Overview
South Miami is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. An
early land owner of the area, W.A. Larkins owned property west of Red Road
and Sunset Drive. He built the first grocery store in the area, and as the
community grew, a post office was placed in the community. Larkins became
the first Postmaster, and the community took the name of "Larkins". A depot
was placed along the Florida East Coast Railway. In 1926, area residents
wanted to incorporate their area, and because of the booming city to the
north of them, they chose the name of "South Miami". The original town
boundaries were Red Road on the east, Kendall Drive to the south, Palmetto
Road to the west (now Palmetto Expressway), and Bird Road to the north. In
1933, the original six square miles of South Miami were reduced to just over
three miles due to an effort to reduce municipal responsibilities. The
city's size was reduced again in 1937, and many of the northern city
residents sued to get out of the city. This is why the city of South Miami
has the most irregular boundaries of any city in Miami-Dade County today.
The population was 10,741 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population
recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 11,274.
Demographics
There were 4,301 households out of which 26.1% had children under the age of
18 living with them, 40.4% were married couples living together, 15.2% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families.
30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.0% had someone
living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.15.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.7% under the age of 18,
8.2% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who
were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100
females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there
were 90.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $42,488, and the median
income for a family was $57,791. Males had a median income of $37,250 versus
$29,772 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,526. About
8.9% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line,
including 22.0% of those under age 18 and 13.4% of those age 65 or over.
Education
South Miami is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. Schools
include South Miami Elementary School and South Miami High School