Want to live and work in Miami?

The cost of living in Miami runs above the national average, with housing as the standout. Rents in Brickell, Downtown, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, and the beach areas have doubled in just a few years. Buying property is expensive, and residential insurance has risen sharply due to hurricane risk.

There is no state income tax in Florida, which benefits higher earners. Sales tax in Miami-Dade is around seven percent. Summer electricity bills and gasoline are significant expenses, and private school tuition strains many family budgets.

Supermarkets such as Publix, Winn-Dixie, Walmart, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods cover everyday needs. For ethnic and specialty products, lower prices can be found at stores like Sedano's, Presidente Supermarket, and Latin American markets in Pompano and Aventura.

Miami is the gateway for business with Latin America. Banks such as Citi, JP Morgan, Santander, and Bradesco maintain local operations. Hedge funds and venture capital arrived in force after 2020, drawn by the tax environment and climate. Companies like Citadel, Blackstone, and Microsoft expanded their presence.

Tourism is enormous: hotels, restaurants, cruises (Port of Miami is the world's busiest), and events such as Art Basel, Ultra Music Festival, and Formula 1 drive the economy. Spanish-language media is strong, with Univision and Telemundo headquarters here. Healthcare concentrates employment at Jackson Health, Baptist Health, and University of Miami Health.

The tech ecosystem has grown rapidly, though it remains smaller than New York or San Francisco. Salaries in finance and tech are high, but general positions in tourism, retail, and services pay below other major cities relative to the cost of living.

Jackson Health System is the main public hospital, with a trauma center and large emergency department. Baptist Health South Florida is the largest private network in the region, with hospitals throughout the suburbs. UHealth (Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute) is a world reference in oncology and ophthalmology.

International patients and immigrants often turn to Mount Sinai (Miami Beach), Cleveland Clinic Florida (Weston), and clinics in Aventura, with services available in Spanish and Portuguese. Many physicians regularly treat private international patients, particularly from throughout Latin America.

ACA marketplace plans, Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance are widely accepted. Out-of-pocket healthcare costs are high. CVS, Walgreens, and Navarro pharmacies are found throughout the city. Telemedicine is widely used.

Most residents depend on a car. Traffic on I-95, US-1, the Palmetto (SR 826), and the Dolphin (SR 836) is heavy during peak hours. Parking in Brickell, Downtown, and South Beach is expensive. Rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft work reliably.

The Metrorail is an elevated rail line connecting Downtown to Dadeland (south) and the airport, useful for certain commutes. The Metromover (free) circulates through Downtown and Brickell. Tri-Rail connects Miami to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Brightline (private, faster, and more expensive) reached Orlando in 2023.

Airports: Miami International (MIA) is the main hub, with flights worldwide, particularly to Latin America and Europe. Fort Lauderdale (FLL) serves budget carriers. The Port of Miami is the world's busiest cruise port.

Art Basel Miami Beach, in December, turns the city into the global center of the art world for a week. Museums such as Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Frost Science, and the Bass Museum operate year-round. Wynwood concentrates galleries and graffiti murals.

Sports: the Miami Heat (NBA) plays at Kaseya Center, Inter Miami (MLS) at Chase Stadium, the Miami Dolphins (NFL) and Miami Marlins (MLB) at Hard Rock Stadium and LoanDepot Park. Formula 1 races in Miami Gardens. Boxing and MMA scenes are also strong.

Nightlife has worldwide recognition: South Beach, Wynwood, Brickell, and Downtown. Restaurants range from fine dining (Carbone, Joia Beach) to Cuban classics (Versailles), Peruvian (CVI.CHE 105), Argentine, and Latin American. Festivals like Calle Ocho, Ultra Music Festival, and iHeartRadio animate the city throughout the year.

Miami is, demographically, an outlier in the United States. Just over half of the population was born abroad, and Spanish is the primary or secondary language spoken at home by the majority of residents. Cubans form the largest historical group, with a long-established presence in Little Havana, Hialeah, Westchester, and Sweetwater. From the 1980s and 1990s onward, large waves of Nicaraguans, Hondurans, Colombians, Salvadorans, and Peruvians arrived. The 2010s brought a massive influx of Venezuelans to Doral and Weston, and the 2020s expanded the flow of Argentines, recent Cuban arrivals, and Haitians.

The city also holds the largest Haitian community in the United States, with Little Haiti, North Miami, and Miami Gardens as cultural and religious centers. Latin American communities from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, and Puerto Rico complete the regional map. There are also notable presences from the Middle East (Lebanese, Syrian, Israeli), Eastern Europe (Russian, Ukrainian), Asia (Filipino, Indian, Chinese), and the Anglophone Caribbean (Jamaican, Bahamian, Trinidadian). Brickell and Sunny Isles have seen a recent concentration of higher-income residents from Russia, Argentina, and Turkey.

Legal and social support for immigrants in Miami is among the most developed in the country. Americans for Immigrant Justice serves any nationality in asylum, deportation, and family reunification cases. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami maintains offices across several counties with immigration counseling, ESL, and humanitarian assistance. Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center and Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami are key resources for the Haitian community. Florida Immigrant Coalition coordinates statewide advocacy. The consular network is the broadest in the southeastern United States: virtually every country in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Western Europe maintains a consulate general or career consulate in Miami, simplifying passport renewal, birth records, document authentication, and powers of attorney without requiring travel to another city.