Florida's black population has become the second-highest in the country. In the last three years, 292,100 blacks have moved to the state.

By DARRAN SIMON AND BRAD BENNETT

Fueled by a surge of Caribbean blacks moving into Broward County, Florida now has the second-highest black population in the nation, behind only New York, according to new Census figures released Thursday.

In 2000, Florida had the fourth-highest black population behind New York, California and Texas. Three years later, it had caught up to and passed California and Texas.

Statewide, in the last three years, 292,100 blacks have moved to Florida.

Broward's black population increased by 70,000 in that time period. In 2000, blacks made up roughly 22.4 percent of the county's 1.6 million residents. Recent estimates show they are now closer to 25 percent of the county's 1.7 million residents. Broward's black population is also catching up with Miami-Dade's. Broward had slightly more than 365,000 black residents in 2000, but now has almost 435,000.

Miami-Dade had about 494,000 blacks in 2000, and now has a little more than 507,000, estimates show.

Some blacks, like actress M'Zuri, say they prefer Broward's slower pace.

After living in France, Italy and New York, M'Zuri itched for Florida's warmth.

The one-name performer bought a Hollywood condo in March, and even had tea Thursday with a neighbor in her complex -- something she never did while living in New York.

''I like Hollywood,'' said M'Zuri, 38. ``I liked the fact that it is not as busy as Miami.''

HISPANICS FLOWING IN

The state's black population swelled to nearly 2.7 million in July 2003, according to Census figures. New York had 3.6 million.

Leading Broward's population growth as a whole are Hispanics, who saw the largest spike -- 28.6 percent from 2000 to 2003, compared to 19.2 percent growth among blacks. The white non-Hispanic population dropped 4.4 percent.

''They are not just attracting Latin Americans and retirees anymore,'' said William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution and the University of Michigan Population Studies Center. ``Now they are attracting all segments of the population, including whites and blacks who normally would have just thought about going to Georgia or the Carolinas.''

Florida's surge is surprising, said Frey, who has been tracking black southern migration since the 1990s.

''I think it has to do with Florida becoming part of the mainstream south,'' he said.

Many blacks who came to the Sunshine State in the last three years are from the Caribbean or of Caribbean descent.

In 2003, according to the American Community Survey, West Indians represented more than 50 percent of Broward's black population.

Leaders, professors and community members agreed Thursday that Caribbean blacks move to Broward because they like the weather, the close proximity to their home countries and the fact that so many people here share the Caribbean culture and customs.

''It's more or less the closest thing to the islands,'' said Louis Prescott, 39, of Lauderhill, who moved from Trinidad to Lauderhill, where his parents live.

He has visited New York and Atlanta and found himself back in Florida.

Prescott met his wife, a St. Lucia native, in Lauderhill and the couple married in August.

''Florida has been good to me,'' he said.

Broward's black population is expected to continue to grow for the next three decades, said Stefan Rayer, a demographer with the Bureau of Economics & Business Research at the University of Florida.

The bureau projects the county's black population will climb to more than 750,000 by 2030, he said.

BACK TO DIXIE

Florida's economy, job opportunities and quality of life are attractive, along with a desire among Baby Boomers and younger blacks to return to the South, Frey said.

But Broward is not exactly a black mecca, said Don Bowen, president of the Urban League of Broward County.

''I don't know that we qualify it as a mecca yet. I guess everything is relative to where you come from. You look at some of the living conditions in the Caribbean and this may be perceived as a step up,'' Bowen said.

``But I think when I compare black folks here to some other areas that may be considered urban, I think we still have a ways to go.''

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

For James Amps, 42, moving to Florida has been a boon for his business. Amps moved from Clinton, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C., to Pembroke Pines in 2001 after his wife, Mary Ann, was relocated to the U.S. State Department office in Miami.

Amps International, a workforce-training, publishing, editing and technology company, has grown.

''It was a chance for us to come out of our zone of comfort,'' Amps said.

``In order to have growth, we have to be challenged and that challenge was to do something different.''

Herald Database Editor Tim Henderson contributed to this report.