Miami remains one of the most expensive cities in the country for renting a home: a one-bedroom apartment has a median rent of 2,500 dollars per month, placing it sixth in the national ranking.
The National Rent Report for September by Zumper published on Tuesday by WLRN indicates that, although prices in Miami are falling, the city still remains well above the national median of $1,518 for a room.
The online rental platform analyzed over one million active listings across the country and found that two-bedroom apartments in Miami have a median of $3,230, marking a 3% decrease compared to August and a 3.9% decline year-over-year.
Miami was one of only two markets in the top 10—along with Washington D.C.—that recorded annual declines in both types of apartments, a sign that the market is cooling, albeit from very high levels.
For newly arrived Cubans renting in Miami and Hialeah, the decrease offers limited relief: under the 30% rule—the benchmark set by the U.S. Department of Housing—paying $2,500 in monthly rent requires a gross income of at least $100,000 annually.
That figure contrasts with the reality of most workers in the area: the average individual income in Miami-Dade is around $39,000 per year, and Florida's minimum wage —which rose to $15 per hour since the end of September— amounts to about $31,200 gross annually for full-time work.
In other words, someone earning the minimum wage in Florida would allocate over 96% of their income to pay for a room in Miami.
For families seeking more affordable options in South Florida, Fort Lauderdale, in Broward County, emerges as a relevant alternative: its median for a one-bedroom is $1,850—26% less than Miami—and it ranks 19th nationally.
Additionally, Fort Lauderdale recorded the largest year-over-year decline among the markets analyzed in South Florida: a decrease of 6.1% compared to September 2025, compared to a 1.6% drop in Miami.
At the national level, New York tops the ranking with $4,580 for a room, followed by San Francisco at $4,400.
The CEO of Zumper, Shawn Mullahy, explained the divergence between markets with a structural reading: "At this moment, there is not a single rental market in the U.S. The common denominator is supply: markets that continue to absorb the construction boom are competing aggressively for tenants, while those that avoided it are quickly becoming strained."
In Miami-Dade, the downward trend has lasted for more than 37 consecutive months and is mainly due to the addition of approximately 18,400 new apartment units between 2024 and mid-2026, the largest expansion in two years since the 1980s.
However, tenants may face new pressures on the horizon: if the Florida Amendment 3 passes on November 3, a study warns that it could increase the tax burden on rental properties by 14.1% by 2028, with an average increase of $1,081 per year per home, costs that landlords may gradually pass on to tenants.
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