Miaoli City is a county-administered city and the county seat of Miaoli County, Taiwan. Miaoli has a relatively high percentage of Hakka people. It had the second highest residential price and the highest commercial price for land in Miaoli County as of 2004, at NT$28,601 per square meter and NT$63,317 per square meter, respectively.

A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in the U.S. state of Vermont and in several other English-speaking jurisdictions. County towns usually serve a similar function in Ireland, Jamaica, and the United Kingdom.