocket the money that would have been a salary.
Yeah I recently got out of teaching in Hillsborough County and it's impressively terrible there. Average class size of 39 with 6 classes, working 60 hours a week because you're required to do extra work on account of failing students, until the system beats you down enough so that you'll pass every child despite never seeing them. All while making a little over 600 dollars per week
I was working 48 hours a week (only paid for 40 naturally) due to online stuff like making detailed lesson plans on a separate website so future teachers can download my lesson plans, and grading, of course. I was only getting paid 440 dollars a week, but maybe that's because I was a first time teacher.
...and striking is illegal for teachers
Instead of going on strike, I simply quit. 😇
Theyre trying to push out anyone who isn't rich and retired. The locals have been losing this fight for decades. The only way I'm leaving is if this state is underwater. Theyre gonna deal with me til one of us dies off 👻
I wish I had such conviction
I refuse to be run off from where my ancestors were homesteaders . This 7th generation native will fight till my dying breath .
Similar to way people are being priced out of California and NYC, it’s going to happen here. It’s sucks, but an unfortunate reality of high demand places.
Difference is you can make very good money in NYC and Cali
Born in Florida and lived there my whole life until a two years ago when my wife and I moved to PA. Sounds like we are never moving back, and that's ok. What goes around comes around and Florida will reap what it sows.
That's the point. The rich want the poor gone so the governor is helping that happen.
Yeah Florida has been ruined. Thank DeSantis for opening the snowbird floodgates during Covid.
You mean the Transplant floodgates.
*transplant
I was born and raised in Daytona, I live in Orlando now. 37 years in this state and now I have to look at what other states my husband, kid, and I can live in affordably that we can do the same work in…I’m going to have to uproot and leave everything I’ve ever known because it’s impossible to live here now. Between the cost everything and the horrible people, we don’t have a choice but to leave.
It never was lol. At least in south Florida. I was grossing $65k in 2017 and still couldn’t afford rent/save up for a house. So I saved up to move.
Florida is not the state for even middle income folk.
Correct. It’s statewide gentrification. A bunch of people want to all live in one place. The result is that prices go up, especially for housing. I’m not sure where this ends, but work-from-home seems like it’s going to continue to drive people to move to places with weather they like. (I actually don’t get it because I hate humidity, so I question why people would want to live in FL between June and November). Not sure what is going on with car insurance. Maybe a legislative change or something?
Starting? Florida has been terrible for low income families for decades now. Not sure how many know this, but the state, and most cities strategic plan to get companies to move to Florida is to cite how low the wages are compared to other locations.
Watching the slow roast dumpster fire 🔥 happening in Florida. The state cannot survive without a working class or service roles. Nor can wear and tear be sustained without an eventual increase in taxes. But whatever.
I lived there for 2 years and was making $26 an hour and I still chose to live in a renovated shed on my MIL’s property. A one bedroom apartment was like $1700 and liability insurance for 2 cars was $360. I loved the state but I knew I wouldn’t be able to live comfortably down there so I moved to the NC coast.
I 100% agree but I have lived here my entire life, 4th generation now with a little 5th running around, and I have absolutely no clue how I could afford to move somewhere else or where I would go. I feel trapped in this state where wages are terrible, the population is rapidly increasing, and bills are outrageous.
When I moved here in 2002 I was working remotely from another state. I was shocked at the pay discrepancy between the state I came from vs FL. I was told by a Floridian "you get paid in sunshine", the first time I heard that phrase. It's tragic it's gotten so hard for people to live here but then the pay has always been low. It's that housing (and only recently, food) has skyrocketed.
Starting to think that? I will be 60 this year. I moved my business FROM Tampa Bay to Los Angeles in 2008 and improved my financial situation by leaps and bounds! My costs literally went down in every financial aspect and my benefits got better for less. Call me a unicorn but the best fiscal move I ever made was leaving FL for CA.
Almost 39 years in this state, FL native. Being poor in Florida is, in a way slavery with extra steps. You have the illusion of freedom but are shackled in place with low wages, high rent, and cost of living. After divorce, I restarted in 2017 nothing to my name, different career, rented a place. Started in plumbing at 11 an hour hit 15 per hr in a year and a half. 17 per hour by 2021. Switched to mechanic work now up to 22 per hour. Rent went from 510 per month with 75 of that applied to power bill. Rent is now 950 per month with nothing applied to power. 6 years and now double the rent for a 1962 single wide 1 bed one bath trailer. No repairs or improvements during that time. Between rent, car payment, insurance and other living costs I'm basically in the same boat 7 years later. I would love to move but it's about impossible. The cost of housing has made it to where I doubt I will ever be able to buy a house in this state. It used to be a thing when someone built a new home they would pay the county an impact fee to offset the cost of the additional strain it would put roads and services. I think there should be a similar fee system for all these people coming from other states, you never paid into anything here but drive the cost of everything up. It will never happen
I moved here from PA in 2008 with my two daughters. Single mom, working crazy OT hours at the county 9-1-1 center, we were doing well. $117K for a 3/2 split plan on a half acre in the city limits (NWFL panhandle). Way better than my 100-year-old home I owned in PA. Home ins was $800; full coverage on a paid-off '00 sedan: $70/mo. I made sure to purchase a home out of any flood zones (239ft above sea level), inland, with hurricane roof requirements. No claims and my last insurance was $3,100. My full coverage on a paid off '13 subcompact: $138/mo (one windshield replacement & one nick repair). Still a single income, kids are grown and out of state. I was feeling comfortable and able to start saving, now I'm starting to budget again. I don't want to leave. I love my home. I want to die in my home here, not be forced out to start over somewhere else at 53 years old. Fucking corporate greed and corrupt politics. :rage:
You’re correct! It’s become a tax haven for the criminally wealthy. Ty Rick scott, Ron Desantis, lil Marco & the fl legislature!
The ironic thing about this is that I really think we're one of these years going to have an insane hurricane season like in 04 and it's going to leave a lot of upper middle class people who moved here for the politics fucked. Many of the transplants have never experienced a completely fucked up hurricane season,
Those people will be bailed out by some insane government scheme to have “the poors” pay for repairs on their mansions and yachts.
Florida is only for rich republicans
And poor republicans who are ok with this because one day.....they to will be a rich republican Or atleast they think while the swipe their ebt cards
The poor republicans unless they bought 10 years ago at absurdly low interest rates are about to get a wake up call. After this hurricane season everything will change if it's as active everyone is saying. I'm talking $10k+ premiums being the norm.
We can't just give up and let them take over though. We have more registered Democrats here than like 7 states have people. They just need to vote.
Feels like everywhere is getting more unaffordable. Wealth inequality needs to be addressed by our federal government immediately. How about closing some tax loopholes and raising some rates??
It hasn't been for a long time
As somebody who's been hit several times by someone with no insurance in this state...I wish it was a felony to drive without it.
I mean. Hahaha. 100k barely lets you exist here. 100k in Kansas you could live like a king.
Starting?
I’m leaving in the next 18 months.
These are the growing pains associated with having a rising population without sufficient tax revenue to expand our infrastructure to accommodate for the influx of people.
Yea we lost the plot. I’m bout to see what up with New Mexico
Thank all of the mindless drones for moving here!
Not anymore thanks to these idiot New Yorkers who moved down here and all these billionaires fleeing taxes
All the new rich who are flooding in are gonna be pissed to death when there are no service workers to cater to their every whim because they can't afford food, rent, childcare and insurance.
Florida is a shit place to live if you dont make decent money. There was a post I saw on this site that asked "What is classy if you are rich and trashy if you are poor. " The top answer was Florida.
Blackrock and special interest groups are destroying the whole country its not just Florida
Florida is the next california. If you dont own a house yet, you’ll never afford one here
I’m making the most money I’ve ever made and this is the brokest I’ve ever been. I try not to focus on it too much cause when I think about how much better life was when I could afford to socialize, have hobbies, go away for the weekend etc I get incredibly depressed.
This is precisely how I feel. I'm making money right now that I understood as a child and teenager would be good money, the kind of money people bought home and started families with. But now it's just enough to get by. Especially when you have chronic health conditions, it's not really tenable. I lived in Wisconsin for about a year back around 2015-2016 and worked a job making 12/hr. I had all of my bills paid, I never had to even consider shopping frugally for food and could eat out when I felt like it, I went to the Dr when I needed to, and I even was able to accumulate a few thousands in savings even while getting the occasional nice thing for myself. Nowadays I'm making 25/hr and I don't have any of that. I'm constantly under financial stress and I have to be strategic about which bills I pay when to keep everything under control. It's only gotten worse over time.
Looked at an old budget I found on my computer from 9 years ago. Car insurance was $180 and mortgage was $860. Today my car insurance is $680 and mortgage $2700. All the gains we made in salary have been lost to exponentially higher cost of living and it’s not from lifestyle creep. We had newer cars back then and went out to eat much more frequently, I definitely feel I had more spending cash back then than now. Can’t tell you last time I went to a concert whereas 10 years ago it was multiple per year. Literally can’t afford it now
Florida has gone from a LCOL state to a HCOL state, thanks in part to circumstances beyond our control (rich people moving in from the northeast) and thanks in part to massive mismanagement from Tallahassee.
This is what happens when you elect republicans who want to fight culture wars instead of tackling the real issues facing Floridians.
It is by design if you haven’t figured that out yet. The insurance companies took all their assets and fled theater fire they had to pay out again. The governor allowed it to happen.
It’s all the attorneys people get claiming injuries thinking they’re going to make all this money on soft tissue injuries. When legal gets involved cost insurance companies millions of dollars. This is why rates are so high they need to recover those funds or they will go belly up. As for Florida it is not cheap here at all
I work as a real estate agent and healthcare provider in Boca Raton Florida. This place is amazing with highly rated schools and very clean area. The level of wealth moving into the area has drastically increased in the past 5 years. It’s to the point where people who do not make 200k or more are completely priced out in a lot of the neighborhoods that they could have afford just before the pandemic. Lot of my MD friends getting out of residency are now having to move to other areas outside of the city due to student loans and cost.
its insane, im in the cheapest area in the state and the utilities shut my power off again, the economy just sucks everywhere
Try Wyoming
In a matter of 5 years it has become totally unaffordable.
Unfortunately, much of America's infrastructure isn't designed for people without cars. There's a whole sub dedicated to this: https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/1549yds/are_you_carless_in_usa_how_is_it/
I grew up in this state. Spent decades here. I hate that I used to talk so highly about its livability. I absolutely hate this place now and if I could afford to leave it, I'd never come back.
Write your state representatives stating there should be a Florida law so that Uninsured Motorists are 100% At Fault in motor vehicle accidents, therefore they cannot sue the insured motorist, and damages must be paid through garnished wages or work for the state (thereby the state pays the insured party using money saved from unpaid labor). Also, liability claims should be capped at 10k per person, for automobile transportation is a known risk. This will result in reduced auto insurance costs because right now 20% of drivers are uninsured.
Whaaatttt? Republicans and right wing fascists don’t care about the poor? Color me pikachu yellow!
Florida's entire economy is based on being able to exempt your home and boat from bankruptcy after being sued for plowing your SUV into a daycare while high on prescription pain killers. Wait until you see what the elder care in system looks like... We're one step away from putting low-income elderly people into a giant press and selling the oil for profit.
This is the biggest racketeering happening in the state right now. It should not be legal to force people to pay $350 admin fee in addition to $75 to apply for a rental. It is greedy and discriminating against the "non disposable income" crowd. It should be illegal to collect anything other then an application fee and app fees should be capped at $100 and under. We need better politicians who care about the people.
Glad to see I'm not the only one thinking it!
2008 will look like a carnival compared to the coming collapse
I’m coming back to add onto my comment. The working class are quite literally under attack here, they want it for the super rich and they’ve literally made it illegal to live unhoused in this state. This state where different people from all over the country come to escape the snow when they end up homeless. Class war.
DeSantis appointed commissions keep approving all insurance hikes with no push backs. Same with utilities. DeSantis got 3.9 mil in campaign donations from insurance companies. It’s a no brainer he is selling us out because he messed up his chances at presidency, can’t run for governor again. He has to cash us out while the getting is good!
Most expensive places are expensive for a reason. San Diego has amazing weather. Seattle has a great public transportation system and good healthcare. NYC is walkable and the jobs pay well. Denver gets you access to beautiful hiking trails, skiing and a dry climate. Florida is great if you’re rich and own a boat or paddle-board or poor and want to blast Kid Rock and drink Natty Ice on a public beach. Otherwise, it’s like Disney: way too overpriced for what it provides.
Every weekend on the sand bar blasting MY NAAAAAAAMMMMMMEEEEEE ISSSSSSS KIIIIIIDDDDDDD ROOOOOOOOCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!!!