Is Miami more expensive than New York now?

The headlines saying Miami is now pricier than New York come from the federal government’s metro price index. Both sides of the argument can be defended, because they measure different places: a metro area of several counties on one side, the city limits on the other.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis’s regional price parities compare what the same basket of goods and services costs in each metro area, relative to the national average. The Miami metro is Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. The New York metro is the five boroughs plus Long Island, the northern suburbs, and much of northern New Jersey. Averages over areas that big blend city neighborhoods with suburbs.

What moved was mostly housing. Miami-area rents (155.6) now sit above the New York area’s (148.6); in 2021 they were 143.7 vs 160.5. Other services flipped too (109.1 vs 105.8, from 103.9 vs 110.7). Goods (103.6 vs 110.3) and utilities (97.2 vs 127.0) still cost less in the Miami area.

Every figure below is measured for the City of Miami and New York City themselves, not their metros.

• Rent and homes: New York City costs more in dollars. The rent gap is about $1,052 a month.
• Share of income: Miami renters spend more of their paycheck on rent (38.7% vs 30.9%) because Miami incomes are lower.
• Insurance: Miami pays more. Homeowners coverage averages $8,345 a year vs $3,295, and car insurance ($4,762 vs $4,476) now edges past New York’s.

C2ER’s Cost of Living Index compares the after-tax cost of a professional and managerial standard of living in specific urban areas. Its 2024 annual edition puts Miami-Dade at 116.5 and the three New York boroughs it prices well above it: Manhattan 227.8, Brooklyn 200.3, Queens 175.4. It isn’t a citywide New York number, and it’s a paid index, so the site shows it but leaves it out of the data download.

• Renting: New York costs more in rent dollars; Miami takes a bigger share of a local paycheck.
• Buying: the Miami home is cheaper; the insurance bill isn’t.
• Taxes: Florida has no income tax, and no price index counts it. With a Florida-based job on $150,000 you keep about $13,670 more a year; keep a remote New York job and it’s about $5,379, the city tax alone (why). Run your own salary.