With their latest “honor,” Miami residents aren’t sure whether to take a bow or politely decline.
New data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) shows the cost of living in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area has surpassed New York City, by roughly 5%, for the first time on record.
It does not mean every part of Miami is more expensive than every part of New York City. In fact, many neighborhoods in Manhattan still have much higher housing costs than most of South Florida.
Instead, the data shows that when all everyday expenses are averaged across each metropolitan area, the Miami region now has a slightly higher overall cost of living than the New York region.
Despite rising home prices and rents in South Florida, Miami buyers still get more space per dollar ($357/sq. ft. vs. $537/sq. ft. in New York City), but insurance, taxes and upkeep are quickly closing the gap, according to the Robb Report. The data reflects prices from 2024.
According to the Robb Report, Florida homeowners pay the highest insurance premiums in the country — $8,292 a year on average, nearly four times what New Yorkers pay. Property taxes are up 62% since 2019, but a vote looms in November that could significantly reduce taxes on homestead properties in Florida starting in 2027.
The BEA measures the prices that people pay for things like housing, groceries, transportation, health care and other everyday expenses. It combines those costs into a number called a Regional Price Parity, which compares how expensive different parts of the country are to the national average.
The national average is set at 100. For 2024, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach was at 114.2, ahead of New York-Newark-Jersey City at 112.6. The only metro area with a higher score was San Francisco.
To put it in further perspective, a report by SmartAsset says that for a single adult to live comfortably in Miami, one needs to earn more than $108,000 a year. For a family of four, it’s more than $230,000.
Comfortably affording an average two-bedroom apartment in the Miami area requires a salary of roughly $97,000, or about $47 an hour — meaning a minimum-wage worker earning $14 an hour would need to work 134 hours a week to affordably cover a $2,440 monthly rent.
According to Apartments.com, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Miami is $2,853. The average one-bedroom rental in Miami is $2,243, 35% higher than the national average of $1,663.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition study said the most expensive area for Florida renters is in Monroe County (Florida Keys), which costs an hourly wage of $48.15. Miami is the second most expensive at $46.85.
According to a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Florida (as a whole) ranks 10th highest in the nation for what hourly wage renters need to afford a two-bedroom apartment: $37.93.
The SmartAsset report noted that, without paying more than 30% of income on housing (typically the economists’ rule of thumb), “a household must earn $6,575 monthly or $78,905 annually.”
U.S. Census Bureau figures also show that the typical household income in the Miami metro area is approximately $1,000 below the national median. The cost of daily tasks, like dining out, has climbed 4% year-over-year to $94 per person per restaurant bill, compared to New York City’s average of $79 per person per check.