Tampa Bay State of the Region report shows affordability and business trends
By Lily Belcher
February 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM EST
The report was presented by several researchers at a Thursday event hosted at the University of South Florida.
The 2025 State of the Region report shows the Tampa Bay area remains a magnet for talent, families and businesses. It’s also one of the best places for young professionals to live and start a business.
But there are still some areas for improvement, such as affordability and poverty rates.
The Regional Competitive Report, assembled by the Tampa Bay Partnership, along with an accompanying E-Insights Report by the University of South Florida Muma College of Business, reveals key data about the cost of living, workforce development and racial inequality.
Overall, 64% of the 67 metrics the regional report looks at have improved compared to the 2024 version.
A team of around a dozen researchers worked for four months to compile and analyze data from Google Trends, Zillow, Indeed and other sites. That data was then compared to 19 other regions, called Metropolitan Statistical Areas, across the country that Tampa Bay competes with, including Minneapolis-St. Paul, Baltimore and Orlando.
The Tampa Bay region surveyed is an eight county area, including Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Citrus, Polk, Manatee and Sarasota.
Tampa Bay Partnership President and CEO Bemetra Simmons said the report compares size and population of the other competitive regions. For example, Minneapolis-St. Paul is also split by a body of water with three major sport teams.
At a Thursday luncheon at USF, researchers pointed to a few key metrics.
Affordability and Economic Outcomes
While affordability was a primary concern in the 2024 report, living in Tampa has become slightly more affordable. Last year, families were spending about 57 cents of every dollar on housing and transportation. This year, it’s 55 cents.
Simmons said this helped families, but there’s still room for improvement. She said an ideal cost would be around 41 cents per dollar.
“Our housing costs are still a lot higher relative to our average wage of where we want to be in the region and so people are being pushed further out in terms of where they can afford to live,” Simmons said.
Simmons pointed to the need for additional infrastructure. With 200,000 Tampa Bay workers commuting over an hour, she said cutting down on driving times will reduce the cost of transportation and knock that 55-cents-per-dollar cost down.
“We’ve got to come up with some better traffic and transportation solutions,” she said.
While average wages are increasing around $2,500 a year, residents still aren’t making enough to live comfortably. Food insecurity affects 13% of the population as well.
Poverty rates have dropped slightly, but 45.81% of households are considered in poverty or classified as asset limited, income constrained, employed (ALICE). That number is higher than the national average, which is around 42%.
Workforce Development
Guest speaker Kat Daniel, who is a senior consultant for Bloomberg Associates, shared what trends she thinks will impact workers in the future.
She encouraged business leaders to put less emphasis on having a bachelor’s degree, which two-thirds of the working-age population does not have.
She also said embracing new technology, including harnessing AI, will lead to more jobs, rather than the loss of them.
Sarah Burgoyne is the senior director of research and public policy for the Tampa Bay Partnerships.
“Another area that helps our region stand out is our entrepreneurial spirit,” Burgoyne said. “The business establishment rate for Tampa Bay is about 14%, well above the national average."
Additionally, the Black-white unemployment rate gap in the Tampa Bay region is shrinking.
Bemetra Simmons and David Blackwell talked about affordability and other key metrics revealed in the State of the Region report (4032x3024, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Education
While Bay area counties are spending more on K-12 education, other competitive regions are investing 30-40% more. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is one of the top ranked regions for affordable college and university tuition, for both undergraduate and graduate tuition.
School enrollment for 3- and 4-year-olds has increased and high school graduation rates have stayed roughly the same overall at almost 86%.
However, the high school graduation rate for economically disadvantaged students has continued to decline, falling to 79%.
While bachelor’s degree attainment rate in the U.S. has increased to 40%, Tampa Bay’s rate fell to 36%.
Next Steps
Researchers encouraged the audience of decision makers to note the metrics they want to see change – and to make policies and build infrastructure that help the community.
While Tampa Bay Partnerships does not make policies, they do advocate for changes that will improve things, like affordability, in the region.
They pointed to different “drivers” that could improve the Tampa Bay region, such as finding ways to cut the Black-white unemployment gap or adding infrastructure to reduce commute times by just five minutes.
The benchmark report is a stepping stone for organizations to make data-informed changes, Simmons said.
Past data showed high levels of disconnected youth, which encouraged the Boys and Girls Club to step up and engage more young people.
Similarly, metrics that showed that working families couldn’t make ends meet prompted change in Pinellas County. Seeing the high ALICE numbers, the county made an effort to prioritize training for higher wage jobs, which led to an increase in average income.
But there are still some areas for improvement, such as affordability and poverty rates.
The Regional Competitive Report, assembled by the Tampa Bay Partnership, along with an accompanying E-Insights Report by the University of South Florida Muma College of Business, reveals key data about the cost of living, workforce development and racial inequality.
Overall, 64% of the 67 metrics the regional report looks at have improved compared to the 2024 version.
A team of around a dozen researchers worked for four months to compile and analyze data from Google Trends, Zillow, Indeed and other sites. That data was then compared to 19 other regions, called Metropolitan Statistical Areas, across the country that Tampa Bay competes with, including Minneapolis-St. Paul, Baltimore and Orlando.
The Tampa Bay region surveyed is an eight county area, including Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Citrus, Polk, Manatee and Sarasota.
Tampa Bay Partnership President and CEO Bemetra Simmons said the report compares size and population of the other competitive regions. For example, Minneapolis-St. Paul is also split by a body of water with three major sport teams.
At a Thursday luncheon at USF, researchers pointed to a few key metrics.
Affordability and Economic Outcomes
While affordability was a primary concern in the 2024 report, living in Tampa has become slightly more affordable. Last year, families were spending about 57 cents of every dollar on housing and transportation. This year, it’s 55 cents.
Simmons said this helped families, but there’s still room for improvement. She said an ideal cost would be around 41 cents per dollar.
“Our housing costs are still a lot higher relative to our average wage of where we want to be in the region and so people are being pushed further out in terms of where they can afford to live,” Simmons said.
Simmons pointed to the need for additional infrastructure. With 200,000 Tampa Bay workers commuting over an hour, she said cutting down on driving times will reduce the cost of transportation and knock that 55-cents-per-dollar cost down.
“We’ve got to come up with some better traffic and transportation solutions,” she said.
While average wages are increasing around $2,500 a year, residents still aren’t making enough to live comfortably. Food insecurity affects 13% of the population as well.
Poverty rates have dropped slightly, but 45.81% of households are considered in poverty or classified as asset limited, income constrained, employed (ALICE). That number is higher than the national average, which is around 42%.
Workforce Development
Guest speaker Kat Daniel, who is a senior consultant for Bloomberg Associates, shared what trends she thinks will impact workers in the future.
She encouraged business leaders to put less emphasis on having a bachelor’s degree, which two-thirds of the working-age population does not have.
She also said embracing new technology, including harnessing AI, will lead to more jobs, rather than the loss of them.
Sarah Burgoyne is the senior director of research and public policy for the Tampa Bay Partnerships.
“Another area that helps our region stand out is our entrepreneurial spirit,” Burgoyne said. “The business establishment rate for Tampa Bay is about 14%, well above the national average."
Additionally, the Black-white unemployment rate gap in the Tampa Bay region is shrinking.
Bemetra Simmons and David Blackwell talked about affordability and other key metrics revealed in the State of the Region report (4032x3024, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Education
While Bay area counties are spending more on K-12 education, other competitive regions are investing 30-40% more. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is one of the top ranked regions for affordable college and university tuition, for both undergraduate and graduate tuition.
School enrollment for 3- and 4-year-olds has increased and high school graduation rates have stayed roughly the same overall at almost 86%.
However, the high school graduation rate for economically disadvantaged students has continued to decline, falling to 79%.
While bachelor’s degree attainment rate in the U.S. has increased to 40%, Tampa Bay’s rate fell to 36%.
Next Steps
Researchers encouraged the audience of decision makers to note the metrics they want to see change – and to make policies and build infrastructure that help the community.
While Tampa Bay Partnerships does not make policies, they do advocate for changes that will improve things, like affordability, in the region.
They pointed to different “drivers” that could improve the Tampa Bay region, such as finding ways to cut the Black-white unemployment gap or adding infrastructure to reduce commute times by just five minutes.
The benchmark report is a stepping stone for organizations to make data-informed changes, Simmons said.
Past data showed high levels of disconnected youth, which encouraged the Boys and Girls Club to step up and engage more young people.
Similarly, metrics that showed that working families couldn’t make ends meet prompted change in Pinellas County. Seeing the high ALICE numbers, the county made an effort to prioritize training for higher wage jobs, which led to an increase in average income.