National Hate Florida Day
Hi, Neighbors. Many of our readers may find this an ironic blog as a current Florida resident is writing about National Hate Florida Day, but I’m not writing this for the reasons you may think. It’s no secret that even after so many years of living in Florida, there are things that I still struggle with about not living in the midwest, near mountains or frankly, anywhere but here. However, I can see now that living here in Florida does have it’s benefits. US News and World Report just released their 2023 rankings for Overall Best States, let’s dive in and see how we did!
The main reason for this National Holiday is that historically on February 18, Florida temperatures are higher than most other places in the United States.
According to Current Results website, Florida is ranked as #1 in Highest Average Temperature for the whole year. Florida is also ranked #2 in Highest Winter Temperatures, behind Hawaii, and #3 in Highest Summer Temperatures, behind Louisiana and Texas. For those of you that love warmer temperatures, near year-round gardening and don’t mind direct sunlight, this is as good as it gets. US New & World Report’s 2023 Best State Ranking is in an they happen to agree!
Florida is #10 Best State to Live in!
Florida has some great brag points. Do these add up to a great place to live?
We are #1 in Higher Education; thanks to a lower student debt ratio and a higher graduation rate than the national average. We are even in the TOP 20 in Pre-K3 to 12 landing at #14.
We are #4 in Overall Air & Water Quality and Top 20 in Overall Natural Environment. We beat the national average by more than 1/2 with Unhealthy Air Quality. We only had 51 Days, while the national average sits at 114. However, our industrial air pollution held us back with 1509 pounds/sq.mi; sitting well over the nation’s average of 926 pounds/sq. mi. leaving us 35th in Total Pollution.
We are #7 in Overall Economy. Job Growth (#8), Employment (#14) and Business Employment (#12) all held within the Top 20.
We are #14 in Infrastructure. Our residents average a 27 minute commute time with under 12% of our roads in poor condition (national average at 19%). However, Florida struggles to leverage our renewable energy sitting at 7.9, well under the national average of 12.3 percent.
We are #13 in Fiscal Stability. Long-term stability solidly in the Top 20 at #14 and Short-Term Stability rounding out the Top 20 at #20.
We are #17 in Crime and Corrections.
We also have some of the Top Theme Parks and Attractions in the world!
However, let’s consider some challenges, too.
If we are going to have a National Hate Florida Day, let’s shed some light on some obstacles that residents and newcomers alike may want to consider carefully.
In 6 out of 8 categories, Florida managed to land in the Top 20, which is a really strong showing to be sure. And I will caveat my next comments with this: regardless of where you live, you wake up every day with the choice to enjoy it or hate it. We each wake up with the opportunity to make our community a better place and to serve in a number of ways in the community we choose. Having lived in the “cold, gray tundra of the deep midwest” for nearly 30 years, I can reasonably understand why people wake up one morning and say, “I’m done. I’m moving south.”
According to US News and World Reports rankings, the two categories that Florida struggles in are Healthcare and Opportunities.
Let’s start with healthcare…
We are #27 in Healthcare. At first glance, my thought was “oh, great. We are average.” - But Wait, There’s more.
As of our census in 2020, 21.6 percent of Florida Residents were 65+. This does not include anyone who is a tourist or who is a “snowbird” and lives here less than 6 months plus 1 day. Similarly, 19.3 percent of Florida Residents are children 18 or under.
Let’s start with the positives, our Public Health Rating of #13 helped keep us under #30 in the overall Healthcare category! We are #3 in Mental Health, #6 in Low Obesity and #18 in Low Mortality Rate. Our Obesity rate was 28.1 percent, which was lower than the national average of 33.7 percent. Here are some things that kept us from being in the TOP 10 with Public Health: #21 in Low Suicide, #29 in Low Smoking and #31 in Low Infant Mortality Rate.
Regardless of how we choose to care for our bodies, each of us cares about the quality of care we receive and the access to care when we need it. This is where Florida struggles a bit. We are #24 in Quality of Health Care and #48 in Access to Healthcare. Let’s dive in a bit deeper to see the positives. In the Quality of Healthcare category, while Florida is about average overall, there are some really good things happening. We are #13 in Hospital Quality, #17 in Nursing Home Quality and #22 In Medicare Quality. So 2 in the Top 20 and 1 in the Top half of the 50 states is actually admirable for a state that has so many residents and also has such a steep senior population and tourism industry.
The category that really hurt our Quality of Healthcare rating is Preventable Hospital Admissions was 11th from the bottom landing at #39! In 2022 our average was 3077 preventable hospital admissions/ 100K residents (2781 US Average). I actually think this ties in even more to the Access of Healthcare too. Nearly 20% of Florida residents do not have healthcare coverage (17.9%, 5.7 points higher than the national average of 12.2). We are DEAD LAST #50 in Healthcare Affordability and #47 in Health Insurance Enrollment. While Child Wellness Visits managed to get in the Top 20 (#13), Adult Wellness Visits barely made the top half (#24) and Adult and Child Dental Visits tied at #41 coming into the bottom 10. How does this tie together? If Florida residents do not have health insurance or to affordable care, then they are left with emergency room visits (preventable hospital admissions).
What does this tell me about Florida Health Care?
This tells me that the people that are working in these fields care about what their doing. The doctors, nurses, medical assistants, etc, that are in with the patients every day genuinely care about the quality of their work and the patient’s care. However, it also tells me something that you’ve probably already guessed: our system is broken and there may not be enough providers for the rapid rate of influx of new residents.
How does knowing this help me if I’m moving to Florida?
If I’m considering moving to a state that has a 75% (6/8) decent rating on all my active daily living, but I need specific care, it helps guide my search. I may need to drive a little farther to see the doctor I want to see. I may need to look for a specialist I need that takes my insurance before I choose a side of town to live on, or a town at all. It may tell me that I need to do a little research on an agent to help with my health insurance and medicare enrollment. It may also tell me that I need to budget in some extra funds for healthcare expenses, more than where I’m currently living.
More on Florida Opportunites…
As I said above, Florida struggled with Opportunity ranking in the US World and News Report. We are #46 in Opportunity. We have 101.4 Cost of Living Index, meaning we are nearly 1.5% higher than the national average to live here. Conversely, our median household income in $63,062 is $6655 LOWER than the national average ($69,717) and our poverty rate is 13.1% (only .5% above the national average of 12.8 percent). Our Equality rating of #22 (being in the top 25) possibly saved us from being dead last in opportunity. Our labor force (and unemployment) is scattered and varied by income, education and race, but it’s a sad fact that being average here is considered the best of our opportunities has to offer and yet thankfully, it shows how far we’ve come (and how much farther we have to go), too.
We are #36 in Economic Opportunity. Our best qualifier in this category is #22 Low Food Insecurity. This is a number based on metrics from the USDA for households with access to enough food for an active, healthy life; we are aiming for a low number and we are barely in the top half. Considering we are #36 in Household Income and #34 in Poverty Rate, the fact that Low Food Insecurity in as high as #22 is something of a feat.
I had to look up the Gini index; this was a new term for me. According to the report website, “The Gini index, or Gini coefficient, is a summary measure of income inequality representing how income distribution varies compared with an equal outcome. States with the lowest Gini index figures, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, have lower income inequality and are ranked the highest.” So this looks at Income and a number of other qualities of cost of living to rank the Economic Opportunities overall. We are aiming for a low score and we are in the BOTTOM 5!
It is worth mentioning that in Central Florida especially, thanks to our theme parks and attractions, we do have a thriving tourism industry that offers some economic opportunity. Customer and hospitality service industries are booming as is the growth of the services required for residential lifestyles in the greater Orlando Area. While Florida as a whole is #36, there seems to be a wide range of opportunities here in Central Florida.
We are #38 in Affordability. I was surprised to see only two sub-categories under this: Cost of Living and Housing Affordability. Cost of living we already discussed is nearly 1.5% higher than the national average. However, when I dug a little deeper, I realized that while we are 12th from the bottom, and I’d like for it to be lower (obviously), this one makes sense to me. The 12 below us were Colorado, Alaska, Hawaii and the whole Pacific Coast and much of the New England/Northeast/MidAtlantic. Hawaii was last with a Cost of Living ratio of 113.2 over the US national average being 100 percent. With as much as Florida has to offer (think that 75% above), I’m going to be grateful forthe fact that our Cost of Living is less than 1.5% over the average. This is a pay-to-play Active Living State and we have a lot of coastline that offers the beach lifestyle as well as theme parks and beautiful cities. There are some counties in Florida that are more affordable as well and still are reasonably close to the beach or the theme parks that can still offer a good community experience.
How does knowing this help me if I‘m moving to Florida?
If I’m considering moving to a state that has a 75% (6/8) decent rating on all my daily living activities, but may have some challenges with cost of living, then do your homework on the neighborhoods you consider.
1) Make a must have list not just for you house, but for your community.
2) Take 30 days and make a list of all the places you go where you are currently living and search for those near the neighborhoods you are considering.
3) Sit with these questions for yourself and each member of your family moving with you:
What do I want more of out of life in the next 10 years?
What do I want less of out of life in the next 10 years?
What changes can we make to get more of what we want and to meet our goals as a family?
If we move, what do I expect from myself?
If we don’t move, what do I expect from myself?
What do I expect from the next 12 months?
What does this tell me about the Economic Opportunity in Florida?
It tells me that there are opportunities here, if I choose to look for them. And I’ll recall my 1 caveat from above, “regardless of where you live, you wake up every day with the choice to enjoy it or hate it. We each wake up with the opportunity to make our community a better place and to serve in a number of ways in the community we choose.” We don’t always have the chance to correct the mistakes of yesterday, but every day that we wake up we have a chance to make good decisions that can lend to a life well spent.
https://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/US/hottest-states.php
https://www.myfloridahomeenergy.com/help/library/hvac/air-conditioning/#sthash.Ji1Io3rE.dpbs
https://www.aimatmelanoma.org/melanoma-state-florida/
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/florida
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/opportunity/economic-opportunity/gini-index
I’m not a healthcare provider, nor am I an economist. While the data discussed is accurate from this report, the assumptions, discussion and opinions are entirely my own and are given simply to shed light and offer some thoughts on the data for persons interested in considering a life in Florida. These are not meant as advice or recommendations, and author cannot be liable as such.
