US Census: Lee County is second-fastest-growing county in Florida

Southwest Florida, especially Lee County, is growing fast.

U.S. Census data shows Lee County is the second-fastest-growing county in the state.

Water, warmth and the way of life are drawing more people to the area.

“We moved down in the end of July, so not even a year,” said Matt Travnik, of North Fort Myers.

Travnik moved from Erie, Pennsylvania, known for its massive snowfalls and bitter temperatures.

“We don’t have snow down here so this is beautiful,” Travnik said.

Between April 2020, when the pandemic shut down the nation, and July of 2021, more than 27,000 people relocated to Lee County.

That is 1,800 new neighbors every month.

“2021 will go down in the record book as the greatest market of all time,” said Denny Grimes, a real estate expert of 40 years.

To Grimes, the population explosion makes a lot of sense.

“Florida’s doors have been open, we haven’t been as restricted, we’ve got kind of more a little bit more conservative values. And that is a draw, people like that freedom,” Grimes said.

Jae Ma moved to Florida from California.

“Coming from where we were, prices are more reasonable. Like there’s places that we’ve seen here that would be probably like double as far as land,” Ma said.