New York, Florida Would Be Top States for Puerto Rican Migration

(Bloomberg) -- New York and Florida are the likeliest destinations for any Puerto Ricans choosing to migrate after hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the U.S. territory and idled much of the labor force. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts round out the top five potential destinations, based on existing family ties.

Bloomberg estimated each state’s potential influx by examining the current distribution of population with Puerto Rican heritage and the archipelago’s working-age demographics. For example, should half a million people leave the island for the mainland, New York may see an inflow of 100,000 Puerto Ricans, of which 82,000 are expected to be working age.

Using New York’s 63 percent labor-force participation rate for Hispanics as a guide, nearly 52,000 Puerto Ricans will be actively looking for work in the Empire State.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net, Wei Lu in New York at wlu30@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Marco Babic at mbabic@bloomberg.net, Vince Golle