Florida’s economic growth is outpacing other states in an upbeat forecast published by the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

The business advocacy group published its 2025 Florida Economic Forecast recently and it found the Sunshine State is outpacing national growth trends. The report concluded Florida’s economy is bolstered by industries such as technology, health care, construction and others.

“As we look into late 2025 and beyond, Florida isn’t just growing, it’s showing the rest of the nation what stable and well-planned growth looks like,” said Mark Wilson, president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce & Foundation. “The report notes that while challenges like inflation and housing affordability persist, Florida’s ability to adapt and innovate will drive its long-term success.”

There were several key factors the Florida Chamber cited as major contributors to the state’s robust economic outlook in the 16-page report. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth was chief among them. The Chamber projected Florida’s GDP is expected to grow by 2.5% to 3% this year, above the national trend.

Florida’s workforce is also a significant keystone in the state’s economy. Chamber officials said job growth in the state is expected to hit 1% to 1.25% this year and unemployment rates hovering between 3.6% and 3.8%. The general monthly jobless rate in December came in at 3.4% and that’s held steady for the past three months, according to FloridaCommerce.

“Thoughtful strategies are needed to engage working-age adults who aren’t currently in the workforce, in order to increase our labor force participation rate.  The Florida Chamber Foundation’s workforce development initiatives, such as the ‘Future of Work Florida’ program, are key to bridging the gap between education and high-demand careers,” the Chamber report advocated.

The report did indicate the state would have to see some changes in the housing market with median sales prices increasing and affordable homes becoming increasingly scarce. “Housing affordability remains a challenge for many Floridians,” the report stated.

Population trends will work in the state’s economic favor, though. The number of people residing in Florida is projected to tick up to 23.75 million people this year and that will keep the state first in the country for net income migration. That’s more than three times the rate of net income migration for Texas, which is the state with the second most income migration in the country.

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Homeowners insurance rates are going up across the nation, but despite more hurricanes striking the state, Florida remains relatively stable when it comes to rate hikes.

S&P Global just released an analysis of homeowners insurance rates across America and while there were stiff increases for many states, Florida fared well in comparison. The S&P report found Florida to have one of the smallest increases in homeowners insurance in the country as of December 2024 since 2019. But there was an increase.

“The states with the lowest calculated weighted average increase in 2024 were Nevada at 4.3%, Texas at 3.4% and Florida at 1%,” the S&P analysis concluded. “Overall, the Florida homeowners market has seen improvement following legal reforms in 2023.”

S&P used rate information sourced from owner-occupied rate filings submitted to the Federal Insurance Office and each state’s largest homeowner insurance underwriters. That does not include state-backed insurance organizations such as Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which is run by the state of Florida.

While Florida recorded a nominal increase in homeowner insurance rates in the past year, S&P analysts warned the full brunt and impact from hurricanes that hit the Sunshine State in 2024 haven’t really been factored in yet.

“Back-to-back costly hurricanes this past year may impede the recovery. According to information collected by the state’s regulator, estimated insured losses so far on residential properties are $2.39 billion from Hurricane Milton and $496.8 million Hurricane Helene, with total insured losses (in Florida) equaling $3.62 billion for Milton and $2.08 billion for Helene,” the S&P study found.

Still, Florida is well below rate increases for homeowners in other states. Some were 20-fold the rate increases seen in the Sunshine State.

“Five other states reflected premiums rising by more than 20% in 2024: Montana, Iowa, Minnesota, Utah and Washington,” S&P analysts said.

Indeed, Florida appears to be an outlier as most states in the country saw at least double-digit rate increases for homeowners insurance.

“The national calculated weighted average effective rate increase for homeowners insurance was 10.4% last year. That uptick followed a 12.7% rise in the previous year. In total, 33 states had double-digit calculated effective rate increases in 2024, with the largest calculated increase occurring in Nebraska at 22.7%,” the S&P report concluded.

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