The levitation phenomenon of permanent magnets immersed in ferrofluid is the foundation of ferrofluid dampers. According to the model built using bipolar coordinates, the analytical equation describing the force exerted on the cylindrical magnets in ferrofluid dampers is obtained, which is different from that of the previous results. The analysis of the equation indicates that the magnetic levitation force increases with the eccentricity of the magnet, the radius of the magnet and the permeability of ferrofluid, respectively, when other factors are definite. As a result, we can increase the permeability of ferrofluid and decrease the radius ratio of the magnet and the tube to enhance the levitation stability.