Miami-Dade has seen its first population drop over a multiyear period in decades with more than 79,000 people leaving due to soaring house prices.
The county lost 79,535 people through net migration to other parts of Florida or different states between 2020 and 2022, according to data analyzed by nonprofit public policy organization Brookings Institution.
Soaring housing costs and a volatile jobs market which has struggled to recover from the impact of the pandemic are said to be two factors driving people away.
The population in Miami-Dade County shrank between 2019 and 2022, the first fall over several years since 1970, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
The rest of Florida, however, saw an influx of more people between 2021 and 2022 than any other state.
Miami-Dade has seen its first population drop over a multiyear period in decades with more than 79,000 people leaving due to soaring housing prices
The county lost 79,535 people through net migration to other parts of Florida or different states between 2020 and 2022, according to data analyzed by nonprofit public policy organization Brookings Institution
Soaring housing costs and a volatile jobs market which has struggled to recover from the impact of the pandemic are said to be two factors driving people away
There has been a sharp 53 percent increase in housing prices in Miami since June 2020, data from real estate company Zillow revealed.
This is the second most out of the top 50 metropolitan housing markets, below Tampa.
The population in the county is declining due to a shortage of affordable housing but it has still seen the median asking rent rise by 27 percent since 2019, according to real estate information company CoStar.
The most popular destinations for those leaving Miami are Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Orlando and Jacksonville, a recent LinkedIn study found.
These cities offer warm weather, low taxes and much cheaper housing.
From the outside, Miami looks to be thriving with property developments scattered across the city, offices with a lower vacancy rate than other major US cities and an unemployment rate which is significantly lower than the national average.
New businesses are being created at an incredible pace, but Miami could suffer the same fate as San Francisco and New York City with working and middle-class locals forced to find a more affordable place to live.
This is because increases in high-paying jobs further raises the cost of living in the city.
Miami-Dade County has lost a bigger share of its total population over two years than Baltimore and Wayne County, Michigan which includes Detroit.
Maria Ilcheva, census information center chief at Florida International University’s Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center, told the Wall Street Journal: ‘It’s the middle class, it’s our talent base.
‘It’s our college graduates moving out for better opportunities elsewhere.’
It comes after an estimated 674,740 Americans moved out of states like California and New York to Florida after the pandemic to take advantage of the lower cost of living.
Those living in San Francisco and New York City would have saved thousands of dollars by moving to Miami.
Real-estate broker Jose Perez feels he was priced out of Miami where he was born and raised.
He said half of his clients left when prices began to skyrocket as they were living paycheck to paycheck on their incomes of between $70,000 and $150,000.
Perez decided to move out and sold his Miami home for $800,000 before buying a similar one further central in Ocala for $297,000.
‘Here you see you can get so much more bang for your buck,’ he said.
The population in Miami-Dade County shrank between 2019 and 2022 and it is the first fall over several years since 1970, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
There has been a sharp 53 percent rise in house prices in Miami since June 2020, data from real estate company Zillow revealed
Around 61 percent of renters in Miami are spending 30 percent or more of household income on housing, according to a Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University report
His insurance savings came to $5,460 a year and his property taxes fell to under $2,000 from $7,000.
‘The people who built this city cannot afford to live in their own homes that they spent their entire lives in,’ local resident Billy Corben said.
‘Once those people are gone, then what is Miami? What is left of this place?’
Before the pandemic, Miami was already amongst the least affordable metropolitan areas and prices increased further.
The area recorded its annual consumer-price inflation in June as 6.9 percent, which is more than double the national inflation.
A total of 61 percent of renters in Miami are spending 30 percent or more of household income on housing, according to a Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University report released this year.
Miami’s mayor Francis Suarez declared a housing crisis last year and introduced affordable housing initiatives and programs
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that will encourage developers to produce affordable housing and grow a work force to help solve the issue
New businesses are being drawn to the county with 127,895 business applications made in 2022. Tech and finance companies, however, are frequently open small or satellite offices for few employees.
The limited public transportation infrastructure combined with the packed roads make it difficult to convince firms to open large offices.
The number of hours lost to traffic in Miami increased by 59 percent between 2021 and 2022.
Ilcheva said: ‘We need to be a city that, below the skyline, can provide a good quality of living.
Foreign immigration into Miami in 2022 increased and helped make up for the mass American exodus, but the population of Miami-Dade County still fell by 21,664 from 2020 to 2022.
Miami’s mayor Francis Suarez declared a housing crisis last year and introduced affordable housing initiatives and programs.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that will encourage developers to produce affordable housing and grow a work force to help solve the issue.