Moving to Miami: start here

Last reviewed: November 4, 2026. Sources for this page are listed in its fact sheet.

Short answer first. Miami-Dade County holds about 2.8 million people on the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate, and 54.5% of them were born outside the United States. The moving picture has changed shape: Florida's net migration from other states cooled to 22,517 people in the year to July 2025, down from 310,892 in 2022, while arrivals from abroad carried the growth. People still come. They just come from farther away, and the ones who plan win. This hub runs a Miami move in the order it actually happens: one deadline to protect, the money math, the scouting trip, the neighborhood, the checklist, and the first month.

The South Beach skyline across the water. Stock photo. Photo: Mikhail Nilov, Pexels.

The one date to plan around: December 31, 2026

On November 3, 2026, Florida voters approved Amendment 3, which raises the homestead exemption against non-school property taxes. The schedule splits on a single date. Hold Florida permanent residence through December 31, 2026 and the exemption starts at up to $150,000 in 2027 and up to $250,000 in 2028. Become a resident on or after January 1, 2027 and it starts at up to $50,000. On a worked City of Miami example, the gap is worth about $9,400 across four tax years. Renting counts, as long as the residency is genuine: you don't need a closing by New Year's Eve, you need to actually live here. The full rule, the math, and what counts as residency are in our Amendment 3 guide. If your move can land either side of that line, land it early.

Stage one: deciding, with real numbers

Run the money before the emotion. Our New York to Miami cost comparison works the two cities line by line: median one-bedroom rent of $4,610 against $2,500 in October 2026, state and city income tax against Florida's zero, and the insurance lines that push back. If you're arriving from somewhere else, the same lines are the ones to price: housing, income tax, property tax if you buy, insurance, and the car you'll probably need here.

Then the map. The neighborhood guides cover the areas movers actually weigh: Brickell for a walk-to-work high-rise life, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables for houses under tree canopy, Doral for newer suburbs with strong schools, and more. Daily costs in each are framed by the Miami on a budget guide, which sorts where this city is genuinely cheap from where it never is.

Stage two: the scouting trip

Come for a week if you can swing it. Sleep in the neighborhood you're weighing, not across town from it. Do the morning commute at the hour you'd really do it. Grocery shop. Sit in the traffic you would sit in. A scouting week costs a few hundred dollars in hotel nights and can save a year of the wrong lease.

Price scouting stays in Miami Beach on Expedia

Build one orientation day into the trip. The Little Havana food and walking tour on Viator is the fastest way we know to read a neighborhood on foot, and Viator's Miami tours page covers the rest of the city by theme. You're not sightseeing. You're rehearsing your own life here, with better food.

Stage three: the move itself

The Miami moving checklist runs the 12 weeks before the move and the first week after it: the USPS change of address filed the right way, insurance quoted early enough to matter, FPL and water accounts started before you arrive, and the documents folder that stays in your car. Packing gear is the easy part to order ahead: a moving box kit and room labels on Amazon, bought at the six-week mark rather than the last weekend.

Stage four: the first month

Florida's deadlines start the day your residency does. Vehicles get titled and registered within 10 days, with Florida insurance in place first. Your driver license follows within 30 days. If you bought a home, the homestead exemption needs you living in it on January 1 and form DR-501 filed by March 1. The checklist page carries the fees and the full list.

Settling in has a reading list too. The first time in Miami guide was written for visitors, and new residents use it the same way: it's the fastest orientation to how the city is laid out and how a week here actually flows. And because your first year will include a hurricane season, June 1 to November 30, read the hurricane season guide as a resident, not a tourist: the preparation logic is identical, and you'll want your supplies bought before any storm has a name.

Frequently asked questions

When's the best time to move to Miami?
This winter, if you can. Being a Florida permanent resident by December 31, 2026 puts you on the larger Amendment 3 exemption schedule, worth about $9,400 over four years on the worked example. Beyond the tax date, winter arrivals dodge the worst of the summer heat and land outside hurricane season's peak weeks.

Should I rent first or buy first?
Renting first protects the December residency date without a rushed purchase, and the Amendment 3 text covers residents who will establish a homestead later. A year of renting also teaches you the neighborhoods with your own commute, school run, and grocery store, which no listing can.

Do I need a car in Miami?
Most households do. Metrorail links the airport, downtown, and the southern suburbs, and the Metromover loops downtown and Brickell for free, but the city is spread out and plenty of daily life sits off the rail lines. Price a car, and its insurance, into the move.

How long should a scouting trip be?
A week, if the budget allows it, based in the neighborhood you'd actually choose. Shorter trips still help; a long weekend in the right area beats a week based somewhere you'd never live.

What's the first thing to do after I arrive?
Start the clocks consciously: Florida insurance on the car, then title and registration inside 10 days, license inside 30 days, and your homestead dates on the calendar. The checklist page sequences all of it.

Keep planning

Every relocation guide in move order: the Amendment 3 deadline guide, the New York to Miami cost comparison, the Miami moving checklist, the neighborhood guides, and the guides hub for everything else on the site.