As of 2022, Miami-Dade County has agross domestic product of $184.5 billion, making the county's GDP the largest for any county in the State of Florida and the14th-largest for the nation's 3,033 counties.[10][11] The county is home to thePort of Miami onBiscayne Bay, the world's largest passenger port with a world record 5.5 million passengers in 2018, andMiami International Airport, the third largest U.S. airport for international passengers and largest U.S. airport for international cargo. The county's land area of nearly 2,000 square miles (5,200 km2) exceeds that of two U.S. states,Delaware andRhode Island.[12] The county is home to several universities and colleges, includingFlorida International University, one of the largest public universities in the country, and theUniversity of Miami inCoral Gables, aprivateresearch university that is routinely ranked as one of the nation's top universities and is the county's second-largest employer with nearly 17,000 employees as of 2021.[13][14]
Miami-Dade County is heavilyHispanic and is the most populousmajority-Hispanic county in the nation as of 2020. It is home to 34incorporated cities and manyunincorporated areas.[15] The northern, central and eastern portions of the county are heavilyurbanized with manyhigh-rise buildings along the coastline, including Miami'sCentral Business District indowntown Miami. Southern Miami-Dade County includes theRedland andHomestead areas, which make up the agricultural economy of the county. Agricultural Redland makes up roughly one third of Miami-Dade County's inhabited land area, and is sparsely populated, a stark contrast to the densely populated, urban portions of the county's northern sections.
The earliest evidence ofNative American settlement in theMiami region is from approximately 12,000 years ago.[18] The first inhabitants settled on the banks of theMiami River, with the main villages on the northern banks.
The inhabitants at the time of first European contact were theTequesta people, who controlled much of southeastern Florida, including present-day Miami-Dade County,Broward County, and the southern part ofPalm Beach County. The Tequesta Indians fished, hunted, and gathered the fruit and roots of plants for food, but did engage in agriculture. They buried the small bones of the deceased with the rest of the body, and put the larger bones in a box for the village people to see. The Tequesta are credited with making theMiami Circle.[19]
Juan Ponce de León was the first European to visit the area in 1513 by sailing intoBiscayne Bay. His journal records he reachedChequescha, a variant ofTequesta, which was Miami's first recorded name.[20] It is unknown whether he came ashore or made contact with the natives.Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and his men made the first recorded landing when they visited theTequesta settlement in 1566 while looking for Avilés' missing son, shipwrecked a year earlier.[21] Spanish soldiers led by Father Francisco Villarreal built a Jesuit mission at the mouth of the Miami River a year later but it was short-lived. After the Spaniards left, the Tequesta Indians were left to fend themselves from European-introduced diseases likesmallpox. By 1711, the Tequesta sent a couple of local chiefs toHavana, Cuba, to ask if they could migrate there. The Cubans sent two ships to help them, but Spanish illnesses struck and most of the Tequesta died.[22]
The first permanent European settlers arrived in the early 19th century. People came from theBahamas to South Florida and theKeys to hunt for treasure from the ships that ran aground on the treacherous GreatFlorida Reef. Some accepted Spanish land offers along the Miami River. At about the same time, theSeminole Indians arrived, along with a group of runaway slaves. The area was affected by theSecond Seminole War, during which MajorWilliam S. Harney led several raids against the Indians. Most non-Indian residents were soldiers stationed atFort Dallas. It was the most devastating Indian war in American history, causing almost a total loss of population in Miami.
After the Second Seminole War ended in 1842, William English re-established a plantation started by his uncle on the Miami River. He charted the "Village of Miami" on the south bank of the Miami River and sold several plots of land. In 1844, Miami became the county seat, and six years later a census reported there were ninety-six residents in the area.[23] TheThird Seminole War was not as destructive as the second, but it slowed the settlement of southeast Florida. At the end of the war, a few of the soldiers stayed.
Dade County was created on February 4, 1836, under the Territorial Act of the United States. The county was named after MajorFrancis L. Dade, a soldier killed in 1835 in theSecond Seminole War, at what has since been named theDade Battlefield.[24]
Originally, the county was set to be named "Pinckney County", afterThomas Pinckney, a statesman and diplomat fromSouth Carolina who drafted theTreaty of San Lorenzo. The county's credited father, Richard Fitzpatrick, preferred this name as he was from South Carolina himself; however, when news reached Tallahassee of theDade Massacre, the Territorial Legislative Council inserted Dade's name instead into a pending bill to create the new county.[25]
At the time of its creation, Dade County included the land that now containsPalm Beach andBroward counties, together with theFlorida Keys fromBahia Honda Key north and the land of present-day Miami-Dade County. The county seat was originally atIndian Key in the Florida Keys; then in 1844, the County seat was moved toMiami. The Florida Keys fromKey Largo to Bahia Honda were returned toMonroe County in 1866. In 1888 the county seat was moved to Juno, near present-dayJuno Beach, Florida, returning to Miami in 1899. In 1909, Palm Beach County was formed from the northern portion of what was Dade County, and then in 1915, Palm Beach County and Dade County contributed nearly equal portions of land to create what is now Broward County. There have been no significant boundary changes to the county since 1915.[26][27][28]
The third-costliestnatural disaster to occur in the United States wasHurricane Andrew, which hit Miami in the early morning of Monday, August 24, 1992. It struck the southern part of the county from due east, south of Miami and very nearHomestead,Kendall, andCutler Ridge, which was later renamedCutler Bay. Damages exceeded US$25billion in the county, and recovery took years in these areas where the destruction was greatest. Hurricane Andrew was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history untilHurricane Katrina struck the Gulf region in 2005.
Miami-Dade County has previously attempted to change its name 5 times between 1958 and 1990, with voters rejecting each proposal. Below are the results of the previous elections to change the county's name:[29]
Attempts to change the name of Miami-Dade County
Proposed name
Year
Yes
No
Miami County
1958
31%
69%
County of Miami
1963
34%
66%
Miami–Dade County
1976
34%
66%
Miami–Dade County
1984
27%
73%
Metropolitan Miami–Dade County
1990
13%
87%
On November 13, 1997, voters changed the name of the county from "Dade County" to "Miami-Dade County" to acknowledge the international name recognition ofMiami.[30][31] Voters were acting pursuant tohome rule powers granted to Dade County, including the ability to change the name of the county without the consent of theFlorida Legislature.[32] With the name change, Miami-Dade County became the only county in the United States whose name was hyphenated.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 2,431 square miles (6,300 km2), of which 1,898 square miles (4,920 km2) is land and 533 square miles (1,380 km2) (21.9%) is water.[34] It is the third-largest county in Florida by land area and second-largest by total area. Most of the water is in theBiscayne Bay, with another significant portion in the adjacentAtlantic Ocean.
Miami-Dade County is only about 6 feet (1.8 m)above sea level. It is rather new geologically and is at the eastern edge of theFlorida Platform, acarbonate plateau created millions of years ago. Eastern Dade is composed ofOolitelimestone while western Dade is composed mostly ofBryozoa.[35] Miami-Dade is among the last areas of Florida to be created and populated with fauna and flora, mostly in thePleistocene.
The bay is divided from the Atlantic Ocean by many barrier islands along the coast. The city ofMiami Beach, home to theSouth Beach neighborhood and itsArt Deco district, is built on these barrier islands. The archipelago of theFlorida Keys, which extends in an arc to the south-southwest, is only accessible through Miami-Dade County, although most of the Keys are part of neighboringMonroe County. Miami is 68 miles (109 km) fromWest Palm Beach, and 30 miles (48 km) fromFort Lauderdale.
Miami-Dade County, Florida – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
There were 867,352 households, out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% were married couples living together, 18.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were non-families. 23.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.4% (2.5% male and 5.9% female) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.33.[80][81]
The age distribution is 21.9% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.[81]
The median income for a household in the county was $43,605, and the median income for a family was $50,065. Males had a median income of $35,096 versus $29,980 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $22,957. About 13.8% of families and 17.2% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 22.0% of those under age 18 and 22.1% of those aged 65 or over.[82]
In 2010, 51.1% of the county's population wasforeign born, with 48.7% beingnaturalized American citizens. Of foreign-born residents, 93.0% were born in Latin America, 3.2% were born in Europe, 2.7% born in Asia, 0.5% born in Africa, 0.5% in North America, and 0.1% were born in Oceania.[83]
As of 2010, 28.1% of the population spoke onlyEnglish at home, while 63.8% of the population spokeSpanish, 4.2% spokeFrench Creole (mainlyHaitian Creole), 0.6%French, and 0.6%Portuguese.[86] About 52% of the countyresidents were born outside the United States, while 71.9% of the population spoke a language other than English at home.[86]
In 2010 statistics, the largest religious group in Miami-Dade County was theArchdiocese of Miami with 544,449 Catholics in 65 parishes, followed by 96,749non-denominational adherents with 197 congregations, 80,123SBC Baptists with 313 congregations, 47,921NBC Baptists with 44 congregations, 27,901Seventh-day Adventists in 62 congregations, 25,244AoG Pentecostals with 45 congregations, 14,628LDS Mormons with 18 congregations, 12,569TEC Episcopalians with 30 congregations, and 11,880UMC Methodists with 32 congregations. There is an estimated 23,064Muslims with 15 congregations, 3,069Hindus with 7 congregations, and 1,342Buddhist with 17 congregations.[87]
In 2005 the Jewish population of the county has decreased but stabilized at about 121,000 with a high percentage of retired and elderly persons (but less than in Broward and Palm Beach counties). There are more than 60 congregations, 34Jewish educational institutions, and three Jewish community centers. The highest percentage and increase in Jewish population is in North Dade, especially in Aventura. Miami-Dade County hosts Florida's third largest Jewish population and the nation's tenth largest.[87]
Altogether, 39.8% of the population was claimed as members by religious congregations, although members of historically African-American denominations were underrepresented due to incomplete information.[88] In 2014, Miami-Dade County had 731 religious organizations, the 14th most out of all US counties.[89]
Miami-Dade County has operated under a metropolitan system of government, a "two-tierfederation", since 1957. This was made possible when Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1956 that allowed the people of Dade County (as it was known) to enact ahome rulecharter. Prior to this year, home rule did not exist in Florida, and all counties were limited to the same set of powers by theFlorida Constitution andstate law.
Unlike aconsolidated city-county, where the city and county governments merge into a single entity, these two entities are separate. Instead there are two "tiers", or levels, of government: city and county. There are 34municipalities in the county, the City ofMiami being the largest.
Cities are the "lower tier" of local government, providing police and fire protection, zoning and code enforcement, and other typical city services within their jurisdiction. These services are paid for by city taxes. The county is the "upper tier", and it provides services of a metropolitan nature, such as emergency management, airport and seaport operations, public housing and health care services, transportation, environmental services, solid waste disposal etc. These are funded by county taxes, which are assessed on all incorporated and unincorporated areas.
Of the county's 2.6 million total residents (as of 2013), approximately 52% live in unincorporated areas, the majority of which are heavily suburbanized. These residents are part of the Unincorporated Municipal Services Area (UMSA). For these residents, the County fills the role of both lower- and upper-tier government, the County Commission acting as their lower-tier municipal representative body. Residents within UMSA pay a UMSA tax, equivalent to a city tax, which is used to provide County residents with equivalent city services (police, fire, zoning, water and sewer, etc.). Residents of incorporated areas do not pay UMSA tax.
TheMayor of Miami-Dade County is elected countywide to serve a four-year term and is considered a "strong mayor". The mayor is not a member of the County Commission, appoints all 25 directors who oversee the operations of the County Departments and hasveto power over the commission. A mayoral appointment and veto can only be overridden by a two-thirds majority of the County Commission. The post is occupied byDaniella Levine Cava, the county's first female mayor.
The Board of County Commissioners is the legislative body, consisting of 13 members elected from single-member districts. Members are elected to serve four-year terms, and elections of members are staggered. The board chooses a chairperson, who presides over the commission, as well as appoints the members of its legislative committees. The board has a wide array of powers to enact legislation, create departments, and regulate businesses operating within the county. It also has the power to override the mayor's veto with a two-thirds vote.
Florida'sConstitution provides for five elected officials to oversee executive and administrative functions for each county (called "Constitutional Officers"):Sheriff, Property Appraiser, Supervisor of Elections, Tax Collector, and Clerk of theCircuit Court (also functions as Comptroller).[91] However, the Constitution allows voters in home-rule counties (including Miami-Dade) to abolish the offices and reorganize them as subordinate County departments;[92] Miami-Dade voters chose this option for Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections, and Tax Collector.[93] The offices of Clerk of the Circuit Court,State Attorney, andPublic Defender are still branches of State government and are, therefore, independently elected and not part of County government.[94]
Miami-Dade was the only county in Florida prior to January 6, 2024, that did not have an elected sheriff or a "Sheriff's Office".[95] Instead, the county's law enforcement agency was known as the Miami-Dade Police Department, and its leader was known as the Metropolitan Sheriff and Director of the Miami-Dade Police Department; Nonetheless, its badges bore the inscription, "Deputy Sheriff, Sheriff's Office, Dade County, FLA."
Miami-Dade County has voted for theDemocratic Party candidate in most of the presidential elections in the past four decades, and had gone Democratic in every election since 1992, until 2024, when it voted for Republican Donald Trump over DemocratKamala Harris. It did vote twice forRonald Reagan (1980, 1984) and once forGeorge H. W. Bush (1988). From 1904 to 1972 it supported the Democratic candidate in all but four elections, though Republicans won it during their landslide victories in 1928, 1952, 1956, and 1972. Every Republican who carried the county won the presidential election.
Miami-Dade did vote for Republican governorJeb Bush in1998 and2002, after voting against him in his unsuccessful1994 run. Republicans lost the county in gubernatorial elections from 2006 to 2018, before Ron DeSantis won the county in2022.
The Democrats had expanded their winning margin in each of the three elections from 2008 to 2016; in2008 and2012, DemocratBarack Obama averaged 59.69% of the vote. In2016, DemocratHillary Clinton won 63.22% of the vote, but still lost Florida by 1.2% despite winning the highest vote share in the county since 1964. In the 2018 midterms, Democrats Bill Nelson and Andrew Gillum were unable to replicate Clinton's margin in the county forU.S. Senate andgovernor, resulting in both of them losing narrowly statewide.
The trend would continue in2020, as DemocratJoe Biden won 53.31% of the vote in the county, winning it by just over seven percent over RepublicanDonald Trump. The county swung 22 points to the right from 2016 to 2020. Biden received slightly fewer votes than Hillary Clinton in the county, despite Trump gaining nearly 200,000 more votes compared to 2016. This was attributed to a large swing ofCuban Americans,Venezuelan Americans, and other Hispanic Americans to the Republican Party, resulting in the best Republican performance since2004. This contributed to Biden losing Florida in 2020, becoming the first Democrat to win the presidency without Florida since 1992.[96]
In the 2020s, Miami-Dade has become Republican-leaning. In the2022 gubernatorial and2022 U.S. Senate elections, RepublicansRon DeSantis andMarco Rubio respectively won the county. DeSantis became the first Republican Governor to win Miami-Dade since Jeb Bush in2002. Rubio won the county for the second time, following his victory in2010. In2024, RepublicanDonald Trump won the county by a comfortable 11-point margin due to its heavy shift to the right, Florida being his home state, and its large Cuban population, making him the first Republican sinceGeorge H. W. Bush in1988 to carry the county. The county shifted an additional 19 points to the right from 2020 to 2024.[97] Similarly, Florida U.S. SenatorRick Scott concurrently won the county in2024, after having lost it in his previous2018 run.[98] In a further indicator of the county's shift to the right, Republicans gained the registration advantage in 2025.[99]
After Frank Borman became president ofEastern Airlines in 1975, he moved Eastern's headquarters fromRockefeller Center inMidtown Manhattan, New York City to an unincorporated area in Miami-Dade County[125][126] Around 1991 the Miami-Dade County lost a few corporations, including Eastern Airlines, which folded in 1991.[127]
At one time the cruise lineResidenSea had its headquarters in an unincorporated area in the county.[128]
Most of the state's summer okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is grown here,[130] totalling 1,000 to 1,500 acres (400 to 610 ha) over the whole year.[131] It is grown as a "scavenger crop", one grown to scavenge the benefits of residualfumigant andfertilizer.[130] The most problematicpest is the melon thrips (Thrips palmi) butaphids are also significant.[131] Although the silverleaf whitefly (sweet potato whitefly,Bemisia tabaci) reproduces in large numbers on this crop, the plant is not seriously harmed and the feeding damage is quickly repaired.[131] This does still leave okra as a problematicrefuge from which the whitefly will migrate, to nearby tomato, bean, and ornamentals.[131] TheUniversity of Florida provides a production handbook[132]: 235 which recommendsdisease management andweed management practices.[promotion?]
Methyl bromide (MB) has been phased out andTelone products – fumigants – are heavily regulated here.[132]: 46 Miami-Dade County heavily regulates Telone more than the rest of the state does.[132]: 46 Therefore, the best MB alternatives here are eithermetam sodium ormetam potassium, both combined withchloropicrin.[132]: 46
Miami-Dade has some of the lowestCry 1F resistance[jargon] in the country.[133] Despite its high volume ofcargo traffic withPuerto Rico and earlier speculation, none of Puerto Rico's extreme Cry1F-r[jargon] genetics seems to have spread to this area.[133]Southern Florida in general has the lowest in the country (including Puerto Rico).[133]
The state's first invasion of the peach fruit fly (Bactrocerazonata) began here.[134] An adult male fly was found on November 10, 2010, on a guava tree (Psidium guajava).[134] The state responded bytrapping an 81 square miles (210 km2) are around the site.[134]
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue is also the home toUrban Search and Rescue Florida Task Force 1 as well as EMS operations consisting of 57 Advanced Life Support units staffed by 760 state-certified paramedics and 640 state-certified emergency medical technicians.
Miami Fire Rescue is the agency provides fire protection and emergency medical services for theCity of Miami, Florida. (Not to be confused with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.) The department serves the City of Miami independently from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department from 15 fire stations.
Hialeah Fire Rescue is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services forHialeah, Florida. The department serves the City of Hialeah independently from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department from 9 stations.
Miami Beach Fire Rescue is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services forMiami Beach, Florida. The department serves the City of Miami Beach independently from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department from 4 stations.
Coral Gables Fire Rescue is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services forCoral Gables, Florida. The department serves the City of Coral Gables independently from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department from 3 stations.
Key Biscayne Fire Rescue is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services forKey Biscayne, Florida. The department serves the Village of Key Biscayne independently from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department from 1 station.
TheMiami-Dade Police Department is a full-servicemetropolitan police department serving Miami-Dade County's unincorporated areas, although it has lenient mutual aid agreements with other municipalities, most often theCity of Miami Police Department. With 4,700 employees, it is Florida's largest police department. The department is often referred to by its former name, theMetro-Dade Police or simplyMetro.
The Miami-Dade Police Department operates out of nine districts throughout the county and has two special bureaus. The director of the department is Juan Perez, who succeeded J.D. Patterson Jr.[141] The department's headquarters are inDoral, Florida. As of January 7, 2025, the MDPD is transitioning to a sheriff's office.
All incorporated communities within Miami-Dade County operate police departments, that work in conjunction with the Miami-Dade Police Department. The departments are as follows, in descending alphabetical order. Bold text denotes independent Wikipedia page.
Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (MDWASD) is one of the largest public utilities in the United States, employing approximately 2,700 employees as of 2007. It provides service to over 2.4 million customers, operating with an annual budget of almost $400 million. Approximately 330 million gallons of water are drawn every day from the Biscayne Aquifer for consumer use. MDWASD has over 7,100 miles (11,400 km) of water lines, a service area of 396 square miles (1,026 km2) and 14 pump stations. MDWASD has over 3,600 miles (5,800 km) of sewage pipes, a service area of 341 square miles (883 km2) and 954 pump stations.[142] Miami-Dade County is also in the jurisdiction of theSouth Dade Soil and Water Conservation District.
Lemon City Branch Library,c. 1955Shenandoah Branch Library in November 2015
The Miami-Dade Public Library System traces its origin to the late nineteenth century. The first library was a reading room established inLemon City on April 7, 1894, by the Lemon City Library and Improvement Association. In 1942 neighborhood libraries were brought together in a single public library system, governed by a board of trustees and administered by a Head Librarian. A new central library building had been proposed forBayfront Park inDowntown Miami as early as 1938, but the proposal was not realized till over a decade later. In December 1965 the City of Miami and Metropolitan Dade County agreed that the City of Miami would provide public library service to unincorporated Dade County and to those municipalities that did not provide their library service with fourbookmobiles provided library service to the unincorporated area. On November 1, 1971, the City of Miami transferred its library system to Metropolitan Dade County which created a new Department of Libraries with a Director reporting directly to the County Manager.
On November 7, 1972, Dade County voters approved a referendum, also known as the "Decade of Progress" bonds, authorized approximately $553 million for public improvement projects in Dade County. Of that amount, approximately $34.7 million was authorized for public libraries, including construction, renovation, land acquisition, furnishings, and equipment. Between 1976 and 1990, this bond issue provided the funds to open 14 new libraries.[145] On August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew inflicted significant damage on the library system, destroying all branches south ofKendall Drive.[146] Over the next years, no further expansion of the system was funded and no new libraries opened. It was not until the fall of 2001, when MayorAlex Penelas and Board of County Commissioners voted to increase the library system's budget which provided funding for capital improvement initiatives—making way for the opening of 18 new libraries by 2011. As of 2017, 15 of these libraries have been opened, with the remaining 3 still under construction.
TheUniversity of Miami, located inCoral Gables, is among the top-tier research universities in the United States, and is the highest ranked private university in Florida.
Miami International Airport (IATA:MIA,ICAO:KMIA,FAALID:MIA), in anunincorporated area in central Miami-Dade County, is the Miami area's primary international airport. One of the busiest international airports in the world, it serves over 35 million passengers a year. The airport is a major hub and the single largest international gateway forAmerican Airlines, the world's largest passenger air carrier. Miami International Airport is the United States' third largest international port of entry for foreign air passengers (behind New York'sJohn F. Kennedy International Airport andLos Angeles International Airport), and is the seventh largest such gateway in the world. The airport's extensive international route network includes non-stop flights to over seventy international cities in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Miami Executive Airport (IATA:TMB,ICAO:KTMB,FAALID:TMB), a public-use airport formerly known as Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport, in southwest Miami-Dade County
MDT also collaborates withBroward County Transit to provide overlapping and connecting bus service between Miami-Dade andBroward counties, and with Monroe County Transit to provide overlapping and connecting bus service between Miami-Dade County and theFlorida Keys.
Miami-Dade County is also serviced by theTri-Railcommuter rail service connecting locations in Miami-Dade, Broward andPalm Beach counties, and theAmtrak andBrightlineintercity rail systems, all of which connect at various locations to Metrorail and other parts of the MDT network.
TheMiami Intermodal Center (MIC) is an intermodal rapid transit, commuter rail, intercity rail, local bus, intercity bus and vehicle rental transportation hub just east of Miami International Airport and connected to the airport via an automated people mover. It connects the airport to all the other modes of public transportation available in the county.
This is a list of Miami-Dadecounty roads. Miami-Dade County has fewer county roads than any other county in Florida, despite its large population. None are signed.
Astreet grid stretches from downtown Miami throughout the county. This grid was adopted by the City of Miami following World War I after theUnited States Post Office threatened to cease mail deliveries in the city because the original system of named streets, with names often changing every few blocks and multiple streets in the city sharing the same name, was too confusing for the mail carriers.[156] The new grid was later extended throughout the county as the population grew west, south, and north of city limits.
The grid is laid out withMiami Avenue as themeridian going north–south andFlagler Street thebaseline going east–west. The grid is primarily numerical so that, for example, all street addresses north of Flagler and west of Miami Avenue haveNW in their address (e.g. NW 27th Avenue). Because its point of origin is in downtown Miami which is close to the coast, theNW andSW quadrants are much larger than theSE andNE quadrants. Many roads, especially major ones, are also named, although, with a few notable exceptions, the number is in more common usage among locals.
Although this grid is easy to understand once one is oriented to it, it is not utilized in the entire county.Hialeah uses its own grid system which is entirely different in its orientation.Coral Gables andMiami Lakes use named streets almost exclusively, and various smaller municipalities such asFlorida City andHomestead use their own grid system along with the Miami-Dade grid system adding to the confusion. In the beach cities and parks ofMiami Beach,Surfside,Bal Harbour,Sunny Isles, andGolden Beach, the streets are coordinated with the main grid; however, their avenues are named.
^The Mayor of Miami-Dade County is officially elected in anon-partisan election, despite commonde facto party affiliation.
^Language spoken at home among residents at least five years old; only languages (or language groups) which at least 2% of residents have spoken at any time since 1980 are mentioned
^Wisckol, Martin (November 14, 1997). "Voters Say Dade's Out, Miami-Dade Is Now in Five Times Before, Change Was Rejected".Sun Sentinel.ProQuest389900987.
^Fla. Const. of 1885, art. VIII, s. 11(h), continued in force by, Fla. Const. art. VIII, s. 9(e).
^"Census Counts: 1830-2020".Florida County Population Census Counts: 1830 to 2020. Office of Economic and Demographic Research, The Florida Legislature. 2023.Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. RetrievedApril 12, 2023.
^"Office Locations."Hewlett Packard. Retrieved on August 29, 2011. "Hewlett-Packard Latin America Waterford Building, 9th Floor 5200 Blue Lagoon Drive Miami, Florida 33126 USA"
^"Contact UsArchived March 3, 2012, at theWayback Machine."Gate Group. Retrieved on September 17, 2011. "North America Regional Office11710 Plaza America Drive, Suite 800 Reston, VA 20190 USA"
^"PreludeArchived February 2, 2011, at theWayback Machine." (Select "English", then select the mail icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen)Unicomer Group. Retrieved on March 4, 2010.
^"Contact Us."Goya Foods. Retrieved on March 26, 2016. "Goya Foods of Miami 13300 NW 25th Street Miami, FL 33182"
^"World Airline Directory."Flight International. March 23–29, 1994.114. "Head office: PO Box 522067, 5400 NW 36th St, Miami, Florida 33152, USA."
^"How to Contact Us". Gulfstream International Airlines. Archived fromthe original on June 1, 1997. RetrievedDecember 31, 2024.5000 NW 36 St Suite 125 Miami FL 33166
^Bernstein, Aaron.Grounded: Frank Lorenzo and the Destruction of Eastern Airlines. Beard Books, 1999.22. Retrieved on August 28, 2009.
^"World Airline Directory."Flight International. March 30, 1985.72." Retrieved on June 17, 2009.
^abWetterer, James; Porter, Sanford (2003). "The Little Fire AntWasmannia auropunctata: Distribution, Impact and Control".Sociobiology.41 (3).ISSN0361-6525.S2CID53132506.
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