After trying out Atlanta, Miami and Pasadena, Calif., Lilian Junco decided this was the place to retire. Being near her son was the first attraction, but soon she was drawn in by the same combination of features that has lured tens of thousands of others from out of state -- Gulf Coast living, plus super-low costs.

With some of the country's cheapest prices for housing, gas and food, no state income tax and one of the most resilient economies in the nation, Galveston and other parts of the Lone Star state are emerging as the new Florida.

FORT LAUDERDALE — Cruise up coastal highway A1A. Take in the sea breeze, the sand and surf shimmering in the sun, the palm trees swaying beside luxury high-rise hotels, shops and cafes. The idyllic image helps explain why millions have come to Florida to play, and millions have come back to stay.

Lillian Vickers doesn’t have to think very long about why she left Florida.

“Three hurricanes in 15 months. It got to be too much,” said Vickers, who relocated to Dothan from Okeechobee, Fla., in October 2006.

How she and her husband — and the family dog — came here, of all places, had to do with proximity. Vickers has family in Tallahassee and a niece in Enterprise, and because her husband is retired military, they liked being close to Fort Rucker.

The Florida Price Level Index (FPLI), established by the Legislature as the basis for the District Cost Differential (DCD) in the Florida Education Finance Program, is used to represent the costs of hiring equally qualified personnel across school districts.

This report presents and discusses the 2005 editions of the Florida County Retail Price Index (FCRPI) and the Florida County Wage Index (FCWI), produced by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) at the University of Florida.

Established by the Legislature as the basis for the District Cost Differential (DCD) in the Florida Education Finance Program, the Florida Price Level Index (FPLI) is used to represent the costs of hiring equally qualified personnel across school districts.

Established by the Legislature as the basis for the District Cost Differential (DCD) in the Florida Education Finance Program, the Florida Price Level Index (FPLI) is used to represent the costs of hiring equally qualified personnel across school districts.

The Florida Price Level Index (FPLI) was established by the Legislature as the basis for the District Cost Differential (DCD) in the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP). In this role, the FPLI is used to represent the costs of hiring equally qualified personnel across school districts.

This report presents and discusses the 2004 Florida County Retail Price Index, the FCRPI, and the 2004 Florida County Wage Index, the FCWI, produced by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, BEBR, at the University of Florida.

This report presents and discusses the 2006 editions of the Florida County Retail Price Index (FCRPI) and the Florida County Wage Index (FCWI), produced by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) at the University of Florida. In the narrowest sense, the FCRPI measures the relative expenditure required to purchase the same basket of goods and services purchased by the average Floridian in each of Florida’s counties at a particular point in time, in this case August 2006.