Jewish Florida: Miami Beach, Boca Raton and the Communities That Grew
Florida holds roughly 663,000 Jews, third among American states. Almost all of them arrived within living memory, which makes Florida the clearest case of a Jewish community built from nothing in a single century.
How It Started
Restrictive covenants and open antisemitism kept the Jewish population small through the early 1900s. The Depression, oddly, helped: developers who could no longer afford to be selective about buyers stopped enforcing the restrictions.
By the mid-1930s roughly 4,500 Jews lived in Miami. Fort Lauderdale's Jews organised Temple Emanu-El in 1931 and acquired a building in 1937. The first Jewish service in Broward County was held on 17 September 1926.
Miami Beach
Miami Beach became a Jewish winter destination and earned the nickname Shtetl by the Sea. Rising prices and shifting demographics changed it from 1980 onward, and many families moved north into Broward and Palm Beach counties.
The community did not disappear. It was rebuilt by arrivals from Latin America, Russia, Israel and the Orthodox Northeast. Today Surfside, bordering Miami Beach, is the most Jewish neighbourhood in the area: of roughly 6,000 residents, an estimated half are Orthodox.
Beach weather most of the year: our Israel swimwear and beachwear and Israel flag apparel are built for exactly that climate.
Broward County
Broward's Jewish population nearly quadrupled during the 1960s to about 39,000, then exploded. By 1980 the county held 174,000 Jews, over a third of South Florida's total, and had the fastest-growing Jewish population in the United States.
Boca Raton and South Palm Beach
The first known Jewish residents of Boca Raton were Florence and Harry Brown, who arrived from St. Louis in 1931. In 1979 the Jewish population of Boca Raton, Highland Beach and Delray Beach was estimated at 37,000.
Two things drove the growth: Interstate 95 pushing through Boca Raton in the 1970s, which eased the move from the Northeast, and families relocating north from Miami and Broward.
South Palm Beach County now has one of the highest per-capita Jewish populations outside Israel. The Jewish Federation there operates from a 100-acre campus.
For the grandchildren: our Jewish kids clothing and gifts runs from baby bodysuits to youth hoodies, deliberately without political or military motifs.
What Makes Florida Different
Age structure, above all. Florida's Jewish growth came substantially from retirement migration, which produced a community with a different age profile from New York or Los Angeles.
That is changing. Miami, Hollywood and Boca are drawing younger families, and new Jewish schools have opened to meet the demand. The retirement-driven pattern is giving way to something more mixed.
If the humour is the part you relate to: our funny Jewish shirts and Jewish food shirts are original designs, not recycled pop-culture parodies.
Common Questions
How many Jews live in Florida?
Roughly 663,000, third after New York and California. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area alone holds about 551,000.
Which Florida town is the most Jewish?
Surfside, by concentration. Of roughly 6,000 residents, an estimated half are Orthodox.
Why did so many Jews move to South Florida?
Climate and retirement, at first. The relaxation of antisemitic property restrictions during the Depression opened the door, and Interstate 95 later made the move from the Northeast straightforward.
Is the Florida Jewish community only retirees?
No longer. Younger families are moving in and new Jewish schools are opening, particularly around Miami, Hollywood and Boca Raton.
From the MoT Shop
We print Jewish and pro-Israel designs to order and ship across the United States. Browse our Star of David and Jewish symbols collection, our Rosh HaShanah apparel, or read our guide to Jewish holiday dates.
