How much do you need to earn to buy a house in Miami-Dade?
For the typical Miami-Dade house, at $680,000, with an FHA loan and the minimum down payment, this is what you need to earn per year before taxes: the minimum that gets you approved and the one that lets you live comfortably.
$151,000 to $244,000
It is for a full payment of $6,290 a month, at the current FHA rate, 6.98% (Optimal Blue via FRED, data as of September 25, 2026). The first number is the edge: the house takes half your income and you cannot owe anything else. The second keeps the house at 31%, what FHA accepts without asking you for anything in return. The condo is further down.
Prices are the August 2026 median sales from MIAMI REALTORS, released September 16. Insurance is the county average from Florida's insurance regulator as of March 31, 2026. Property tax, the 2025 tables from the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser. The FHA cap and its mortgage insurance are HUD's for 2026; the 31% comes from the FHA handbook, and the 50% is the ceiling of Fannie Mae's automated system. Checked September 24, 2026. The rate updates itself every day.
Price against salary is the math everyone in Miami does, and it almost always comes up short for the same reason: people look at the mortgage and forget the monthly payment is more than the mortgage.
House or condo: what each one asks for
The typical Miami-Dade house sold for $680,000 in August 2026, and the typical condo for $408,000. Both fit an FHA loan with the minimum down payment: the FHA cap in the county is $667,000 this year, so a house above roughly $691,000 no longer fits.
| House | Condo | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical price | $680,000 | $408,000 |
| Full monthly payment | $6,290 | $3,710 plus the association |
| You need to earn per year: the edge | $151,000 | $89,000 |
| You need to earn per year: comfortable | $244,000 | $144,000 |
The condo is missing the association fee because it varies from building to building more than any other cost. Every $100 a month of fee raises what you need to earn by $2,400 a year at the edge, and by about $3,900 to be comfortable.
Why the payment is more than the mortgage
- The mortgage: principal and interest over thirty years on an FHA loan for 96.5% of the price. It is the only part that moves with the rate.
- Property tax: we count 2% of the price per year. In 2025 it ran from 1.55% to 2.43% of value depending on the city, and when you buy, the value resets: the cap that protected the previous owner does not pass to you.
- Homeowners insurance: $5,975 a year on average for a house with wind coverage in Miami-Dade, and $2,801 for a condo, according to Florida's insurance regulator.
- FHA mortgage insurance: 0.55% of the loan per year. With the minimum down payment it never comes off; it lasts as long as the loan.
- The association fee, if it is a condo. The building's insurance is inside it, which is why the condo's own policy comes out cheaper. And with FHA, the condo has to be HUD-approved: ask before you make an offer.
That is why the rate moves less than it seems: even when it drops, taxes and insurance do not drop with it.
If you already pay something every month
The edge assumes you owe nothing else. If you pay a car, credit cards or a student loan, every $100 a month of those debts raises the minimum you need to earn by $2,400 a year.
And if you are close to the edge, what gets you more house fastest is almost never earning more: it is getting a payment off your back.
We tell you how much house your salary buys.
Which part of your income a lender counts —overtime, tips, a second job, what you report on your taxes— moves the number more than the rate, and that is not in any table. Leave us your number and we work it out with you.
This guide orients you, it does not advise you. The figures are for a typical house and a typical condo, not yours: your payment changes with the price, your city's property tax, your insurance, your building's fee and the rate you actually get. Each lender also counts your income its own way.
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