VacationSelector
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab
A lifeguard stand on South Beach, Miami
MiamiA lifeguard stand on South Beach

Photos: Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License; Miami by Radomianin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Dubai or Miami?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Dubai for

  • families
  • shopping
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Dubai’s own page.

Choose Miami for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Miami’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Dubai 80, Miami 90: Miami leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Dubai 76, Miami 72: Dubai leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Dubai 40, Miami 57: Miami leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Dubai 62, Miami 82: Miami leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dubai 25, Miami 64: Miami leads by 39 points.
Day trips. Dubai 45, Miami 42: Dubai leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Dubai 82, Miami 64: Dubai leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Dubai 42, Miami 35: Dubai leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Dubai 82, Miami 71: Dubai leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Dubai 32, Miami 27: Dubai leads by 5 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dubai 40, Miami 55: Miami leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dubai 46, Miami 44: Dubai leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dubai and Miami.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Dubai
54match

Wins on families and shopping with your weighting.

Miami
Best match
59match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Dubai in July

42 °Cdaytime high
33 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
33 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Miami in July

33 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
186 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
DubaiMiami

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre). Miami: 1991-2020 normals, Miami International Airport (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDubaiMiami
Official languageArabic-
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation0 m2 m
Main airportDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinationsMiami International Airport (MIA)7 km from centre198 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureDubaiMiami
City population3,944,751442,241
People per km²-3,046
Museums within 10 km1417
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dubai or Miami somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.