The importance to the Florida economy of transferÊpayments, as well as interest, dividends, and rent, is enormous. Transfer payments in Florida are primarily in the form of SocialÊSecurity and federal pensions, but also include unemployment compensation and welfare benefits. Many retirees who settle in Florida supplement their pensions with interest, dividends, and rent. The percentages of personal income in Florida that come from transfer payments and from interest, dividends, and rent remain well ahead of these percentages for the nation. The difference between the state and the nation for transfer payments has been decreasing, but the difference between the state and nation for interest, dividends, and rent has risen over the last decade. People who move to Florida after they retire are generally more affluent than those who remain close to where they worked. Many retirees arrive in Florida with a portfolio of stocks and bonds, as well as savings that draw interest and property that yields rent.
The geographical distribution of counties where transfer payments are most significant is different from the distribution of counties where interest, dividends, and rent figure most prominently. Transfer payments contribute more to personal income in rural counties, particularly those of north Florida and near Lake Okeechobee. In some of these counties retirees with modest incomes from Social Security are numerous; in others the transfer payments mainly support the poor. Interest, dividends, and rent contribute significantly to personal income in counties with large urban populations and in counties where wealthier retirees have settled, such as Sarasota, Collier, Palm Beach, Broward, and Martin. Income from interest, dividends, and rent is of much smaller importance in the personal income of residents in north Florida counties, where there are fewer retirees. Those who do retire in north Florida counties have lower per capita incomes than retirees in the southern coastal counties.
