Demographics
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Main article: Demographics of Miami
Further information: Cuban migration to Miami
Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
19001,681—19105,471225.5%192029,571440.5%1930110,637274.1%1940172,17255.6%1950249,27644.8%1960291,68817.0%1970334,85914.8%1980346,8653.6%1990358,6483.4%2000362,4701.1%2010399,45710.2%2020442,24110.7%2025 (est.)489,81210.8%U.S. Decennial Census
1900–1970 1980 19902000 2010 2020 2024
Miami is the largest city in South Florida, the second-largest city in Florida, and is the anchor of the largest metropolitan area in Florida: the Miami metropolitan area, which has over 6 million residents. Despite Miami being home to less than a fourteenth (1/14) of the population of the metro area, it is an outlier compared to its neighbors, being over twice the size of the next-largest city in the metro: Hialeah. Miami has approximately a sixth of the population of its own county, Miami-Dade, which is the state's largest.
Miami had rapid growth in the first half of the twentieth century. Its population grew from 1,681 in the 1900 census to 249,276 in the 1950 census. This made it Florida's largest city, a title it retained until the Jacksonville Consolidation, when the city of Jacksonville absorbed most of Duval County, nearly tripling its population. Since then, Miami has retained its spot as Florida's second-largest city.
Throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, Miami experienced a certain amount of stagnation in its population, with expansion slowing during the 1950s and 1960s before nearly halting in the next three decades as suburbanization occurred. Miami grew by 34.3% in the 1950s and 1960s as its population reached 334,859 at the 1970 census. In the next three decades, it only grew 8.2%. By the time of the 2000 census, Miami's population stood at 362,470.
In the 2000s and 2010s, spurred by high-rise construction in Downtown Miami, Edgewater, and Brickell, Miami's population began to grow quickly once more. An estimate by the American Community Survey found that the downtown population, from Brickell north to Midtown Miami, grew nearly 40% between 2010 and 2018. From 2000 to 2010, Miami's population grew by 10.2% and reached 399,457 in 2010. In the early 2010s, Miami's population crossed a milestone of 400,000 people. In the 2020 census, it had grown by a further 10.7%, up to a population of 442,241.
Historical racial composition
2020
2010
2000
1990
1980
White (Non-Hispanic)
14.0%
11.9%
11.8%
12.2%
19.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)
70.2%
70.0%
65.8%
62.5%
55.9%
Black or African American (Non-Hispanic)
11.9%
16.3%
19.9%
24.6%
23.7%
Asian (Non-Hispanic)
1.3%
0.9%
0.6%
0.5%
1.0%
Native American (Non-Hispanic)
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
Some other race (Non-Hispanic)
0.6%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
Two or more races (Non-Hispanic)
2.0%
0.7%
1.7%
N/A
N/A
Population
442,241
399,457
362,470
358,548
346,865
Racial compositionbefore 1980
1970
1960
1950
1940
1930
1920
1910
White (including Hispanic)
76.6%
77.4%
83.7%
78.5%
77.3%
68.5%
58.7%
Black or African American (including Hispanic)
22.7%
22.4%
16.2%
21.4%
22.7%
31.3%
41.3%
Asian (including Hispanic)
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
< 0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
Some other race (including Hispanic)
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
< 0.1%
N/A
N/A
N/A
Hispanic or Latino
45.3%
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Non-Hispanic White
32.9%
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Population
334,859
291,688
249,276
172,172
110,637
29,571
5,471
In 1970, the Census Bureau reported Miami's population as 45.3% Hispanic, 32.9% non-Hispanic White, and 22.7% Black. Miami's explosive population growth has been driven by internal migration from other parts of the country, up until the 1960s. From 1970 to 2000, population growth in Miami was stagnant, as non-Hispanic White Miamians left and significant immigration from Latin America, particularly Cuba, made up the balance. Miami's Hispanic majority solidified itself in this period of time, and in 1985, Miami elected its first Cuban-born mayor, Xavier Suarez.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 population estimates, Miami-dade county continues to experience steady growth, driven largely by domestic migration and ongoing international immigration. The county's population in 2024 reflects its status as one of the most diverse metropolitan regions in the United States, with large Hispanic, Caribbean, and Latin American communities contributing to its demographic profile (U.S Census Bureau, 2024)
The non-Hispanic Black population of the city of Miami peaked in 1990 at almost 90,000, making up nearly a quarter of the population of Miami. Since then, Miami's non-Hispanic Black population has experienced a precipitous and steady decline. In the 2020 census, it was 52,447, only 11.7% of the population. Reasons for this include high costs in areas such as Liberty City and Little Haiti, compounded with gentrification.
The non-Hispanic White population began to rebound in the twenty-first century, as the monolithically Hispanic areas in the Western and Central parts of Miami experienced population stagnation. This caused them to begin to be outweighed by migration into the Downtown region, from Latin America and the rest of the United States. This caused the non-Hispanic White population to rise from a nadir of 11.8% at the time of the 2000 census to 11.9% at the time of the 2010 census. After this, the non-Hispanic White population grew significantly faster than Miami as a whole did during the 2010s. In the 2020 census, non-Hispanic Whites were 14.0% of the population of Miami and numbered 61,829, the highest number since the 1980s. The non-Hispanic White population of Miami surpassed the non-Hispanic Black population of Miami in the 2010s.
Demographic characteristics
2020
2010
2000
1990
1980
Households
212,146
183,994
148,388
130,252
134,046
Persons per household
2.08
2.17
2.44
2.69
2.59
Sex Ratio
97.8
99.2
98.9
93.5
88.0
Ages 0–17
16.5%
18.4%
21.7%
23.0%
21.4%
Ages 18–64
69.0%
65.6%
61.3%
60.4%
61.6%
Ages 65 +
14.5%
16.0%
17.0%
16.6%
17.0%
Median age
39.7
38.8
37.7
35.9
38.2
Population
442,241
399,457
362,470
358,548
346,865
Economic indicators
2017–21 American Community Survey
Miami
Miami-Dade County
Florida
Median income
$31,472
$32,513
$34,367
Median household income
$47,860
$57,815
$61,777
Poverty Rate
20.9%
15.7%
13.1%
High school diploma
79.2%
82.5%
89.0%
Bachelor's degree
33.1%
31.7%
31.5%
Advanced degree
13.2%
11.9%
11.7%
Language spoken at home
2015
2010
2000
1990
1980
English
23.0%
22.6%
24.7%
26.7%
36.0%
Spanish or Spanish Creole
70.0%
69.9%
66.6%
64.0%
57.5%
French or Haitian Creole
4.5%
4.9%
6.0%
7.7%
2.6%
Other Languages
2.5%
2.6%
2.7%
1.6%
3.9%
Nativity
2015
2010
2000
1990
1980
% population native-born
42.0%
41.9%
40.5%
40.3%
46.3%
... born in the United States
39.3%
39.3%
37.9%
37.3%
43.4%
... born in Puerto Rico or Island Areas
1.8%
1.7%
1.9%
2.2%
2.9%
... born to American parents abroad
0.9%
0.9%
0.6%
0.7%
% population foreign-born
58.0%
58.1%
59.5%
59.7%
53.7%
... born in Cuba
27.6%
27.5%
30.3%
32.1%
35.9%
... born in Nicaragua
5.4%
5.7%
7.2%
7.3%
N/A
... born in Honduras
5.0%
5.4%
4.5%
1.9%
N/A
... born in Haiti
2.8%
3.2%
3.9%
5.0%
N/A
... born in Colombia
2.8%
2.4%
1.9%
1.2%
N/A
... born in Venezuela
1.8%
1.4%
0.6%
0.4%
N/A
... born in the Dominican Republic
1.7%
1.9%
2.0%
1.2%
0.6%
... born in Peru
1.1%
1.0%
0.9%
0.6%
N/A
... born in Argentina
1.0%
1.1%
0.6%
0.2%
N/A
... born in Mexico
0.9%
1.1%
0.6%
0.4%
0.1%
... born in other countries
7.9%
7.4%
7.0%
9.4%
17.1%
In 2010, 34.4% of city residents were of Cuban origin, 15.8% had a Central American background (7.2% Nicaraguan, 5.8% Honduran, 1.2% Salvadoran, and 1.0% Guatemalan), 8.7% were of South American descent (3.2% Colombian, 1.4% Venezuelan, 1.2% Peruvian, 1.2% Argentine, 1.0% Chilean and 0.7% Ecuadorian), 4.0% had other Hispanic or Latino origins (0.5% Spaniard), 3.2% descended from Puerto Ricans, 2.4% were Dominican, and 1.5% had Mexican ancestry.
In 2010, 5.6% of city residents were West Indian or Afro-Caribbean American origin (4.4% Haitian, 0.4% Jamaican, 0.4% Bahamian, 0.1% British West Indian, and 0.1% Trinidadian and Tobagonian, 0.1% Other or Unspecified West Indian), 3.0% were Black Hispanics, and 0.4% were Subsaharan African origin.
In 2010, those of (non-Hispanic white) European ancestry were 11.9% of Miami's population. Of the city's total population, 1.7% were German, 1.6% Italian, 1.4% Irish, 1.0% English, 0.8% French, 0.6% Russian, and 0.5% were Polish.
In 2010, those of Asian ancestry were 1.0% of Miami's population. Of the city's total population, 0.3% were Indian/Indo-Caribbean (1,206 people), 0.3% Chinese/Chinese Caribbean (1,804 people), 0.2% Filipino (647 people), 0.1% were other Asian (433 people), 0.1% Japanese (245 people), 0.1% Korean (213 people), and 0.0% were Vietnamese (125 people).
In 2010, 1.9% of the population considered themselves to be of only American ancestry (regardless of race or ethnicity), while 0.5% were of Arab ancestry, in 2010.
Religion in the Miami Metro Area (2014)
Protestantism (39.0%)
Catholicism (27.0%)
Mormonism (0.50%)
Eastern Orthodoxy (0.50%)
Jehovah's Witnesses (1.00%)
Other Christian (1.00%)
No religion (21.0%)
Judaism (9.00%)
Other religion (1.00%)
Cathedral of Saint Mary, the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami.
In a 2014 Pew Research Center study, Christianity was the most-practiced religion in Miami (68%), with 39% professing attendance at a variety of churches that could be considered Protestant, and 27% professing Catholicism. Followed by Judaism (9%); Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and a variety of other religions have smaller followings; atheism or no self-identifying organized religious affiliation was practiced by 21%.
There has been a Norwegian Seamen's church in Miami since the early 1980s. In November 2011, Crown Princess of Norway Mette-Marit opened a new building for the church. The church was built as a center for the 10,000 Scandinavians that live in Florida. Around 4,000 of them are Norwegian. The church is also an important place for the 150 Norwegians that work at Walt Disney World in Central Florida.
In a 2022 Point-In-Time Homeless Count, there were 3,440 homeless people in Miami-Dade County, 970 of which were on the streets. In the city limits of Miami, there were 591 unsheltered homeless people on the streets, up from 555 in 2021.
According to National Immigration Forum, the top countries of origin for Miami's immigrants are Latin America (86%): Cuba (741,666), Haiti (213,000), Colombia (166,338), Jamaica (144,445); Europe (6.1%): United Kingdom (23,334), Germany (15,611), Italy (14,240) and Asia (5.2%): India (23,602), China (21,580) and the Philippines (15,078).
