New census data is set to be released on Monday -- and New York and Florida will be jockeying for third and fourth place as the most populated states behind Texas and California. If Florida doesn't surpass New York this year, it certainly will next year, experts say.
Reasons for the trend are twofold: People are moving away from blue-collar towns in upstate New York, like Schenectady and Rochester (Buffalo lost 10 percent of its population in just over a decade), and immigrants from South and Central America continue to stop here in the F-L-A.
Of course, Rick Scott had to make a goofy joke about the demographic change:
The governor told the New York Times, "When I call on companies around the country, I clearly talk to them about what the weather's like. I say, 'Oh it's 40-what?,' and I joke, 'I've got to turn down the air conditioning so you can hear me.' "
Census figures from July 2012 put New York's population at 19.6 million and Florida's at 19.3. New York isn't losing people -- it's just growing at a mere 1 percent per year, while Florida is growing at 2.7 percent. Similar trends resulted in New York losing two seats in Congress in 2010, with Florida adding two.
Don't be sad, New York! This could all be reversed when global warming really kicks in and Miami goes underwater.
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