Miami Facts:
Population approximately 490,000 (6,138,000 Metro)

Mayor of the city of Miami: Eileen Higgins

Mayor of Miami Dade County: Daniella Levine Cava 

Miami: 56.07 square miles

Miami Dade: 1,946 square miles
Miami Metropolitan Area: 6,137 square miles
 

The GDP for the Miami metropolitan area (Miami-FTL-WPB) was approximately $533.67 billion in 2023,

and the GDP for Miami-Dade County was around $260.65 billion in 2024.
 

Economy in Miami:

There are many major Events in the city anually like Miami Fashion Week, Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, Art Basel the world's largest art exhibition, Food and Wine Festival, Miami Open Tennis Tournament, Ultra Music Festival, many art exhibitions and concerts, just to name a few.
 

Miami is a very wealthy city. According to the Henley & Partners "2025 World's Wealthiest Cities Report" we had a 94% increase in Miami's millionaire population since 2014, with the city also boasting 756 centi-millionaires ($100M+) and 17 billionaires. 
 

Here's a breakdown of the data: 

Millionaires (USD 1M+): 38,800

Centi-millionaires (USD 100M+): 756

Billionaires (USD 1B+): 17

On top of the list most likely:
Jeff Bezos: With an estimated net worth of $206 billion or more, the Amazon founder is considered the richest person in Florida and calls Miami home. 
Ken Griffin: The founder of the large hedge fund Citadel

Thomas Peterffy, a pioneer in electronic trading. 
Jeffrey Soffer, a major Miami real estate developer. 
Micky Arison, chairman of Carnival Corporation and owner of the Miami Heat. 
 

The city has the largest concentration of international banks in the USA

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The Architecture from 1920-1950 is called Art Deco, and from 1950-1960 MIMO (Miami Modern).
 

A major construction boom started in 2000, and from 2001 until 2007 over 50 skyscrapers with over 400 ft (122 m) were built.

Miami skyline is the third most impressive in the U.S., after NY and Chicago.

There are about 400 Highrise buildings in Miami with about 100 buildings with over 400 ft.!
 

In 2007, the housing market collapsed and there were many foreclosures of homes, but today the housing market is again very strong, prices are very high.
 

The Trent of urbanization started in 2000 produced unparalleled population growth downtown, with Downtown, Brickell, Edgewater and Wynwood as the fastest growing areas.
 

Miami is Home to the National Hurricane Center and headquarters of the United States Southern Command, which is responsible for military operations in Central and South America.
 

The city was Bankrupt in 2001 but then revived and resurrected itself as one of the best Cities in the US.

In 2008 Miami was voted the cleanest city in America (air, green areas, water, recycling, cleanliness) and in 2009 as per a UBS study of the 73 cities in the world the richest city in the USA and the 5th richest city in the world in terms of purchasing power.
 

It is an Important trade, finance, and economic center of the USA, Latin and South America.

Miami has one of the largest cargo ports in the USA and the Airport, the "Gateway to South America", is one of the largest in the USA.

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Major companies in Miami:
Bacardi, Benihana, Burger King, CompUSA, Espírito Santo Financial Group, Holland & Knight, Lennar, Navarro Discount Pharmacies, Perry Ellis Int., Ryder Systems, Sedano, Telefónica USA,

Miami is also Latin American headquarter of more than 1400 multinational corporations.
AIG, American Airlines, Cisco, Disney, Exxon, FedEx, Kraft Foods,
Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle, Sony, Visa International, and Wal-Mart to name a few.

 

Miami is an important TV production center and special very important for Spanish TV.
Approximately 85% of the original programming for telenovelas and talk shows for Telemundo, Univision and Tele Futura are filmed in the city.
 

But not only TV production is very important in the city, it is also a Center of the  US Film Industry.
Many famous movies were produced  here as for example Scarface  (Al Pacino), Miami Vice  (Don Johnson, Philip Michael   Thomas) , Bad Boys I and II (Martin Lawrence, Will Smith) , Casino   Royale (Daniel Craig), True Lies (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie   Lee Curtis), Wild Things (Matt Dillon, Bill Murray), Thunderball   (Sean Connery), Body Guard (Whitney Houston, Kevin Coster), and Ace Ventura-Pet Detective (Jim Carrey).
 

The city is also a large music center. Sony Music Latin, Universal Music Latin Entertainment and many other smaller music labels call Miami their home.
 

A major economic engine of Miami is off course Tourism and finance, business, beaches, cruises, congresses, festivals and other events attract more than 28 million visitors annually (2024).  
mportant events in Miami are the Miami Open Tennis Tournament, Art Basel the World's Largest Art Exhibition, Winter Music Conference, South Beach Wine & Food Festival, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami, and Miami Beach Fashion Week.
These events have a $31 billion economic impact in the economy of Miami.

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There are several Professional Sport Teams in Miami:
Miami Dolphins:
Foot Ball Team NFL in American Football Leage East, est. 1965
play at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens
Miami Marlins:
Baseball Team MLB est. 2012 (1993-2011 Florida Marlins)
Loan Depot Park

Miami Heat:
Basketball Team NBA, est. 1988
Kaseya Center

Inter Miami:
Soccer Team, MLS, est. 2018
Miami Freedom Park

Florida Panthers:
Ice Hockey Team, NHL, est. 1993
Amerant Bank Arena (Miami Metropolitan Area)

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Port of Miami

Port of Miami is Big Ship Ready, with $1 billion in infrastructure upgrades, including the Deep Dredge Project, the Port Tunnel which was completed in 2014.

Every dollar spent to build the 4,200 ft long tunnel was well spent. Before the tunnel was built all heavy traffic, all tractor trailers and container trucks had to go through downtown Miami over the port bridge and it was a traffic and environmental nightmare. Over 7000 vehicles use the tunnel daily.

The cruise ship port is called the "Cruise Capital of the World” and has 10 Terminals. A new terminal, Concourse K is planned to open in 2029.

The Miami Port and the port at Cape Canaveral in Orlando are both in first place as the largest cruise ship ports in the world. Miami welcomed 8,56 MIO and Cape Canaveral 8.6 MIO cruise ship passengers.

Number 3 is Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale with 4.65 MIO and the 4. Largest port is the first outside of Florida, in Barcelona, Spain with 2.9 MIO guests.

Following Cruise ship companies coming to Miami:

• Celebrity Cruise Line

• MSC Cruises

• Norwegian Cruise Lines

• Oceania Cruises

• Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

• Seabourn Cruises

• Virgin Voyages

• Princess Cruises

• Holland America Line

• Regent Seven Seas Cruises

• Christal Cruises)

The port is the second most important economic engine, contributing $61 billion annually to the economy and supporting more than 340,078 jobs.
In 2024 there were 8,564,225 cruise passengers up from 8,233,056 the previous fiscal year, a 4.02% increase and the highest annual passenger count in the seaport's history

The world’s largest Cruise ship, the Icon of the Sea is calling on Miami and can hold 7,600 passengers and over 2000 crew members.

The cargo port, the "Cargo Gateway of the Americas", is one of the largest container ports in the US.

Almost 10 MIO To of freight and 1.2 MIO 20ft containers are transported by over 1,200 Cargo ships yearly.
 

Airports
 

Miami International Airport, also known as MIA, was founded on September 15, 1928, on 3,230 acres of the historically Wilcox Field, and is the primary international airport serving Miami and its surrounding metropolitan area.

MIA is America’s busiest airport for international freight, second busiest for international passengers, and offers more flights to Latin America and the Caribbean than any other U.S. airport. With 55.3 million total Passenger Traffic it is the 10th biggest airport in the US. Over 90 air carriers serve the airport, and an annual business revenue of $181.4 billion is the leading economic engine for Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida. It hosts over 1,000 daily flights to 195 domestic and international destinations, including most countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

MIA and related aviation industries contribute 843,000 direct, indirect and related jobs to the local economy.
 

The additional airports in the Metropolitan Area of Miami are Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), a common alternative often used for lower-cost carriers, located about 25 miles north of Miami, Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), Miami-Opa-locka Executive Airport (OPF), Miami Executive Airport (TMB), and the Miami Homestead General Aviation Airport (X51) located in Homestead

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Venetian Islands

Artificial islands in Biscayne Bay were built from 1920 to 1925 out of materials, sand and rocks taken out by the construction of the new cruise ship port.
 

There are seven islands connected by the Venetian Causeway:
 

1. Biscayne Island (Miami)

2. San Marco Island (Miami)

3. San Marino Island (Miami Beach)

4. The Island of Lido (Miami Beach)

5. Rivo Alto Island (Miami Beach)

6. Belle Isle (Miami Beach)

7. Flagler Memorial Island (Miami Beach)

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Star Island, Palm Island and Hibiscus Island

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Artificial islands and residential neighborhoods with high property values in Biscayne Bay were built from 1920 to 1925 out of materials, sand and rocks taken out by the construction of the new cruise ship port.

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Palm Island:
 

Size  82 acres

329 residents

Median Sale Price: ~$22.9M - $38.5M.​

Price per Square Foot: $3,404

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Former and resent residents include Nick Nolte, Barbara Walters, Sam Coslow, and Bryan "Birdman" Williams, but 
the island's most notorious resident was Al Capone, who bought a summer home there in 1928 for $40,000. He then spent another $200,000 on expansions and refurbishments. After having been released from prison in 1939 he lived there permanently until his death in 1947. The Al Capone home was bought by a property developer for $10.75 million in 2021

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​Hibiscus Island
 

Size 69 acres

394 residents
Average/Median Value:  $6.47M to $16.9M 
Sq Ft: Prices are very high, often exceeding $3,400 per square foot 

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Palm and Hibiscus Island became the site of the Famous Latin Quarter Nightclub in the 1940s and 1950s. Owned by Lou Walters, father of journalist Barbara Walters, the Latin Quarter was a mid-century mecca for big-named entertainers who performed for winter crowds of tourists and celebrities arriving in Miami Beach each December. Entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Tony Bennett all intermingled with waves of high-kicking chorus girls to perform three shows a night at the Latin Quarter.

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Star Island
 

Size 86 acres
98 residents
Average List Price:  $38.5 million to $40.2 million
Price per Square Foot: Can exceed $3,900 to $4,800

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The name Star Island is thought to have originated from the fact that many of the homes on the island were once owned by famous celebrities and high-profile individuals, giving the island a “star-studded” reputation.

According to Bloomberg L.P., it is the most expensive neighborhood in the United States.

In 1994, some scenes from the movie The Specialist with Sylvester Stallone were filmed on Star Island.

Former and actual residents include:

• Sean Combs, rapper and record producer

• Emilio and Gloria Estefan, musicians

• Phillip Frost, entrepreneur and philanthropist

• Edward Howland Robinson Green, businessman and politician

• Enrique Iglesias, musician

• Don Johnson, actor

• Rosie O'Donnell, comedian and actress

• Shaquille O'Neal, former professional basketball player

• Rick Ross, rapper and record executive

• Xuxa, children's television presenter

• Philip Frost the billionaire who made his money in the pharma industry with Viagra

• Vladislav Doronin Russian billionaire and real estate tycoon 

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