By Gay Cororaton, MIAMI REALTORS Chief Economist
Key Takeaways:
- Miami-Dade County out-of-state driver license exchanges rose 3% in 2025 Q1-Q3.
- California is the fastest-growing source of out-of-state driver license exchanges, up 66% vs. 2019.
- Stronger employment conditions particularly in the tech sector in South Florida vis-a-vis California are driving migration flows. Over the period August 2019-August 2025, information services industry (“tech”) jobs rose 6% in the Miami MSA while employment fell 6% in the Los Angeles MSA and 3% in the San Francisco MSA.
Download the 2025 Q3 Southeast Florida Driver License Exchanges Report HERE.
Miami-Dade County out-of-state driver license exchanges rose 3% in 2025 Q1-Q3
Miami-Dade County continued to see an uptick in out-of-state migration based on driver license exchanges data, up 3% in the first three quarters of 2025 from one year ago, according to Miami Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) analysis of Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles data. New residents must exchange their out-of-state license for a Florida driver’s license within 30 days after establishing residency to drive on Florida’s roads.
Driver license exchanges in Miami-Dade County in the first three quarters of 2025 were also 27% higher compared to the same period in 2019. On the other hand, driver license exchanges during this same period fell in Broward County (-7%), Palm Beach County (-7%), and Martin County (-13%) . In St. Lucie, driver license exchanges increased over this period (11%).
California is the fastest-growing source of out-of-state driver license exchanges, up 66% vs. 2019
New York is still the top origin of driver license exchanges, but California is the fastest-growing state of origin of out-of-state movers.
Among Miami-Dade County’s 10 largest states of origin of driver license exchanges in the first three quarters of 2025, California driver license exchanges were up the most compared to the same period in 2019 (+66%), followed by Texas (+39%), New Jersey (+35%), New York (+33%), Illinois (+31%), Massachusetts (+20%), Pennsylvania (+20%), Virginia (+9%), Georgia (+7%) and North Carolina (+3%).
In Broward County, California driver license exchanges were 16% higher in the first three quarters of 2025 compared to the same period in 2019. bucking the decline in other states.
California driver license exchanges in the first three quarters of 2025 rose from one year ago in Miami-Dade County (+4%) and in Broward County (+6%).
However, New York driver license exchanges declined in the first three quarters of 2025 from one year ago in Miami-Dade County (-2%), Broward County (-8%), Palm Beach County (-12%), Martin County (-13%), and St. Lucie County (-13%).
Stronger employment conditions in South Florida vis-a-vis California are driving migration flows
Employment conditions particularly in the tech sector are likely driving the outmigration from California. For example, tech giants Meta, Alphabet, and Apple have been trimming their workforce after a massive hiring spree during the COVID pandemic and amid the expanding shift towards AI.
As of August 2025, employment in the information services industry was below the level of employment in August 2019 in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim Metro Area (- 11.7%, -28,000 jobs) and in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont Metro area (- 2.5%, -3,300 jobs). In contrast, employment in the information services industry rose in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach Metro area (+6.1%, +3,100 jobs).
