Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Miami Beach's standout: few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. Overall it grades B−, ranked 172nd of 634 in Florida. It has 18 miles of trail. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $531K, 6.9 years of the Miami metro’s $77K median household income. Miami Beach’s violent crime rate is 10.7 per 1,000 residents, where Florida’s towns sit at 2.8 and U.S. towns at 1.9. Miami Beach has 13 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Miami Beach Architectural District and Lincoln Road Mall. Of the 105 Florida towns we compare, none has a higher property crime rate than Miami Beach.
Where Miami Beach beats most towns.
Census counts: 644 in 1920, 82,890 in 2020. The archive holds 16 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 2 maps from 1956 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Miami Beach is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 1%), so the B− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Miami Beach. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaHard Rock Stadium
Big draw4 mi Stadium & arenaNu Stadium
Big draw3 mi Stadium & arenaKaseya Center
5 mi Stadium & arenaLoanDepot Park
6 mi MuseumVizcaya Museum and Gardens
22 mi National ParkEverglades National Park778K visitors a yearHard Rock Stadium: elisfkc2, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Nu Stadium: Cuban Boy, CC0 · Kaseya Center: jjron, GFDL 1.2 · LoanDepot Park: Roberto Coquis, CC BY 2.0 · Vizcaya Museum and Gardens: Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Everglades National Park: Everglades NPS from Homestead, Florida, United States, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Miami Beach, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 17, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Miami Beach.
Miami Beach draws workers from Miami and beyond and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Florida.
Miami Beach’s trail density is 1.2 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is North Beach Oceanside Park, at 51 acres.
| Miami Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.1% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lummus Park | 2 mi | 40 |
| 2. Bayshore Park | 1.3 mi | 20 |
| 3. Flamingo Park | 1.1 mi | 33 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Miami-Dade school district. Two of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Beach Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 905 | A |
| Miami Beach Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,134 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
51,543 jobs are based in Miami Beach, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 23.9% of workers work from home, against 15.7% across Florida.
About one in 4 of Miami Beach’s working residents works in town. 24% of Miami Beach workers work from home. Since 2013, Miami Beach has added 3,421 jobs, to 51,543 in 2023.
| Miami Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 24% | 5% | 8% |
| Work from home | 24% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 6.9 years of the Miami metro’s $77K median household income, the typical home (about $531K) costs more against local pay than in 82% of Florida towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $5,048, against $2,730 across Florida, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
41% of households own their home in Miami Beach. The typical Miami Beach home is worth about $531,000, up 1.8% in a year, 41% above the Florida typical home. The median rent in Miami Beach is $1,826 a month.
| Miami Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 41% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,826 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 61% | 59% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Miami Beach beats the Florida average on 14 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Miami Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 23% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 35% |
| What stands out | Miami Beach | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with COPD | 5.2% | 7.2% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 20.9% | 26.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 18.2% | 15.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1,335 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 138 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 73% of U.S. communities. Since 1986, 1,335 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Miami Beach.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 61.3°, milder than in 100% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 89.3°.
Only 8 of the 638 Florida towns we compare have a higher January low than Miami Beach. Miami Beach has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Miami Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 61°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 89°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Miami Beach's reported crime rate is well above Florida's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 849 violent crimes were reported in 2022.
FBI crime data, 2022 · crimes reported to police
22 within 15 miles of the center of Miami Beach
About 5 of every 100 Miami Beach residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
Coastal flooding makes up 37% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
21.2% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, so the town is fuller in summer than its census count suggests.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
13 places in Miami Beach on the National Register of Historic Places.
51 notable people were born in Miami Beach.
City in Florida, United States
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is a principal city in the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which separates the Beach from the mainland city of Miami. The neighborhood of South Beach, comprising the southernmost 2.5 mi2 (6.5 km2) of Miami Beach, along with downtown Miami and the PortMiami, collectively form South Florida's commercial center. Miami Beach's population was 82,890 at the 2020 census. It has been one of America's preeminent beach resorts since the early 20th century. In 1979, Miami Beach's Art Deco…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Miami Beach.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Beach | #172 | B− | D− | — | B+ | B+ |
| Fisher Island | — | — | D− | — | B+ | A− |
| Miami | #493 | C− | D− | D | B+ | C+ |
| North Bay Village | #94 | B | D− | B− | B+ | A |
Fisher Island has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Miami Beach and Fisher Island report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Miami Beach with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Miami Beach grades B− overall, better than 49% of U.S. towns and #172 of 634 in Florida. It grades B+ for health and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
51 notable people were born here, including Laila Ali and Brett Ratner.
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