FL · Miami-Dade County · 442,241 (2020) · 44th-largest US city · Eastern time
Miami, Florida
Miami lies on Biscayne Bay at the southeast tip of the Florida peninsula, between the Everglades and the Atlantic. The city itself is modest in size — 44th in the United States — but it anchors the largest metropolitan area in the Southeast.
- State
- Florida
- County
- Miami-Dade County
- Population (2020)
- 442,241
- Rank
- 44th in the US
- Coordinates
- 25.76°N, 80.19°W
- Time zone
- Eastern
- Metro area
- about 6.1 million
- State capital
- No – Tallahassee
Where Miami is
Miami is at 25.76°N, 80.19°W in Miami-Dade County, of which it is the county seat. It is the southernmost large city on the US mainland; only Key West and Honolulu are further south. The city proper covers just 36 square miles of land on the coastal ridge between Biscayne Bay and the Everglades, at an average elevation of about 6 feet — the lowest of the 50 largest cities. Miami Beach, on the barrier island across the bay, is a separate municipality, as are Hialeah, Coral Gables and most of the urban area. Tallahassee, the state capital, is 480 miles northwest, further than Atlanta is from Charlotte; Jacksonville is 345 miles north.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 442,241 residents, ranking Miami 44th in the US and second in Florida after Jacksonville (whose consolidated boundaries inflate the comparison). Miami grew about 11 percent between 2010 and 2020. The Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach metropolitan area — Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, a strip 110 miles long and rarely more than 20 wide — has about 6.1 million people, the ninth-largest metro in the US and by far the largest in Florida. Only about 7 percent of that population lives inside the city of Miami. Miami-Dade County alone has about 2.7 million, the most populous county in the Southeast.
Geography
- Biscayne Bay — a shallow lagoon between the mainland and the barrier islands; the Port of Miami sits on Dodge Island inside it, and Biscayne National Park protects the southern bay.
- Miami River — a 5-mile channel from the Everglades to the bay through downtown, once a natural river and now a working waterway.
- Everglades — the sawgrass wetland begins at the western edge of the urban area, held back by levees; Everglades National Park is 40 miles southwest. See the national parks map.
- Atlantic and Gulf Stream — the warm current runs a few miles offshore, giving Miami a tropical climate; the ocean beaches are on the barrier islands. See US coastlines.
Nearest large cities
Miami is at the end of the peninsula, so every large city is a long drive; Tampa and Orlando, not on this list, are each about four hours. Distances are approximate road miles from downtown.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville | FL | 345 | N |
| Atlanta | GA | 660 | NW |
| New Orleans | LA | 860 | NW |
| Charlotte | NC | 725 | N |
| Nashville | TN | 905 | NW |
Is Miami the state capital?
No. Florida's capital is Tallahassee, 480 miles away at the other end of the state in the Panhandle; the distance is often cited in proposals, never adopted, to move the capital to Orlando. Miami did not exist as a city until 1896, seven decades after Tallahassee was chosen. It is the seat of Miami-Dade County. Both cities are on Eastern time; only the western Panhandle is on Central.
Related maps
- Florida map — the state with its 67 counties.
- Tallahassee — the state capital, 480 miles away.
- US cities map.
- US coastlines, Gulf of Mexico and national parks maps.
- Nearby: Jacksonville, Atlanta.
- South Atlantic division · Eastern Time Zone.