The Town of Medley is named after its founder, Sylvester Medley, and was incorporated in 1949.  Over the next twenty years the town experienced rapid growth, witnessing an influx of 325 industrial businesses, and a slight population increase up to 250 residents.

            The Town of Medley has continued to be a hub for light and heavy industry in Miami-Dade County, and since 1969 has seen its population expand to one thousand full time residents, and is now home to over 1,500 businesses.  While Medley only has a population of one thousand residents, its businesses attract 30,000 workers daily to the Town of Medley.

            The Town of Medley boasts a population of 1,098 residents.  A majority of the town’s 1,098 residents, 803, are twenty-five years of age or older.  The median age in Medley is 39.7 years, which is higher then the county’s median age of 35.6 years.  Medley’s average household and family size, 2.76 and 3.15 persons respectively, is slightly smaller than that of the county, 2.84 and 3.35 persons respectively. 

            The Town of Medley has a lower household income, 23,167 dollars, then that of the county, 35,966 dollars, and a lower family income, 25,909 dollars, compared to 40,260 dollars for the county.  Medley’s poverty levels are almost equal to that of the county, with only 14.3 percent of Medley’s families, and 20 percent of the individuals in Medley living below the poverty line, compared to 14.5 percent and 18.0 percent respectively for the county.  Medley has a smaller percentage of its population in the labor force than the rest of the county, with only 44.4 percent of its population in the labor force compared to 57.5 percent for the county.  The town’s education levels are below those of the county average, with 48.7 percent of the population having received a high school diploma or higher, and only 8.1 percent of the population earning a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to the county average of 67.9 percent and 21.7 percent respectively. 

            Due to its position as a center of industry the Town of Medley attracts many workers, over 30,000 a day, to its businesses, suggesting that its economic impact is greater than is represented by its population statistics.  Rinker, Tarmac and Titan America, among others, operate plants employing over one-hundred persons each in the Town of Medley.  Medley’s cement industry is responsible for roughly half of Florida’s cement production.  Medley is one of the largest cement production centers in the Southeastern United States, and probably the entire nation.

  While being a center of heavy industry has been beneficial to the economy of Medley, there are concerns amongst citizens and environmental groups for the well being of the Biscayne Aquifer, and the general health of the town’s residents.  Complaints lodged by both groups center around issues such as air and water pollution, and the safe disposal of the byproducts of concrete production.

http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en (2000) United States Census Bureau

Town of Medley. 2002. 16 July 2005. http://www.townofmedley.com/

Barnett, Gigi.  “A Medley Must: Get Rid of Dust Company Plans Quick Coverup.”  The Miami Herald.  June 11, 1998, final: Neighbors Page 8.

Cummings, Valerie. “The Two Faces of Medley.” The Miami Herald. May 18, 1983, final: 1B