image: A new FAU survey finds 36% of Floridians have moved or may move due to hurricanes, flooding and heat; more than 60% fear stronger storms and floods, and nearly half worry about rising home insurance costs.
Credit: Alex Dolce, Florida Atlantic University
Although the Atlantic hurricane season has officially ended, Floridians’ woes over severe weather and soaring homeowners’ insurance costs still linger. A new Florida Atlantic University survey finds hurricanes and other climate-related threats are causing many Floridians to consider moving.
The Florida Climate Survey found that 36% of respondents statewide had moved or were considering moving in part or fully due to weather hazards. Broken down by region, the results show that threats such as hurricanes, flooding and extreme heat have already influenced some Floridians to relocate.
Nearly a quarter of North Floridians (24%) reported that these factors contributed to a previous decision to move within the state. Across much of the peninsula, from Tampa to Cape Canaveral south, about 20% of respondents report that weather hazards play a role in them exploring a move.
“About 1 in 5 Floridians from about the I-4 corridor to Key West are considering a move due to weather hazards,” said Colin Polsky, Ph.D., associate vice president of Broward campuses for FAU and a professor of geosciences in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “Some of these people may wish to move but cannot afford the expenses. This shows a possibly large number of residents struggling with weather hazards.”
The survey is the 13th conducted by the FAU Center for Environmental Studies on Floridians’ opinions about climate resilience issues since October 2019. The latest survey was conducted in late September — about one year after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida, a storm that was followed about two weeks later by Hurricane Milton and a related tornado outbreak.
Underpinning the interest in moving are concerns about weather hazards. More than 60% of Floridians are moderately or extremely concerned about hurricanes becoming stronger and/or more frequent (63%), and about rainfall becoming heavier in the state and higher flooding from storm surge near the coast (61% in both cases).
“Despite a major shift in the national weather and climate conversation in 2025, people’s lived experiences in Florida appear to have kept these hazards top of mind, influencing where people think it is safe to live,” Polsky said.
While the survey found that an overwhelming majority of Floridians believe climate change is happening (85%), the level was the lowest in the survey’s six-year history.
Just more than half of Floridians believe climate change is caused by human activity (52%), the latest results found. Breaking down that finding by political party, 71% of Democrats, 50% of Independents and 39% of Republicans said they believe human actions are causing climate change.
Nearly half of Floridians (49%) report concern about the affordability of homeowner’s insurance due to climate change. The survey also found that more than 60% of Floridians want the federal or state government to do more to address the impacts of climate change, but the finding was the lowest level since questions about climate action were added in March 2023.
“While public support for climate action may swing wildly from one presidential election to another, a substantial share of Floridians face an abiding weather risk,” Polsky said.
The survey was conducted in English and Spanish from Sept. 24 to 30. The sample consisted of 1,400 Floridians aged 18 and older, with a survey margin of error of +/- 2.53%. The data were collected using an online panel provided by GreatBlue Research. Responses were weighted to adjust for age, income, education, gender and region, according to the 2023 U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. It is important to remember that subsets carry higher margins of error.
For more information, survey results and full cross-tabulations, visit www.ces.fau.edu/ces-bepi/ or contact Colin Polsky, Ph.D., at cpolsky@fau.edu.
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About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University serves more than 32,000 undergraduate and graduate students across six campuses along Florida’s Southeast coast. Recognized as one of only 21 institutions nationwide with dual designations from the Carnegie Classification - “R1: Very High Research Spending and Doctorate Production” and “Opportunity College and University” - FAU stands at the intersection of academic excellence and social mobility. Ranked among the Top 100 Public Universities by U.S. News & World Report, FAU is also nationally recognized as a Top 25 Best-In-Class College and cited by Washington Monthly as “one of the country’s most effective engines of upward mobility.” As a university of first choice for students across Florida and the nation, FAU welcomed its most academically competitive incoming class in university history in Fall 2025. To learn more, visit www.fau.edu.