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 in sixth place on the national ranking.
The National Rent Report for September by Zumper published on Tuesday by WLRN highlights that, despite prices in Miami decreasing, the city remains well above the national median of $1,518 for a room.
The online rental platform analyzed over a million active listings across the country and found that two-bedroom apartments in Miami have a median price of $3,230, reflecting a 3% decrease since August and a 3.9% drop 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, although from very high levels.
For newly arrived Cubans renting in Miami and Hialeah, the decrease offers limited relief: under the 30% rule —the standard set by the U.S. Department of Housing— paying $2,500 in monthly rent requires a gross income of at least $100,000 per year.
This 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 the minimum wage in Florida —which increased to $15 per hour since the end of September— amounts to about $31,200 gross per year when working full time.
In other words, someone earning the minimum wage in Florida would dedicate more than 96% of their income to paying for a one-bedroom apartment in Miami.
For families seeking more affordable options in South Florida, Fort Lauderdale, located in Broward County, emerges as a significant alternative: its median rent for a one-bedroom is $1,850—26% lower than Miami—and it ranks 19th nationally.
Additionally, Fort Lauderdale recorded the largest year-on-year drop among the markets analyzed in South Florida: a decrease of 6.1% compared to September 2025, compared to a 1.6% decline in Miami.
At the national level, New York tops the ranking with $4,580 for a room, followed by San Francisco with $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 the supply: the markets that continue to absorb the construction boom are competing aggressively for tenants, while those that avoided it are tightening rapidly."
In Miami-Dade, the downward trend has lasted for more than 37 consecutive months and is primarily due to the addition of about 18,400 new apartment units between 2024 and mid-2026, marking the largest expansion in two years since the 1980s.
However, tenants may face new pressures on the horizon: if the Florida Amendment 3 is approved 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 annually per housing unit, costs that landlords could gradually pass on to tenants.
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