Miami-Dade County, FL

County Profile

2,738,356 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Miami-Dade County, FL.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 26% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 13% of 1,255 counties measured77
Schools708th of 973 counties measured33
GrowthTop 47% of 1,226 counties measured52
Housing affordability1250th of 1,255 counties measured41
ClimateTop 5% of 1,254 counties measured81
Physical resilience1094th of 1,255 counties measured27
AccessTop 19% of 1,255 counties measured94
Economic stability656th of 1,255 counties measured61
The quick read

Miami-Dade County ranks in the top 13% of published profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.5% and median household income of $71,753.

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 31% of median household income and the median home is 6.5 times it.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, cold wave and coastal flooding.

At a glance

Population
2,738,356
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$71,753
Top 33% nationally
Density
1,441/sq mi
1900.0 sq mi of land
Median age
40.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Miami-Dade County
Florida
Metro area
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Nearest major airport
MIA
18 mi · Miami Intl
Median home value
$463,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.5% is lower than 98% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment grew 0.6% over the past year, to 1,396,291 employed residents.

34% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 85% of measured US locations.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$708$71,753Top 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$458$39,469Top 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate14.7%Top 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute33.6 minTop 10%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher34.4%Top 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment1,396,291Top 1%of 1,255July 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.6%Bottom 39%of 1,255July 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.6%Top 21%of 1,255July 2026
Labor force1,431,927Top 1%of 1,255July 2026
Labor force participation64.3%Top 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 23%of 1,255July 2026
Unemployment rate2.5%Bottom 2%of 1,255July 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/072022/042023/012023/102024/072025/042026/012026/075.51.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.5% in July 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202472k58k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $71,753 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons91,370$34,330
General and Operations Managers74,960$105,640
Customer Service Representatives63,440$39,560
Registered Nurses61,670$91,380
Office Clerks, General61,160$44,730
Waiters and Waitresses57,830$36,070

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

50% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 56% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 19.2 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
520
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
19.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
49.8%
Bottom 18% in Florida
Reading proficiency
56.5%
Top 33% in Florida
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGHMIAMI-DADE4,29126.7
CORAL REEF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLMIAMI-DADE3,39925.8
SOUTH DADE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLMIAMI-DADE3,38225.4
MIAMI SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLMIAMI-DADE3,10024.6
HIALEAH GARDENS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLMIAMI-DADE3,00926.4
BARBARA GOLEMAN SENIOR HIGHMIAMI-DADE2,97327.3
CORAL GABLES SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLMIAMI-DADE2,89424.5
MIAMI PALMETTO SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLMIAMI-DADE2,61825.4
SOUTHWEST MIAMI SENIOR HIGHMIAMI-DADE2,59922.6
HOMESTEAD SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLMIAMI-DADE2,32322.1
G. HOLMES BRADDOCK SENIOR HIGHMIAMI-DADE2,29121.2
MIAMI SOUTHRIDGE SENIOR HIGHMIAMI-DADE2,23824.1

48.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Florida’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,829 takes 31% of median household income, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 6.5 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
30.6%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.5×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,829
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$463,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income6.45Top 3%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate52.2%Bottom 2%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2601,094,983Top 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$10$1,829Top 3%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,523$463,000Top 5%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income30.6%Top 1%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate10.9%Bottom 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
52/ 100
Top 47% of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 5% since 2020, reaching 2,838,461 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

75% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 3.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
11K
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.9
Top 39% nationally
Year over year
−14%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
75.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
202020212022202320242838k2670k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
20202021202220232024202514k10k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+43%).

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 57°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 56.1 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 48, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MIAMI KENDALL TAMIAMI EXEC AP, 4.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND8.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index61.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation56.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low57°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10042024 calendar year
Median air quality index48.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing17°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
48
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
61
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

27 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, cold wave and coastal flooding.

HurricaneElevated
Coastal floodingModerate
Cold waveElevated

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, inland flooding, heat wave, tornado, wildfire, hail, strong wind, drought, earthquake, landslide.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Miami-Dade County records 4.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 7.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 7.3 per 100,000 residents in Miami-Dade County.

Homicide
4.6
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
7.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
7.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
8.6
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Miami-Dade County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Miami-Dade County rather than Miami-Dade County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 18 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Miami IntlMIA18 mi13,016 ft
Miami-Opa Locka ExecOPF25 mi8,002 ft
Dade-Collier Training and TransitionTNT30 mi10,499 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
56
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.