South Florida Marine Report: September 2026

This report covers the marine economy of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties, from the mainland coast down through the Keys. It looks at recreational boating, marinas and storage, waterfront construction, marine employment, recreational fishing and container traffic at Port Everglades. The figures come from public state and federal data, plus a small number of ratios Pixedi calculated from those sources, which are identified where they appear. Most of the underlying data describes 2025 or earlier, and the text says so each time.

Key findings

• The four South Florida counties had 188,972 registered vessels in 2025, which is 18.4% of all vessels registered in Florida.
• Florida recreational registrations changed -0.30% from 2024 to 2025, and every one of the four counties also posted a small decline over that year.
• Over the longer run, Miami-Dade recreational registrations changed +11.8% between 2019 and 2025, while Broward went the other way at -4.3%.
• FDEP received 1,369 applications for docks, boat lifts and seawalls in the four counties in the twelve months to July 2026, a +14.9% change from the previous twelve months.
• Monroe County generated 34.0% of those marine construction applications and holds 27.4% of the four-county wet slip inventory.
• There are about 518 registered vessels for every public launch lane in the four counties.
• Boat building employment in the four counties changed -7.8% in 2025, while marinas grew +2.5% and boat dealers +2.1%.
• The four counties accounted for 31.6% of Florida reportable boating accidents in 2025.
• Port Everglades handled 1,167,552 TEUs of containers in fiscal 2025, a +7.4% change from fiscal 2024 (preliminary).

The boating base: large, flat for now

Florida remains the biggest boating state in the country. The latest national data, for 2024, shows Florida ranked No. 1 among U.S. states for registered recreational vessels and accounted for 10.0% of all registered recreational vessels in the United States. The Coast Guard counted 1,171,432 registered recreational vessels in Florida that year. The state agency's own count for 2025, which uses a different basis, puts Florida at 1,027,742 registered vessels, recreational and commercial combined, of which 997,102 were recreational.

• Miami-Dade73,202 vessels
• Broward43,118 vessels
• Palm Beach36,738 vessels
• Monroe27,680 vessels

Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)

South Florida is a big slice of that. Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe together had 188,972 registered vessels in 2025. Miami-Dade is the largest market with 73,202 recreational vessels, followed by Broward at 43,118, Palm Beach at 36,738 and Monroe at 27,680. For a dealer or service shop, that ranking matters more than the statewide total, because Miami-Dade alone has more recreational boats than Palm Beach and Monroe combined.

The short-term trend is soft. Florida recreational registrations changed -0.30% from 2024 to 2025, and the county numbers all moved slightly down: Miami-Dade -0.7%, Broward -1.4%, Palm Beach -0.2% and Monroe -0.6%. None of these is a collapse, but it does mean the post-2019 growth in the boating population has paused, and owners planning on a steadily growing customer base should plan on a stable one instead.

The longer view shows where the growth actually happened. Florida recreational registrations changed +7.2% between 2019 and 2025. Miami-Dade outpaced the state at +11.8%, Monroe came in at +6.3% and Palm Beach at +4.2%, while Broward is the outlier at -4.3%. Broward is the only one of the four counties with fewer recreational boats registered than before the pandemic boom, which is worth knowing for any business whose customers are concentrated there.

Where boats are kept and launched

FWC lists 275 operational marinas in the four counties. Its inventory of operational waterfront facilities shows 35,479 wet slips and 7,975 dry rack storage spaces (both preliminary). Monroe County holds 27.4% of the wet slip inventory, a large share for the county with the smallest registered fleet, which reflects how much Keys dockage serves visiting and transient boats as well as local ones.

The inventory also shows that 38.4% of operational waterfront facilities in the four counties are condominium or HOA docks (preliminary). For marina operators, that means a meaningful share of the region's dock space sits with residential associations, and for service businesses it means a large group of boat owners who deal with an association board rather than a marina office.

Public launching is tight. There are 248 boat ramps open for business in the four counties, providing 365 launch lanes. Pixedi's calculation from the registration and ramp data puts the ratio at about 518 registered vessels for every public launch lane (preliminary). For trailer boaters, that is the arithmetic behind weekend ramp queues, and for dry stack operators it is part of the case for storage with launch service.

On the environmental side, 68 marinas in the four counties hold the Florida Clean Marina designation, and FDEP lists 97 sewage pumpout facilities (preliminary). In the Keys, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary maintains 509 public mooring buoys, which gives boaters an alternative to anchoring on reef areas.

Waterfront construction: a strong year, a weaker 2026 so far

Dock, lift and seawall permitting is the best near-real-time signal in this report. FDEP received 1,369 applications for docks, boat lifts and seawalls in the four counties in the twelve months to July 2026, a +14.9% change from the previous twelve months. Boat lifts made up 24.0% of those applications, and seawall and revetment work accounted for 26.8%, which is a reasonable proxy for how much property owners are spending to harden their waterfront.

1,369 applicationsFour counties, Aug 2025 to Jul 2026

Source: Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)

Two other figures complicate that picture. Year to date, January to July 2026, marine construction applications changed -12.2% from a year earlier, so the strong twelve-month total leans on activity from late 2025 and the pace has cooled this year. And against the same twelve-month window ending in July 2019, applications were -48.6% (preliminary). Marine contractors are busier than they were a year ago on a rolling basis, but they are working in a market roughly half the size of the pre-pandemic permit flow.

Monroe County generated 34.0% of the four-county applications, a much larger share than its share of registered boats. Contractors in the Keys are dealing with a disproportionate volume of waterfront work, and firms on the mainland looking for work may find it further south.

Jobs and pay

The broadest measure comes from NOAA's ocean economy data, whose latest county figures are for 2021. That year the ocean economy employed 171,124 people in the four counties and generated $15.36 billion of GDP. Tourism and recreation made up 74.9% of those jobs, and the four counties held 31.3% of Florida ocean economy employment. Employment changed -8.9% between 2019 and 2021, a drop that covers the pandemic period, and the dataset has not yet published anything more recent. Ship and boat building employed 2,519 people in the four counties in 2021, and there were 239 marine construction establishments (both preliminary).

• Boat dealers$89,672
• Marinas$67,051
• Boat building$66,876

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)

More current figures come from the BLS wage data for 2025. Private marinas employed 3,197 people on average across 264 establishments, with employment up +2.5% from a year earlier and average annual pay of $67,051. Boat dealers employed 2,782 people across 469 establishments, with employment up +2.1% and average pay of $89,672 (the employment, growth and pay figures for dealers are preliminary). Boat building employed 1,946 people across 132 establishments, with average pay of $66,876.

The standout is boat building, where employment changed -7.8% in 2025. The retail and service side of the industry added staff while manufacturing shed them, which fits with a flat registration base: owners are keeping and servicing boats while local builders see less new demand. For a marina or dealer hiring in 2026, the manufacturing contraction may make experienced marine technicians somewhat easier to find.

The establishment counts also show growth in the number of businesses. Census County Business Patterns counted 202 marina establishments and 398 boat dealer establishments in the four counties in 2023. The BLS counts for 2025 are higher for both, though the two sources use different methods, so the comparison indicates direction more than an exact increase. Owners should assume more local competitors than a few years ago.

Fishing, charters and the port

Recreational fishing continues to drive boat use. NOAA estimates recreational anglers made 65.3 million fishing trips in Florida in 2025, a +1.8% change from 2024, and private and rental boats accounted for 32.3% of those trips. Charter boat fishing trips in Florida were estimated at 1,306,389 in 2025, +4.8% versus 2019. All of these fishing figures are statewide and preliminary, so they describe the Florida market rather than South Florida specifically, but for charter operators they point to demand that is at least holding above pre-pandemic levels while registrations stall.

On the commercial side, Port Everglades handled 1,167,552 TEUs of containers in fiscal 2025, a +7.4% change from fiscal 2024 and +10.9% versus fiscal 2019. Total cargo tonnage reached 7,248,707 tons, and while all of these port figures are preliminary, they matter to marine businesses mainly as a sign of steady commercial traffic in Broward waters, which is a different story from the county's shrinking recreational fleet.

Safety and derelict vessels

FWC recorded 219 reportable boating accidents in the four counties in 2025, and the four counties accounted for 31.6% of Florida's reportable accidents, a notably larger share than their 18.4% share of registered vessels. Reported property damage from those accidents totaled $16,913,246 (preliminary). In Monroe County, Pixedi's calculation shows one reportable accident for every 426 registered vessels in 2025 (preliminary), a rate that reflects heavy visitor traffic on a small resident fleet. Statewide, the Coast Guard counted 75 recreational boating deaths in Florida in 2024.

Abandoned boats are a persistent problem in the Keys. FWC has 163 open derelict vessel cases in the four counties in its current snapshot, and Monroe County alone accounts for 22.5% of open derelict vessel cases statewide. For towing, salvage and marine insurance businesses, the accident and derelict figures together describe steady demand for recovery work, concentrated heavily in Monroe.

What changed since the last edition

This is the first edition of the South Florida Marine Report, and future editions will track month-to-month movement against the figures published here. The newest data vintages are the FDEP permit applications through July 2026, the 2025 FWC registration and accident data, the 2025 BLS wage and employment figures and the fiscal 2025 Port Everglades totals.

Methodology and sources

Registration, accident, marina, ramp and derelict vessel figures come from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), using 2025 registration and accident data and its current facility and derelict vessel inventories. National ranking, share of U.S. recreational vessels, the Coast Guard's Florida registration count and boating deaths come from the U.S. Coast Guard for 2024, and its registration total differs from the FWC count because the two agencies count on different bases. Clean Marina, pumpout and dock, boat lift and seawall application figures come from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), with permit data through July 2026. Mooring buoy counts come from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Ocean economy employment and GDP come from NOAA's Economics: National Ocean Watch (ENOW), latest vintage 2021. Recreational fishing trips come from NOAA's Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) for 2025. Marina, boat dealer and boat building employment, establishment and pay figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) for 2025, using NAICS 713930, 441222 and 336612. Earlier establishment counts come from Census County Business Patterns for 2023. Container and tonnage figures come from Port Everglades for fiscal 2025.

The following figures are preliminary: accident property damage in the four counties; the Monroe accident-to-vessel ratio; wet slip and dry rack counts; Monroe's share of wet slips; the condominium and HOA dock share; vessels per launch lane; pumpout facilities; the comparison of marine construction applications with 2019; ENOW ship and boat building employment and marine construction establishments; all MRIP fishing figures; all Port Everglades figures; and boat dealer employment, employment change and pay. The vessels-per-lane and Monroe accident ratios were calculated by Pixedi from FWC data.

Sources

1. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)
2. U.S. Coast Guard
3. Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)
4. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
5. Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)
6. Census County Business Patterns
7. Port Everglades

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