El Portal, Florida

El Portal is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The name is derived from the Spanish term for "the gate", after two wooden gates that once stood as a gateway to the village. It's part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population of El Portal was 1,986, down from 2,325 in 2010.

Nearly three centuries later, in 1848, the community was resettled by settlers, and was eventually annexed into the city of Miami, briefly becoming a neighborhood of Miami from 1925 to 1932. Because of the financial damage done during the Great Depression and the 1926 Miami hurricane, in 1932, Miami decided to disincorporate its jurisdiction over El Portal to cut the city's expenses, and instead, it was officially incorporated as a separate municipality of its own on December 6, 1937.

Geography

El Portal is located north of downtown Miami. It is bordered to the south and east by the city of Miami, to the north by the village of Miami Shores, and to the southwest by unincorporated West Little River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which , or 1.19%, are water.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+El Portal village, Florida – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|399

|441

|style='background: #ffffe6; |480

|15.93%

|18.97%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |24.17%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|1,482

|1,106

|style='background: #ffffe6; |684

|59.16%

|47.57%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |34.44%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4

|0.04%

|0.13%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.20%

|Asian alone (NH)

|20

|28

|style='background: #ffffe6; |43

|0.80%

|1.20%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.17%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3

|0.00%

|0.04%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.15%

|Other race alone (NH)

|23

|style='background: #ffffe6; |23

|0.20%

|0.99%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.16%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|116

|58

|style='background: #ffffe6; |73

|4.63%

|2.49%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.68%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|482

|665

|style='background: #ffffe6; |676

|19.24%

|28.60%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |34.04%

|Total

|2,505

|2,325

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,986

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, El Portal had a population of 1,986. The median age was 42.6 years. 18.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.6 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 771 households in El Portal, of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 43.8% were married-couple households, 19.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 2,325 people, 836 households, and 581 families residing in the village.

2000 census

In 2000, 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.2% were married couples living together, 21.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.5% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.59.

In 2000, the village population was spread out, with 25.4% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the village was $39,681, and the median income for a family was $41,029. Males had a median income of $27,222 versus $22,409 for females. The per capita income for the village was $14,782. About 16.3% of families and 22.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.9% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2000, speakers of English was spoken as a first language by 51.96% of residents, while speakers of French Creole made up 23.72% of the populace, Spanish at 22.38%, French 1.08%, and Jamaican Patois was the mother tongue for 0.86% of the population.

Religion

As of 2017, 38.34% of residents were religious. Catholicism was the most practiced faith group in El Portal at 24.60%, followed by 4.55% who practiced Judaism, 3.48% who were Baptists, 2.45% nondenominational Christians, 1.00% Pentecostal worshipers, and 0.56% of villagers who were practicing Methodists. The rest of El Portal's 38.34% religious groups were under half a percent.

The Rader Methodist church was built in the 1920s, and was considered the oldest church in El Portal. In early 2016, two developers have plans to convert the church into mixed-used space to offer tenants affordable rent.

Gallery

File:El Portal street 20110216.jpg|Typical street in El Portal

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