Number of undocumented immigrants in Florida

1. The short answer: a federal demographer’s figure — ~590,000 in 2023

Department of Homeland Security–based counting and recent demographic summaries report that in 2023 an estimated 590,000 immigrants without legal status lived in Florida; that number is cited in both an academic/press analysis and in reporting by local outlets summarizing DHS estimates ^{[1] [2]}. This DHS-aligned figure is widely used by demographers because it applies administrative records and American Community Survey data together to isolate people lacking lawful status ^[1].

2. Why estimates diverge: definitions, methods, and "who counts"

Different organizations do not measure the same population: some count only people lacking any legal status, while others include visa overstays, holders of temporary protections (TPS, parole, DACA), household members living with someone undocumented, or adjust for ACS undercounts in different ways — choices that push estimates in different directions ^{[6] [3]}. For example, FWD.us reports that about 2.8 million Floridians either are undocumented or live with an undocumented person — a household-level, augmented ACS approach that intentionally captures household exposure rather than a headcount of undocumented individuals ^[3]. Academic and health-policy articles have reported alternate single-number estimates such as ~772,000 based on older or alternative adjustments ^[4].

3. Recent trend context: Florida’s undocumented population has not grown uniformly

Demographers who examined DHS and Census data note that Florida’s undocumented population is large but that net illegal entries to Florida have not mirrored the growth seen in some other states; DHS counts and ACS-based estimates indicate growth in Florida’s immigrant population overall but a mixed pattern for the unauthorized segment since 2018 ^{[1] [2]}. National estimates also shifted in recent years — for example, Pew and related reporting place the national unauthorized population in the 10–14 million range depending on year and method — and state shares vary as those national totals are apportioned ^{[7] [8]}.

4. Plausible ranges and why a journalist names multiple numbers

Given methodological variation across DHS-aligned demography (≈590,000), academic or clinical literature citing somewhat larger older estimates (≈772,000), and advocacy-group augmented household metrics (household exposure ~2.8 million), a defensible reporting range for Florida’s undocumented individuals in recent public materials runs roughly from a few hundred thousand to over a million depending on definition and year ^{[1] [4] [3]}. Some news reports and later analyses have even cited higher figures — for instance, reporting connected to newer Pew national totals implies larger state tallies in later years — underscoring that single-year snapshots and differing inclusions drive variation ^{[5] [7]}.

5. What matters for policy and public conversation

Which number is used matters: policy debates about enforcement, service access, labor markets, and public health hinge on whether counts include only undocumented individuals or also household members, TPS/parole holders, and overstays — differences that change the perceived scale and composition of the population ^{[6] [3]}. Reporting that blends household exposure or advocates’ augmented estimates with DHS counts without clear labeling can mislead readers about the actual headcount of people living in the state without legal status; readers and decision‑makers should therefore track the underlying definition and data source when numbers are invoked ^{[3] [1]}.