The TAMPA BAY metro area posted the biggest net domestic inward migration among Florida’s 21 large metro areas over the 5-year period from April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015, based on population change data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
A total of 117,000 people from other US states moved to the Tampa Bay metro area over this 5-year period. This accounted for 19.7% or nearly one-fifth of all people who moved to Florida’s 21 large metro areas. The next metro areas with the biggest number of domestic inward migrants were the Orlando and Sarasota metro areas.
If international inward migrants are considered, the Miami metro area topped all other metro areas, with 338,296 people moving to Miami over this 5-year period. Overwhelmingly, foreigners trooped to Miami, accounting for 99.2% of total migration to Miami from 2010 to 2015.
| Rank | Metro Area | Net Migration | Net Domestic | Net International |
| Migration | Migration | |||
| 1 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | 338,296 | 2,659 | 335,637 |
| 2 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | 189,354 | 102,882 | 86,472 |
| 3 | TAMPA-St. Petersburg-Clearwater | 176,744 | 117,000 | 59,744 |
| 4 | North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton | 77,820 | 67,161 | 10,659 |
| 5 | Jacksonville | 70,439 | 48,452 | 21,987 |
| 6 | Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach | 42,799 | 36,143 | 6,656 |
| 7 | Lakeland-Winter Haven | 40,367 | 25,388 | 14,979 |
| 8 | Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island | 34,572 | 23,756 | 10,816 |
| 9 | Port St. Lucie | 32,613 | 27,329 | 5,284 |
| 10 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville | 30,354 | 24,205 | 6,149 |
| 11 | The Villages | 30,145 | 29,931 | 214 |
| 12 | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent | 21,708 | 15,577 | 6,131 |
| 13 | Punta Gorda | 19,957 | 18,535 | 1,422 |
| 14 | Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin | 19,163 | 15,630 | 3,533 |
| 15 | Ocala | 17,207 | 14,528 | 2,679 |
| 16 | Sebastian-Vero Beach | 12,758 | 11,331 | 1,427 |
| 17 | Panama City | 9,738 | 7,958 | 1,780 |
| 18 | Gainesville | 6,813 | -509 | 7,322 |
| 19 | Homosassa Springs | 6,775 | 6,341 | 434 |
| 20 | Sebring | 3,525 | 2,393 | 1,132 |
| 21 | Tallahassee | 1,216 | -3,057 | 4,273 |
| FLORIDA | 594,806 |
Among the 21 metro areas, the capital metro area, Tallahassee, and Gainesville, had a negative domestic inward migration. It was the foreigners that made up for the bigger number of residents who left Tallahassee and Gainesville for other metro areas or other US states.