Sell Your Commercial Property In Hialeah, FL

Who rents in Hialeah

Hialeah had an estimated 226,165 residents in the 2020–2024 American Community Survey, in 77,044 occupied homes. Renters held 41,120 of them, a 53.4% share, compared with 47.8% across Miami-Dade County. Hialeah is one of the county's largest cities, and its renters make up close to one in eleven of Miami-Dade's 465,971 renter households.

The city's housing is unusually full. The ACS counts 79,130 housing units and 77,044 occupied as a primary residence, so only 2,086 units, about 2.6%, were vacant, for sale, for rent or used seasonally at survey time. Countywide, 119,572 of 1,094,983 units, about 10.9%, were not occupied as primary homes, so Hialeah runs far tighter than the county.

Incomes are modest. The median household income in Hialeah was $55,594 over 2020–2024, about $16,000 below the countywide $71,753. Demand is tied to jobs within a short drive: Miami International Airport sits on 3,230 acres southeast of the city and offers more flights to Latin America and the Caribbean than any other U.S. airport. Cargo handling, warehousing and light industry around the airport, along with hospitals and small businesses along the Palmetto Expressway, employ many Hialeah renters.

Rents and affordability

Median gross rent, which includes utilities, was $1,689 in Hialeah over 2020–2024, $140 below the county median of $1,829. Rents are lower here because incomes are, and the burden is heavy: 61.5% of renter households spend at least 30% of income on housing, and 33.1%, about 13,600 households, spend half or more. Countywide, the share at 30% or more is 60.9%.

The table compares Hialeah with Miami-Dade County on the figures buyers check first.

Sources: Hialeah and Miami-Dade County ACS tables via Census Reporter.

HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rents for the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall HMFA are $1,828 for a studio, $1,995 for a one-bedroom, $2,436 for a two-bedroom, $3,127 for a three-bedroom and $3,613 for a four-bedroom. Even the studio figure is above Hialeah's median rent. For owners with voucher tenants, that gap means the payment standard is rarely the ceiling on rent; the tenant's income usually is. FY2027 figures took effect October 1, 2026.

The apartment stock

According to ACS table B25024, 34,488 of Hialeah's housing units, or 43.6%, are in buildings with five or more units. They split fairly evenly by size: 11,491 units in buildings of 50 or more, 10,091 in 20–49 unit buildings, 7,113 in 10–19 unit buildings and 5,793 in 5–9 unit buildings. Detached houses make up 38.0% of the stock and attached single-family units another 9.8%.

Much of the stock went up in the postwar decades. Per table B25034, the median year built is 1975. Some 59.6% of units predate 1980, and the 1960s and 1970s alone account for 36.4%. Only 7.0% of units were built in 2010 or later, and just 1,296, or 1.6%, in 2020 or later. About 77.0% of units were built before 1990, which means most of the city's apartment buildings have already passed the 30-year mark for recertification.

The mix differs from the county in a way that matters to buyers. Across Miami-Dade, 25.1% of all housing units are in buildings of 50 or more. In Hialeah that share is 14.5%, and the 20–49 unit and 10–19 unit categories together hold another 21.7%. Hialeah's apartment market is mostly mid-size, low-rise buildings, the size range where individual owners and smaller investment groups do most of the buying and selling. The county stock is also younger, with 49.6% of units built before 1980 against 59.6% in Hialeah.

Nearby areas differ. Miami Lakes, Hialeah Gardens and Medley are separate municipalities with their own tax rates and code enforcement, and Palm Springs North is unincorporated, so a buyer comparing properties across them should check which government issues permits and enforces recertification.

Recertification and building condition

The Miami-Dade building recertification program, under section 8-11(f) of the county code, requires an inspection when a building reaches 30 years of age and every 10 years after. It covers all buildings except single-family homes, duplexes and small buildings with an occupant load of 10 or less and 2,000 square feet or less, so nearly every 5+ unit property is included. Reports must address structural safety, including foundations, load-bearing elements and facades, and electrical safety, with infrared testing for systems of 400 amps or more, plus parking lot lighting and guardrails where they apply.

The county's 35 municipalities enforce the program themselves, so Hialeah's building department handles it within the city. For a seller, an up-to-date recertification on file removes a common buyer contingency. An overdue one, or a report that calls for structural repairs, usually becomes a price reduction.

Property taxes and transfer costs in Miami-Dade

The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser assesses each parcel at just value as of January 1. Buildings of 10 or more units fall under s. 193.1555, which caps annual assessed-value growth at 10% for non-school levies; 2–9 unit buildings get the same cap under s. 193.1554. School levies apply to full just value, and both caps reset after a sale.

The appraiser's 2025 adopted millage chart puts Hialeah's total at 18.6468 mills, against 18.6638 in 2024. That includes 6.3018 city operating mills and 4.5740 countywide operating mills, plus school and district levies. Nearby totals were 19.7009 in Hialeah Gardens, 17.1804 in Miami Lakes, 18.8727 in Medley and 16.9317 in unincorporated Miami-Dade. A $3 million building in Hialeah would owe about $55,900 a year at that rate on a reset assessment. Appeals go to the Value Adjustment Board within 25 days of the TRIM notice under s. 194.011.

Transfer tax is higher here than elsewhere in Florida. Miami-Dade levies documentary stamp tax at 60 cents per $100 plus a 45-cent surtax on deeds for property other than single-family homes, per the Department of Revenue and s. 201.031. That is $1.05 per $100, or $31,500 on a $3 million apartment sale, against $21,000 under the 70-cent rate used elsewhere in the state.

Landlord rules

Hialeah cannot cap rents: s. 166.043 and s. 125.0103 bar local rent controls, and s. 83.425 preempts local tenancy rules. Deposits are uncapped but must be returned within 15 days or claimed in writing within 30 under s. 83.49. Nonpayment notices give three days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, under s. 83.56, and month-to-month tenancies end on 30 days' notice under s. 83.57. Rentals of six months or less are taxable as transient accommodations, per the Department of Revenue, while longer written leases are exempt from sales tax, so a building rented on annual leases carries no sales tax on rent.

What this means if you own a building here

Hialeah sellers have a strong case on occupancy: a renter majority and very little vacant stock. Buyers will weigh that against older buildings, recertification obligations, a reset tax bill near 18.6 mills and Miami-Dade's higher deed tax. Rent upside depends more on tenant incomes than on HUD limits. Run the numbers with our cap rate calculator, and see rent control and property tax by state for how Florida compares.

Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit buildings in Hialeah and the surrounding cities, in any condition and with tenants in place. Our seller page explains how we underwrite. Have the latest recertification report, the last two TRIM notices, a current rent roll and deposit ledger, and insurance declarations ready when you talk to buyers.