Miami is now more expensive than NYC

Trading the Big Apple for Miami has become as financially prudent as packing a Kobe beef lunch at home instead of getting a burrito bowl at work. The Miami metropolitan area has become pricier to live in than greater New York for the first time ever, according to Bloomberg’s analysis this week of government data from 2024.Costs have climbed further since then, squeezing longtime locals and the scores of recent transplants lured not just by warmer weather, but also by the promise of cheaper living and no state income tax. Consumer prices have risen 36% for Miamians since 2019, which is more than in any other US metro area except Tampa, Florida.No more cheap condosThe recent influx of sunshine chasers—made up of folks earning an average of $122k per year—has contributed to Miami’s home prices rising 79% since the pandemic, per the S&P Case-Shiller index.While Miami’s per-square-foot home prices are still lower than New York’s, the average total cost of housing is now 5% higher than in the tri-state area, which includes parts of Connecticut and New Jersey:Greater Miami’s property taxes have skyrocketed 62% since 2019, per real estate data firm Attom.Many residents in older apartments now have to pay for costly safety upgrades that have become more frequent after the deadly Surfside condo collapse in 2021—on top of the steepest homeowners’ insurance rates in the country.Outside the home, there aren’t many dollar slices. An average restaurant check in Miami was $94 last year, compared with $79 in New York, according to OpenTable. To add insult to injury: Miami workers are earning $1,000 less per year than the median American. Bloomberg noted that Miami’s white-collar wages are also lower than New York’s. Not struggling to afford Miami…are the billionaires who continue to relocate there in a trend vocally championed by Citadel founder Ken Griffin, who bought a $107 million estate in the city this year. Mark Zuckerberg and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have also recently become Miami-area residents.—SK