Miami's official two-bedroom rent hit $2,564, up 76% since 2019
Federal officials set Miami-Dade's two-bedroom rent ceiling at $2,564 a month for 2027 — up 76% from $1,454 in 2019, and more than five times the $494 ceiling of 1983.
Official two-bedroom rent ceiling for 2027 (HUD)
- Published
- Sep 22, 2026
- Geography
- Miami-Dade County
| 1983 | 494 |
| 1985 | 515 |
| 1987 | 520 |
| 1989 | 529 |
| 1991 | 578 |
| 1993 | 719 |
| 1995 | 742 |
| 1997 | 737 |
| 1999 | 702 |
| 2001 | 768 |
| 2003 | 813 |
| 2005 | 929 |
| 2007 | 1018 |
| 2009 | 1156 |
| 2011 | 1184 |
| 2013 | 1122 |
| 2015 | 1162 |
| 2017 | 1295 |
| 2019 | 1454 |
| 2021 | 1551 |
| 2023 | 1923 |
| 2024 | 2324 |
| 2025 | 2329 |
| 2026 | 2436 |
| 2027 | 2564 |
Meeting & town-hall brief
Key points
- 01HUD's 2027 fair market rent for a two-bedroom in Miami-Dade is $2,564 a month, up from $2,436 in 2026 and $2,329 in 2025.
- 02The ceiling sat between $494 and $813 from 1983 to 2003; it has more than tripled since then.
- 03The steepest run began after 2021: $1,551 in 2021 to $2,564 in 2027, a 65% rise in six years.
- 04About 54% of the whole 1983-to-2027 increase happened in the eight years since 2019.
- 05A studio benchmarks at $1,953 a month, a one-bedroom at $2,121, a three-bedroom at $3,277.
What to say
- HUD's own numbers put a two-bedroom apartment in Miami-Dade at $2,564 a month for 2027 — the federal benchmark for what a modest home should cost here.
- In 1983 the same benchmark was $494. It is now more than five times higher.
- Since 2019 the benchmark has risen 76%, from $1,454 to $2,564 — roughly $139 a month of new rent every year.
- More than half of all the rent increase this county has seen in 44 years arrived after 2019.
- A studio benchmarks at $1,953 a month and a three-bedroom at $3,277, so the pressure is not limited to large families.
Every figure above is drawn from the source listed at the bottom of this page. Check them against the source before quoting at a public meeting.
Analysis
Every year the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development publishes the rent it considers fair for a modest, decent apartment in Miami-Dade County. That number — the fair market rent — is the benchmark used to set housing assistance, and increasingly it shows how far the private market has moved ahead of what assistance covers.
For 2027 the two-bedroom fair market rent is $2,564 a month. It was $2,436 in 2026, $2,329 in 2025 and $2,324 in 2024. In 2019 it was $1,454. That is a 76% rise in eight years, an average of roughly $139 a month of new rent every year.
The long view makes the break clearer. From 1983 to 2003 the ceiling crawled from $494 to $813, barely keeping pace with inflation. It crossed $1,000 around 2007, sat near $1,100 through the post-recession years, then climbed: $1,295 in 2017, $1,454 in 2019, $1,551 in 2021, $1,923 in 2023 and $2,324 in 2024. About 54% of the entire increase since 1983 has landed since 2019.
Other sizes tell the same story: a studio benchmarks at $1,953 a month, a one-bedroom at $2,121, a three-bedroom at $3,277 and a four-bedroom at $3,749. A household that needed a three-bedroom in 2019, when the benchmark was $1,796, now faces $3,277.
What this means for displacement. Fair market rents are a floor for what assistance covers, not a cap on what landlords charge. When the benchmark itself rises 76% in eight years, renters on fixed incomes, households relying on vouchers and nonprofits planning permanent supportive housing are all priced against a moving target.
Limitations. Fair market rents estimate the 40th percentile of rental costs and are published for the whole county, not for Little Havana, Liberty City, Allapattah or Overtown. They lag the market by roughly two years and say nothing about who pays the rent, evictions, or actual contract rents. Census figures on what residents actually pay, and eviction filings from the county clerk, will be layered against this series next.
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