Miami Economy: Jobs, Pay and the Industries Behind Them

The Miami economy section has four deeper guides, on major employers, PortMiami, Miami International Airport and downtown redevelopment, and this hub answers the overall questions about jobs, pay and growth in Miami-Dade County.

The BLS payroll figures on this page are published for Miami-Dade County (QCEW area 12086) and for the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall division, not for the City of Miami alone. Miami International Airport is operated by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MIA About Us), and the PortMiami terminal tariff is issued under Miami-Dade County authority (PortMiami). Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the BLS 2025 county employment and wages file, the BLS Economy at a Glance page for the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall division, the PortMiami and MIA About pages, and the Miami DDA data page.

Employers in Miami-Dade County reported an annual average of 1,276,535 jobs covered by unemployment insurance in 2025, at 122,558 establishments, with an average annual pay of $81,818.

Those figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages for county 12086 (BLS QCEW 2025 annual file, Miami-Dade). The same file shows the county added 18,966 jobs over 2024, a 1.5 percent increase, and puts the average weekly wage at $1,573.

Private employers account for 1,138,710 of the Miami-Dade jobs, with average pay of $81,367. Government payrolls are split three ways: local government reported 94,604 jobs at $85,263; the federal government 21,373; and the State of Florida 21,848 (QCEW ownership rows).

The QCEW measures payroll jobs at Miami-Dade workplaces, which is a different question from what City of Miami residents earn; the Miami demographics hub covers household income for residents.

Trade, transportation and utilities is the largest private industry group in Miami-Dade County, with 311,740 jobs in 2025, followed by education and health services with 218,517 and professional and business services with 190,986.

Pay varies widely by industry in Miami-Dade (BLS QCEW 2025, Miami-Dade). Financial activities pays an average of $158,600 a year and the finance and insurance sector alone $213,240 across 54,648 jobs, while leisure and hospitality, the fourth largest group, averages $50,355. Accommodation and food services by itself counts 132,250 jobs at $43,441.

Within trade and transportation, the Miami-Dade file lists 141,088 retail jobs, 72,446 wholesale jobs and 95,301 transportation and warehousing jobs. Health care and social assistance is the single largest sector, with 179,291 jobs at an average of $72,743.

Miami-area payrolls edged up in mid-2026: the BLS counted 1,349,400 nonfarm jobs in the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall division in August 2026, a preliminary figure 0.5 percent above a year earlier, with unemployment at 2.7 percent.

The monthly series shows professional and business services up 2.5 percent and education and health services up 2.0 percent over the year to August 2026, while financial activities fell 5.0 percent and information 1.8 percent (BLS Economy at a Glance, Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall).

The August unemployment rate of 2.7 percent was preliminary and not seasonally adjusted, so summer readings swing month to month; the same Miami series ran from 2.5 percent in July to 3.1 percent in April 2026. Government jobs in the series dropped from 144,000 in May to 134,500 in June and 134,300 in July, then stood at 143,800 in August.

The 2025 QCEW county file and the 2026 monthly division series are separate BLS products and their totals differ: the annual file counted 1,276,535 covered Miami-Dade jobs, while the monthly nonfarm estimate runs higher at 1,349,400 (QCEW).

Both publish their own economic impact estimates: PortMiami claims 340,078 supported jobs and MIA nearly 946,000 related jobs.

The PortMiami home page says the port contributes $61 billion a year and supports 340,078 jobs, and reports 8,564,225 cruise passengers and 1,115,058 cargo TEUs (PortMiami, Miami-Dade County). A Business Information block on the same Miami-Dade page gives $42 billion with more than 340,000 jobs, and calls the port the second largest economic engine in the county, while the About block says it is among the county's largest; the page states both figures without reconciling them.

Miami International Airport, operated by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, puts the annual economic impact of MIA and the county general aviation airports at $212 billion and says MIA and related industries contribute nearly 946,000 direct, indirect, induced and related jobs (MIA About Us). The airport says it is primarily funded through airport-generated revenues such as airline fees, concessions, parking and bonds backed by those revenues, and receives no direct funding from local taxpayer dollars.

The port describes its jobs as supported across Florida (PortMiami About) and the airport counts indirect, induced and related jobs, so neither total is a count of the 1,276,535 jobs on Miami-Dade payrolls. The PortMiami and Miami International Airport economy guides set each claim beside the BLS payroll count for its industry.

The Miami Downtown Development Authority says Downtown Miami has 155,000 jobs, after 25 percent job growth from 2012 to 2023, and more than 101,000 residents.

The DDA also reports a downtown median household income of $119,000, which it describes as more than 1.5 times that of city and county households, and lists more than 30 construction projects, more than 8,100 hotel rooms and more than 200 residential buildings in Greater Downtown Miami (Miami DDA data and demographics). These are the DDA's own figures, and the page ties its resident profile to its 2025 Demographics Report; they are not federal statistics.

The downtown redevelopment guide covers the DDA, the Omni and Overtown redevelopment areas and the 2050 plan.

Inside city limits, the City of Miami Department of Economic Innovation and Development is the office charged with attracting and keeping businesses, supporting entrepreneurs and building the local workforce.

The department, headed by Keith A. Carswell, lists three core goals on its City of Miami page: smart city and sustainability projects, support for businesses through resources, incentives and infrastructure, and workforce development (City of Miami Economic Innovation and Development). Its contact route is the general city line, 311 or 305-468-5900, and the city offices at Miami Riverside Center, 444 SW 2nd Ave.

The same City of Miami site menu lists business licensing services inside the city: a Guide to Opening a Business in the City of Miami, a Certificate of Use and a Business Tax Receipt, plus a Small Business Clinic (City of Miami business services). These are City of Miami services; Miami Beach and Coral Gables are separate municipalities on the county list (Miami-Dade municipalities). Downtown businesses can also look at the Miami DDA business grants and permit clinic listed on the DDA site (Miami DDA).