By Gay Cororaton, MIAMI REALTORS + RWorld Chief Economist
Key takeaways:
- Miami-Dade County led numeric employment gains in 2025, with 10,608 private sector jobs and 102,180 jobs since 2019.
- Lucie County saw the fastest increase in employment in 2025, up 2%.
- Palm Beach County saw the largest wage growth, up 8.1%
Download the 2025 South Florida Employment Report HERE.
Miami-Dade County was Florida’s largest private employment creator in 2025
Miami-Dade regained the top spot as Florida’s top private employment job creator from December 2024 through December 2025, according to MIAMI REALTORS + RWorld analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released 2025 Q4 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.
From December 2024 through December 2025, private employment in Miami-Dade County increased by 10,608. In 2025, Miami-Dade County regained the top spot for employment generation (from Lee County in 2024).
Driving the gains in employment were financial activities (+4,605 ; +5.5%), and professional and business services (+4,252; +2.3%). Miami-Dade County’s employment growth in these industries is clear indicator of its emergence as a finance hub. Miami-Dade County and Palm Beach County are seeing the lowest office vacancies in the nation. South Florida Office Market Ranks No. 1 in Construction Intensity and Leads U.S. in Tight Vacancy – MIAMI REALTORS® + RWorld
Since 2019, Miami-Dade County’s private sector employment increased by 102,180 . Total employment (public and private) increased by 98,309, accounting for about 1 in 10 of every job created in Florida that created 927,700 jobs.
St. Lucie County posted the fastest employment growth in South Florida in 2025
While Miami-Dade County had the largest numeric increase, St. Lucie County saw the largest percentage increase in private employment (2.0%) over the period December 2024 through December 2025. St. Lucie County’s job creation was driven by robust growth in education and health services (+7.4%) and in professional and business services (+7.6%).
The robust job growth is associated with a strong population growth. In 2025, Port St. Lucie was the fastest-growing city among the nation’s largest cities (250,000 or more population), with population expanding by 30% since 2019 . Port St. Lucie Leads the Nation as America’s Fastest-Growing City – MIAMI REALTORS® + RWorld
Palm Beach County saw the largest wage growth in South Florida in 2025
While Miami-Dade and St. Lucie County as seeing the strongest employment growth, Palm Beach County saw the highest increase in average weekly wages in South Florida . Average weekly wages in the last quarter of 2025 increased 8.1%, due to the strong wage growth in professional and business services (+18.3%) and information services (+10.3%).
Workers in the financial sector have the highest average annualized wages in Palm Beach County at $172,588 and the highest average wage among workers in any industry in South Florida. Palm Bean County has the most intense office construction activity. It is also the #1 country with the largest net income inflow from domestic migration, with an inflow of $22.7 billion Palm Beach County: 1 in the Nation in Net Inflow of Income from Domestic Migration Per Latest IRS Tax Data – MIAMI REALTORS® + World.
