Why Miami-Dade's population is declining

As the quality of life in Miami-Dade declines, the city is losing its allure—and its residents.

Factors such as a higher cost of living, increased rent prices, and low salaries are contributing to a diminishing population.

According to recent numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the IRS tax returns, Miami-Dade has been experiencing a net decrease since 2020.

The wave of newcomers that relocated to the city during the pandemic was greatly overshadowed by that of those departing in a trend not seen since the Great Recession of 2008.

From 2020 to 2022, Miami-Dade's population dropped by 1%, with over 100,000 residents moving out in 2021, which is surprising given the stream of newcomers to the South of Florida.

Although surrounding counties, like Broward and Palm Beach, have witnessed increases of 0.14% and 1.76%, respectively, Miami-Dade's reputation of being a costly county difficult to get around in has people moving out.

"Miami-Dade has always had population movement," Dr. Maria Ilcheva, Assistant Director of Planning and Operations of the Jorge M. Pérez Metropolitan Center at FIU, says, "it's seeing an influx of residents from the North and West with much higher incomes who're able to buy properties and create businesses, making it unaffordable for many of the locals to live here at the wage levels they're currently being paid at their jobs."

Last month, it was revealed that rent prices in Miami-Dade had reached a new high, despite a staggering drop in home sales due to higher interest rates.

This means that locals are packing their bags and moving elsewhere—many of them to surrounding counties like Broward and Palm Beach.

"The state of Florida is increasing in population," Ilcheva says, "but the counties that are growing are not in South Florida."

Currently, the fastest-growing county is Lee County, along with a great number of Tampa Bay counties.

"These areas have a similar climate, similar political systems, the same state government, etc. but they also present job opportunities which, combined with the lower cost of housing, provide for a better quality of life," Ilcheva explains, "as it allows people to keep most of their income— to have more disposable income."

These population losses are also due to the decrease in immigration from Latin America.

"One of the major reasons why Miami-Dade's population was growing was the fact that we're a gateway to the Americas," says Icheva, "people were coming here from Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regions across the world, and they're not coming in the same numbers anymore."