Moving from Florida to Massachusetts

Florida to Massachusetts

I have to say that I was a little shocked by this one. The fifth most popular state which had people relocate to Massachusetts was Florida. Don’t get me wrong, the net migration is in Florida’s favor, but there are still a considerable amount of people that are coming to the great white north. 

Let’s talk about a comparison of these two states and give you a little bit of what to expect if you are considering making the move from Florida to Massachusetts.

But first… My name is Jeff Chubb and I am a recovering investment banker turned real estate agent that has sold more than 1,000 houses. We get calls, texts and emails from folks just like you who are looking to make a move in the Boston Metro area and I absolutely love it! So whether you are looking to make a move in the next 9 or 90 days… It doesn’t matter. Give us a call, shoot us an email or stop by YouTubeRealEstateAgent.com and fill in your information and we will reach out to you! 

Okay let’s talk about the Cost as the first category.

Generally speaking, Massachusetts is more expensive than Florida. Okay, so what do I mean by generally… If you are moving from Miami to Worcester, then you are most likely going to be pretty excited about the bump in value that Worcester is going to offer you… 

Pre-Covid, this was almost a not fair fight. But Covid has helped level the playing field a bit. A bit. 

Nerdwallet.com has a cost of living Calculator and they do the calculator for Miami to Boston. They state that the cost of living is 27% higher in Boston than it is in Miami. In other words, if you live in Miami and make $100,000 of pretax money, then you would need to earn a salary of $127,070 in Boston. 

I am going to keep this away from a city to city comparison, but I figured comparing the two most expensive metros was a great way to show the difference in value. 

When you look at it from a full state versus state, according to mylifeelsewhere.com, Massachusetts is 16.4% more expensive than Florida. 

Meanwhile, according to nextburb.com, the median household income for Massachusetts is $89,645 compared to Florida’s $63,062. 

Let’s talk about the Housing Market as it’s a major part of the cost. 

Again, using data from Nextburb.com, The Median price for a single family home is $561,403. This is compared to Florida’s Median price of $391,497. 

Interesting enough, the median rent in Florida is $1,175 which is compared to the median rent in Massachusetts of $1,282.

And then there is the difference in property taxes. The median property tax in Florida is $2,338 which is compared to the median in Massachusetts of $5,361. This higher property tax amount actually makes sense since property tax is a percentage off of the value of the property. Which as we know, property values are higher in Massachusetts. 

I was kind of surprised that only 55% of the housing stock in Florida consists of Single Family homes. This is compared to the 52% in Massachusetts. Meanwhile 67% are homeowners in Florida compared to 63% in Massachusetts. 

Other than largest city versus largest city, it would be real hard to compare a town in Florida to a town in Massachusetts. My general knowledge of towns in Florida is lacking… To say the least. 

If you are looking for some suggestions of areas or towns that could fit your needs, then you should give me a call. Let’s talk about what is important to you and your price range and then I can probably point you in a couple right directions. 

When you are talking about housing and comparing Florida and Massachusetts, then it’s generally safe to say that Massachusetts is going to be more expensive. But Florida is a BIG state. And what makes Florida so awesome is that BIG state has a LOT of coastline. A lot more coastline than Massachusetts. There are some very expensive areas and houses along that coastline. I know this… Because I browse and dream about a second home down there quite often!

Let’s talk Weather. 

I know why I want a second home in Florida. It’s because of the weather. I also know why I want it to be a second home and not a primary home… It’s because of the weather! 

Comparing Massachusetts and Florida is like comparing two extremes. 

When people think of Massachusetts, everyone always brings up cold and harsh winters. Granted I live off the coast… But I really don’t think they are that bad. The northern part of Boston definitely gets more of a snow beating then the southern part of the state, but I really don’t think it is all that bad. 

But if you grew up in Florida and have never really been exposed to New England winter, then you most likely will believe it is miserable. 

While our Furnaces are cranking to keep us warm and we have the occasional snow storm to worry about… This is when I get the calls from my Father in-law where it seems that he must always provide the weather report of 70 degrees and perfect. 

Don’t get me wrong… Opinions are like belly buttons and everyone has one… But the winters in Florida are near perfect. 

Then there is the Spring and Fall which let’s just call those seasons a wash. 

Then Summer comes along. Like the Winter perfection for Florida, welcome to the Summer perfection for Massachusetts. It’s not too hot. It’s not humid. It’s darn near perfect. This is why so many people come back to New England in the Summer. 

If you like all the season’s then there is a good chance you are going to like Massachusetts. If snow and some cold weather seems like a cruel and unusual punishment, then Florida’s weather is probably more your speed. 

Personally I love the seasons. I also love the idea of being on a boat 12 months a year. Based on my internal struggles… I call this a split decision. 

Now let’s talk Taxes. 

Being a Massachusetts resident, this one stings as I was pulling all of this together. 

Massachusetts has the nickname of Taxachusetts. And I do think that is a rather unfair nickname. If anything, it should be called Feeachusetts. There are small incremental fees… which lets be honest are taxes… All over the place. It’s a death by a million cuts quite frankly. But Massachusetts isn’t afraid to also throw a bunch of taxes on top of those fees either. 

Let’s start with the income tax. Massachusetts is 5%. Massachusetts also has a recently voted in Millionnaires tax that increases the rate to 9% for anything over $1 million dollars. Florida’s income tax is a lot less complicated… It’s zero. Lucky son of a guns…

Sales tax is where Massachuseetts has a hair up… Not a leg. A hair. Florida has a 6 percent state sales tax rate and then a max local sales tax rate of 2 percent. This is compared to Massachusetts whose sales tax rate is 6.25%. Florida’s average combined state and local sales tax rate is 7.02%. Like I said, Massachusetts has a hair up on this one. 

I found an interesting CNN Money article that lists Tax Dollars state by state. It lists Florida as the #44th state for total taxes per $1,000. This is compared to Massachusetts which they had ranked as #40. So how can a state with no income tax be close to a state with an income tax? When you look at Florida, they are ranked 10th as the worst sales and excise tax per $1,000 at $47.95. This is compared to Massachusetts which is $21.52 per thousand. 

Either way, Massachusetts is not the Taxachusetts state that it’s made out to be. It’s not great, but it could definitely be worse! And when you factor in all taxes, Massachusetts and Florida are relatively comparable according to this CNN Money article. 

There is a little bit of a different story when I looked at the taxfoundation.org. Taxfoundation ranks Massachusetts as the 37th highest state in the country with an effective tax rate of 11.5% compared to Florida’s effective tax rate of 9.1% which puts them as the 11th most favorable state for tax burdens in the country. 

Education is generally one of the most important factors when people are considering a move. 

School state rankings were a little all over the place. I think it’s important to first say that it's the municipality that you are in that makes the biggest difference in regards to the quality of the school. So that is where you need to first focus. 

I have to say… I was very surprised when digging into this data. 

In the WalletHub survey, they rank Massachusetts as #1 while Florida came in at #9. US News & Report had Massachusetts at #2 and Florida comes in at #14 when you look at their Pre-K through 12th grade rankings. 

Florida wasn’t the slouch that I thought they were!

Again, this really comes down to the area that you end up calling home whether you are in Florida or Massachusetts. No matter the state, there are some school districts that perform better than others.

Let’s talk about job opportunities in both states. 

As economies go… Florida is the #4 economies in the country cranking out $1.1 Trillion in economic output. This is compared to Massachusetts $544 Billion. 

Currently the unemployment rate in Massachusetts and Florida is 2.6%. Both states have strong economies with both states actually benefiting from Covid… For different reasons. Massachusetts has a strong Bio-tech concentration while Florida has enjoyed people and companies moving with their feet. 

The three largest industries by revenue in Massachusetts are the Drug, cosmetic and toiletry industries, Life insurance and annuities and College and Universities. Interestingly enough, Hospitals was #4 with Biotech at #7. 

Meanwhile in Florida, #1 is the Aerospace and Aviation industry, #2 is Life Sciences with #3 being Manufacturing. 

A big fiber of the Massachusetts economy is higher education. Yes, it is what is tied to a lot of economic output, but is also why a lot of companies set up shop here. With so many colleges, each year there is a large pool of students to recruit from. And these schools include MIT which is ranked as the second best school in the country,  Harvard with a ranking as #3, Tufts which is ranked #32, Boston College at #36, Boston University at #41 and Northeastern and Brandeis at #44… But Florida also has University of Florida which is ranked nationally as the 29th best national university, and then Florida State University and University of Miami which are both tied at 55th according to U.S News & Report. 

The list of the amount of colleges in Massachusetts is so long that it is exhausting when looking at it. But what I found interesting is that when US News & Report adds in State Universities into the mix, then they actually rank Florida as the top school system in the country. 

I feel like we stepped back talking about education again! 

Let's round it all out, and finish it up by talking about what each state has to offer from outdoor activities to general entertainment.

Let’s start with why I love Florida. I always joke about my pool and how it costs a fortune to heat while pointing to the Atlantic Ocean… But in Florida, their pool is heated at no charge! 

When it comes to water and coastline, Florida is pretty hard to beat. Almost impossible. If the Atlantic Coast isn’t your speed, then there is the Gulf of Mexico. 

Don’t get me wrong… We have a pretty great coastline as well. And the Cape is amazing… But Florida has the Keys. 

I have always believed that Massachusetts has a lot of green space, but between the Everglades, Big Cypress National Preserve, Ocala and Apalachicola National Forest… The total percentage of Florida that is covered in parks is 6.63% compared to Massachusetts with 4.23%.

I am not going to get into the quality of the sports teams… But we can talk about the number! Florida has two baseball teams, three football teams, two basketball teams and two Hockey teams. Florida is a big state… It makes sense! Massachusetts has one team in each sport category. 

I hate snakes. So Massachusetts is my biased winter. We don’t have poisonous snakes or pythons… If that isn’t the definition of a sound victory, then I don’t know what is!

I guess the important thing to realize is that if you are coming from Florida and you have enjoyed everything that they have to offer… Then I know Massachusetts is no slouch either. Yes, we don’t have 365 days of warm weather, but we have a lot of other qualities. 

I love Florida. It is a place that someday I will have a second home in. But Massachusetts is my home. The Spring, Summer and Fall makeup for the sometimes harsh winters. That’s my opinion… And like I said earlier, everyone has one. 

Whether you are looking to relocate to Massachusetts in the next 9 or 90 days, then I would love to chat with you. Would love to hear about your goals and also talk to you about what you are looking for in your new home to help offer some suggestions on possible communities that could work for you. Check out all Hingham Homes For Sale

All of my contact information is below. You can also reach out to me at YouTubeRealEstateAgent.com and fill out your contact information and then I will reach out to you. 

Until next time.