E.g., 06/27/2026
E.g., 06/27/2026
Profile of the Unauthorized Population - County Data (12086)
 

Profile of the Unauthorized Population:
Miami-Dade-Monroe Counties, Florida
DemographicsEstimate% of Total
Unauthorized Population 356,000 100%
Top Countries of Birth
Venezuela 81,000 23%
Honduras 53,000 15%
Nicaragua 38,000 11%
Colombia 33,000 9%
Cuba 32,000 9%
Regions of Birth
Mexico and Central America 138,000 39%
Caribbean 58,000 16%
South America 149,00042%
Europe/Canada/Oceania 9,000 3%
Asia 2,000 0%
Africa- -
Years of U.S. Residence
Less than 5 134,000 38%
5 to 9 61,000 17%
10 to 14 25,000 7%
15 to 19 37,000 10%
20 or more 98,000 27%
Age
Under 16 27,000 7%
16 to 24 46,000 13%
25 to 34 77,000 22%
35 to 44 84,000 24%
45 to 54 65,000 18%
55 and over 56,000 16%
Gender
Female 171,000 48%
FamilyEstimate% of Total
Parental Status
Population ages 15 and older 333,000 100%
Reside with at least one U.S.-citizen child under 18 66,000 20%
Reside with noncitizen children only under 18 35,000 10%
Reside with no children 232,000 70%
Marital Status
Population ages 15 and older 333,000 100%
Never married 129,000 39%
Married to a U.S. citizen 56,000 17%
Married to a legal permanent resident (LPR) 37,000 11%
Married to non-U.S. citizen/non-LPR 47,000 14%
Divorced, separated, widowed 64,000 19%
Education and LanguageEstimate% of Total
School Enrollment of Children and Youth
Population ages 5 to 18 35,000 100%
Enrolled 30,000 87%
Not enrolled 5,000 13%
Population ages 5 to 13 17,000100%
Enrolled 17,000 97%
Not enrolled- -
Population ages 14 to 18 17,000 100%
Enrolled 13,000 76%
Not enrolled 4,000 24%
Population ages 19 to 24 35,000 100%
Enrolled 9,000 25%
Not enrolled 26,000 75%
Educational Attainment of Adults
Population ages 25 and older 283,000 100%
0-5 grade 23,000 8%
6-8 grade 22,000 8%
9-12 grade 32,000 11%
High school diploma or equivalent 82,000 29%
Some college or associate’s degree 51,000 18%
Bachelor’s, graduate, or professional degree 72,000 26%
English Proficiency
Population ages 5 and older 352,000 100%
Speak only English 17,000 5%
Speak English "very well" 82,000 23%
Speak English "well" 74,000 21%
Speak English "not well"/"not at all" 179,000 51%
Top 5 Languages Spoken at Home
Population ages 5 and older 352,000 100%
Spanish 304,000 86%
Haitian Creole 18,000 5%
English 17,000 5%
Portuguese 5,000 1%
French 2,000 1%
WorkforceEstimate% of Total
Labor Force Participation
Civilian population ages 16 and older 329,000 100%
Employed 225,000 68%
Unemployed 10,000 3%
Not in the labor force 93,000 28%
Top Industries of Employment
Civilian employed population ages 16 and older 225,000 100%
Construction 45,000 20%
Accommodation and food services, arts, entertainment, and recreation 32,000 14%
Professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management services 31,000 14%
Other services (except public administration) 23,000 10%
Retail trade 22,000 10%
EconomicsEstimate% of Total
Family Income
Below 50% of the poverty level 32,000 9%
50-99% of the poverty level 37,000 10%
100-149% of the poverty level 52,000 15%
150-199% of the poverty level 50,000 14%
At or above 200% of the poverty level 185,000 52%
Access to Health Insurance
Uninsured 157,000 44%
Home Ownership*
Homeowner 69,000 20%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sources: These 2023 data result from a Migration Policy Institute (MPI) methodology that imputes unauthorized status using analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from the pooled 2019-23 American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2023, 2022, and 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), weighted to 2023 unauthorized immigrant population estimates provided by Jennifer Van Hook of The Pennsylvania State University.

Definition of Unauthorized Immigrants

MPI’s definition of the unauthorized immigrant population includes those who entered the country without authorization and visa overstayers, as well as individuals who hold a liminal (or “twilight”) status such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), humanitarian parole, or Temporary Protected Status (TPS), as well as those with a pending asylum application.

Data-related notes
* “Homeowners” are unauthorized immigrants residing in homes that are owned, not rented.

+ Includes the following Colorado counties: Broomfield, Clear Creek, Douglas, Elbert, and Gilpin, as well as portions of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Jefferson, Teller, and Weld.

++ Refers to Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in Massachusetts based on the 2013 definitions from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. If an MSA crosses state boundaries, for the purposes of this analysis, that MSA includes only the portion in the state of Massachusetts.

Estimate for China includes Hong Kong but excludes Taiwan; estimate for Korea includes South Korea and North Korea.

“School Enrollment of Children and Youth” refers to unauthorized immigrants who reported attending school or college at any time in the three months prior to the survey.

For languages, “Chinese” includes Mandarin, Cantonese, and other Chinese languages; “English” includes English, Jamaican Creole, Krio, Pidgin Krio, and other English-based Creole languages; “French” includes French, Patois, and Cajun; “Pacific Island languages” includes Ilocano, Samoan, Hawaiian, Sebuano, Chamorro, Guamanian, Marshallese, Trukese, Tongan, and other Austronesian languages, but excludes Tagalog and Filipino, which are reported separately; “Portuguese” includes Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole; “Sub-Saharan African” includes Swahili or other Bantu languages, Mande, Fulani, Kru, and other unspecified African languages; “Tagalog” includes Tagalog and Filipino.

For industries, “Other services” are miscellaneous services, not including the following services listed separately: (1) professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management services; (2) educational services; (3) health and social services; and (4) accommodation and food services, arts, entertainment, and recreation.

 “-” estimates are zero, not applicable, or not displayed due to small sample size.

Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Methodology in Brief:
MPI’s method uses information from the SIPP to assign legal status to noncitizens in the ACS. In the SIPP, noncitizens report whether they currently have lawful permanent resident (LPR) status—i.e., a green card. Those without LPR status may be recent refugees, temporary visitors (e.g., international students or high-skilled H-1B workers), or unauthorized immigrants. The MPI methodology maps characteristics such as country of birth, year of U.S. entry, age, gender, and educational attainment between the two surveys, and those noncitizens in the ACS who have characteristics similar to those reporting LPR status in the SIPP are coded as LPRs in the ACS. The remaining noncitizens—who are similar in characteristics to those not reporting LPR status in the SIPP—are classified as either unauthorized or legal temporary migrants, depending on whether they meet the qualifications for H-1B and the other temporary visa classifications. Estimates of unauthorized immigrants are weighted to match control totals (benchmarks) for immigrants from a set of origin countries and world regions. These control totals are calculated by subtracting the number of legal immigrants from the total of all immigrants for each country and region that are captured in the ACS data. The number of legal immigrants is estimated by adding up all legal admissions from each country and region in every year—using Department of Homeland Security administrative data—and then reducing this number to account for deaths and emigration of legal immigrants. Finally, the unauthorized immigrant population estimates are adjusted upward slightly to account for the undercount of this population in the ACS. 

MPI’s overall method was developed in consultation with James Bachmeier of Temple University and Jennifer Van Hook of The Pennsylvania State University, Population Research Institute. For more detail on the methods, see MPI, “MPI Methodology for Assigning Legal Status to Noncitizen Respondents in U.S. Census Bureau Survey Data.” The control totals were developed by Van Hook. These estimates have the same sampling and coverage errors as any other survey-based estimates that rely on ACS and other Census Bureau data.