Princeton is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) and

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Miami-Dade County, Florida Miami-Dade County () is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous coun ...

, United States. It is part of the

Miami metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the lar ...

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

. The population was 39,208 at the 2020 census, up from 22,038 at the 2010 census.

History

As a small town and depot along the

Florida East Coast Railroad The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México. Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a p ...

in the 1900s, the community was named by Gaston Drake after his alma mater,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. Many of the town buildings were even painted the school's colors: black and orange. Drake operated a saw mill and lumber company in Princeton supplying Miami, the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...

and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

until the local timber gave out in 1923.

Geography

Princeton is located southwest of

downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and ...

and northeast of Homestead at (25.535634, -80.397485). It is bordered to the north by Goulds and to the southwest by

Naranja Naranja is a Spanish word meaning the color ' orange', or sometimes ' orange fruit', and can refer to: * Naranja, Florida, a census-designated place * Naranja, an orange-flavored Mexican liqueur * Naranja, one of the two academies in ''Pokémon ...

, both unincorporated. U.S. Route 1 (Dixie Highway) runs northeast to southwest through Princeton, and the

Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike The Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (HEFT), designated as unsigned State Road 821 (SR 821), is the southern extension of Florida's Turnpike, a controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of Florida maintained by Florida's T ...

forms the eastern edge of the community, with access from Exit 9 ( Florida State Road 989). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.67%, are water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 39,308 people, 8,356 households, and 7,058 families residing in the CDP. As of the 2010 United States census, there were 22,038 people, 5,688 households, and 4,807 families residing in the CDP.

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 10,090 people, 2,732 households, and 2,341 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 2,906 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 53.78%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

(18% were

Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

), 32.54%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.34% Native American, 1.37% Asian, 0.06%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 7.70% from other races, and 4.22% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 47.49% of the population. As of 2000, there were 2,732 households, out of which 52.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were married couples living together, 22.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.3% were non-families. 10.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.63 and the average family size was 3.85. In 2000, in the CDP, the population was spread out, with 36.1% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males. In 2000, the median income for a household in the CDP was $39,556, and the median income for a family was $41,896. Males had a median income of $32,101 versus $23,634 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $12,918. About 19.8% of families and 23.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 33.1% of those under age 18 and 14.4% of those age 65 or over. As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 50.02% of residents; Spanish made up 49.24%, and French Creole was the first language for 0.72% of the population.

References