Best PlacesMiami-Dade County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Miami-Dade County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Miami-Dade County ranks 1,930th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 11 minutes away. Its strengths are transit and walkability. The cost shows up in car insurance costs, an overheated housing market, and summer heat.
The best neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Miami-Dade County
The parts of Miami-Dade County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Key Biscayne
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and more households have young kids.
Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay & South Miami
Local pay stretches further, though streets are more car-dependent.
Fountainebleau, Westchester & Coral Gables
Commutes are shorter, though heat risk is higher.
Tamiami, University Park & Doral
Fewer homes sit empty and schools score higher.
Miami
Biking is better, though it is noisier.
Homestead, The Hammocks & Kendall
Transit reaches fewer jobs.
North Miami, Miami Gardens & North Miami Beach
Crime runs higher and health outcomes score lower.
Hialeah, Country Club & Hialeah Gardens
Prices have run up less.
Miami-Dade County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Miami-Dade County's strengths and weaknesses
Miami-Dade County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Transit is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Walkability and state infrastructure follow.
The one real hole is car insurance costs, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and summer heat also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Miami-Dade County to another than it does between Miami-Dade County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Miami-Dade County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 98% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of counties
Where Miami-Dade County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Miami-Dade County
A household needs to earn about $136,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Miami-Dade County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $83,860, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Miami-Dade County's effective rate of 0.79%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Miami-Dade County.
Who works in Miami-Dade County, and how
Work in Miami-Dade County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 11 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Miami-Dade County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Miami-Dade County growing, and who is moving in?
Miami-Dade County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Miami, FL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Miami-Dade County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Miami-Dade County, month by month
Miami-Dade County sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 79, with lows near 60. The comfortable stretch runs December through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 79° | 69° | 60° |
| April | 86° | 78° | 70° |
| July | 92° | 85° | 78° |
| October | 88° | 81° | 75° |
Flying in and out of Miami-Dade County
Miami International sits about 2 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 26.2 million passengers in 2025, with 233 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Miami-Dade County
Schools across Miami-Dade County average a B, better than 75% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- True North Classical AcademyA+ · 89% proficient
- True North Classical Academy At DadelandA+ · 88% proficient
- Somerset Academy Elementary School South Miami CampusA+ · 87% proficient
Top middle schools
- Doral Academy Of TechnologyA+ · 98% proficient
- George Washington Carver Middle SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Somerset Academy Charter Middle School South Miami CampusA+ · 83% proficient
Top high schools
- Terra Environmental Research InstituteA+ · 92% proficient
- Doral Performing Arts & Entertainment AcademyA+ · 88% proficient
- Mast AcademyA+ · 87% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Miami-Dade County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Miami-Dade County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Miami-Dade County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Miami-Dade County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Miami-Dade County
Is Miami-Dade County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Miami-Dade County ranks 1,930th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and state infrastructure, and lowest on car insurance costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Miami-Dade County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $521,130. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $83,860 median income, cost of living beats 26% of counties.
Is Miami-Dade County safe?
Miami-Dade County is safer than 11% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $366 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Miami-Dade County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 79 with lows near 60. That works out to about 84 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Key Biscayne, Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay & South Miami, and Fountainebleau, Westchester & Coral Gables. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Miami-Dade County good for families?
Schools beat 75% of counties, crime safety beats 11%, and childcare runs $844 a month.
Is Miami-Dade County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 26% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Miami-Dade County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Miami-Dade County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Miami-Dade County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Miami-Dade County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Miami-Dade County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Miami-Dade County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Miami-Dade County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Miami-Dade County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Miami-Dade County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.