Loading ...Arab Americans Continue to Migrate Southward to the Sunshine State
By John Mason / Arab America Contributing Writer
Arab Americans have been heading to Florida for years, in part to avoid the north’s cold winters. Eventually, they began to move there permanently, based in part on job opportunities. During pandemic times, however, such moves to the South, especially Florida, seemed to be linked to the need to be closer to family.
Arab Americans have been Snowbirds for some time—now many have become permanent Floridians
To clarify, a “snowbird”—besides being any of several birds seen in winter—is a person who vacations in or moves to a warmer climate during cold weather. Arab Americans have been practicing this migratory movement for many years now. Many of them came from the metro Detroit area, initially just vacationing during both summer and winter seasons. In the previous decade, according to The Arab American News, “A wave of Arab American residents in metro Detroit are finding a fresh start in the sunshine state.”
As with many Americans who’ve become enticed by Florida, Arab Americans who vacationed there are now being attracted by year-round warm weather, ending up living there permanently. According to the same news source, the city of Dearborn even owned an 8-story apartment in Clearwater, Florida for retirees to visit year-round. Economic conditions forced the sale of the property in 2012.
More recently, Arab Americans have left Michigan to pursue job opportunities in Florida, moving there with their families. In some cases, families left Michigan due to poor conditions of the Michigan economy. In others, rather than being pushed to search for new jobs, they were pulled by opportunities in the more vibrant Florida economy. The slightly higher cost of living in Florida was offset by the state’s higher wages.
Eventually, as more Arab Americans relocated to Florida, more and more Middle Eastern markets and restaurants began popping up, for example, making access by Muslims to halal meat easier. Additionally, mosques also began to be built, and Arab communities began to coalesce, especially in the southern part of the state—around Fort Lauderdale. Similarly for Christian Arabs, they have established many churches in their communities. Generally, the new residents have found strong school systems and many attractive housing opportunities.
Some of the more newly-arrived Arab Americans complained that their new social environment wasn’t like their neighborhoods in Dearborn, namely close-knit communities where everyone spoke Arabic and shared the same cultural values. In Florida, communities were much more diverse, with people from all parts of the Middle East and Latin America. Once settled in Florida, some families, having the best of both worlds, continue to maintain homes in the metro Detroit region, sometimes because of work commitments there.
Most Arab Americans from Michigan who now hail from the Sunshine State readily talk about their occasional return visits to Michigan, invariably complaining about the frigid winters. A number of freezing days in the Wolverine State are enough to send them scurrying back to the warmth of the Sunshine State.
Trends in Americans heading South during the Covid-19 pandemic
Arab Americans migrating to Florida and other southern states are part of a trend occurring across the country. Florida is now home to the fourth-largest Arab population, over 300,000 strong. California, Michigan, New York, and still outmatch Florida in their numbers of Arab Americans, but Florida is experiencing quite rapid growth on that count. It is approximately in the middle range of the 10 states most heavily populated by Arab Americans, with Illinois, New Jersey, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts trailing Florida.
The following are the top ten states where Arab Americans live. Florida’s number is growing, now putting it in fourth place.
Community Estimates*
- California (817,455)
- Michigan (500,000)
- New York (449,187)
- Florida (301,881)
- Texas (274,701)
- New Jersey (257,868)
- Illinois (256,395)
- Ohio (197,439)
- Massachusetts (195,450)
- Pennsylvania (182,610)
*According to the Arab American Institute (AAI), the Census Bureau reflects a significant undercount. Research suggests that census numbers are significantly lower than the actual number of Arab Americans in the state. According to AAI, reasons for the undercount include the placement and limitations of the ancestry question (as distinct from race and ethnicity); the effect of the sampling methodology on small, unevenly distributed ethnic groups; high levels of out-marriage among the third and fourth generations; and distrust/misunderstanding of government surveys among recent immigrants.
The story of Americans moving South derives from a moving company’s 45th annual National Movers Study of state-to-state moves. Florida is one of the most popular destinations for families on the move. New Jersey is the state with the highest number of moves out. Reasons reported by families for their moves were a new job or job transfer, but recently, during the pandemic, more families cited a choice based on the need to be closer to family.
The moving company survey noted that the desire to be closer to the family is a “pandemic-induced trend.” So, whereas earlier, Arab Americans had seemed to move to Florida based heavily on job opportunities, the general statistics suggest that being closer to the family is now the driving motivation. The survey reported that “being closer to family and friends is more internal — more emotionally triggered — and it sees a steady incline as people age, whether it’s due to needing help, the birth of a grandchild, or a desire to live in warmer climes with chill vibes.”
Arab Americans seem to be no exception to this trend.
References:
• “Increasing number of Detroit metro Arabs relocating to Florida,” The Arab American News, 10/15/2015
• “45th annual National Movers Study,” United Van Lines, 2021
John Mason, PhD., who focuses on Arab culture, society, and history, is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017. He has taught at the University of Libya, Benghazi, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo; John served with the United Nations in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID, Department of State, and the World Bank in 65 countries.
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