Jacksonville has formally surpassed Miami as the most important metropolis in Florida, based on new inhabitants estimates launched by the U.S. Census Bureau. The 2024 information, cited by NBC Miami, places Jacksonville’s inhabitants at 1,009,833, in comparison with Miami’s 487,014—a spot of greater than half one million residents.
Regardless of Miami’s nationwide profile and cultural affect—particularly amongst Caribbean and Latin American communities—this shift underscores how Florida’s inhabitants dynamics proceed to evolve. Cities like Tampa (414,547), Orlando (334,854), and St. Petersburg (267,102) spherical out the highest 5, every serving as key hubs for tourism and commerce.
South Florida stays a serious inhabitants heart, although, with Hialeah (ranked seventh with 235,388 residents) and Fort Lauderdale (ninth with 190,641) making the highest 10. Hialeah’s robust Cuban roots and its position as one of the Hispanic cities within the U.S. mirror broader demographic tendencies within the state. These shifts matter not simply statistically—however culturally, particularly for Caribbean diasporas who’ve helped form the material of those cities.
The rise in inhabitants throughout cities like Hialeah and Fort Lauderdale additionally mirrors the regular development of Caribbean communities in South Florida. Jamaicans, Haitians, Trinidadians, and others proceed to contribute to the area’s multicultural id, at the same time as gentrification and rising prices in locations like Miami problem long-established neighborhoods.
In the meantime, Tampa—now the third-largest metropolis in Florida—has earned a repute as one of the stress-free cities within the nation, due to its local weather, walkability, and decrease crime charges. It’s additionally been named the most effective place to stay in Florida, placing a stability between affordability and high quality of life.
Based on the census, solely two cities crossed the 1 million-population threshold between 2023 and 2024 — Jacksonville, Florida (1,009,833), and Fort Value, Texas (1,008,106).
As Florida’s city facilities broaden and shift, the Caribbean group’s presence stays deeply rooted—whether or not in Miami’s Little Haiti, Hialeah’s Cuban enclaves, or Fort Lauderdale’s rising West Indian inhabitants.
