Thrive
Regional report: Education improves, affordability remains concerning
Tampa Bay has improved in 10 of 11 economic vitality metrics and nine of 12 that measure civic quality, underscoring the positive outlook in two complimentary regional reports.
The Tampa Bay Partnership and University of South Florida Muma College of Business unveiled their year-long research Thursday at a sold-out annual State of the Region event. Over 400 business, community and government leaders attended.
The collaborative research compares the eight-county region to 19 similar-sized peer and aspirational metropolitan areas. After the meeting, Bemetra Simmons, CEO of the partnership, told the Catalyst that “there’s a lot of good things to take away from the reports.”
“The biggest story for me is that Tampa Bay continues to make real, measurable progress,” Simmons said. “Of all the 67 indicators we track, we improved in 64% of those benchmarks. In a third of those metrics, we even climbed in rank.”
The partnership’s Regional Competitiveness Report and USF’s Tampa Bay E-Insights Report have highlighted the area’s successes and challenges for the past eight years. Affordability remains an ongoing concern.
Data released in 2024 found that households spent 57% of their income on housing and transportation expenses. That has dipped to 55 cents on the dollar.
While Simmons hoped to see more improvement in that category, she called it encouraging to see “we are actually going in the right direction.” She also noted that the annual median income increased by about $2,500.
The report found that startups thrive in Tampa Bay.
Poverty rates also decreased slightly, from 12.45% to 11.96%. However, nearly half of all residents (45.8%) live in asset-limited, income-restrained and employed (ALICE) or impoverished households.
Simmons said inflation and increased costs – partly due to the area’s attractiveness – often mitigate financial gains. Her organization is working to create and support partnerships that foster higher-paying jobs “so our residents are feeling less of that strain.”
The dual reports include data from Citrus to Sarasota Counties. Researchers compare Tampa Bay, now with five million residents, to metro areas like Miami, Nashville, Charlotte, Austin, Denver, Phoenix and San Diego.
While Tampa Bay, as it has for the past several years, garnered more new residents than all comparative markets, the net migration rate slightly decreased to 2.2%. Continuously leading those rankings, Simmons said, is “super exciting,” and stakeholders see “we are a magnet for talent, businesses and families.”
Simmons also noted that population growth strains area transportation networks and infrastructure. “We’re still, unfortunately, last in pedestrian and bicycle safety,” she added. “Our rate is 2.5 times the national average, so we’ve got a lot of work to do there.”
“We’re also seeing that over 200,000 workers in Tampa Bay have a commute that’s longer than an hour. So, all that migration is definitely putting a strain on our infrastructure.”
While degree attainment metrics improved, the region fared worse than most comparison markets.
Many of the area’s improvements still leave Tampa Bay among the lowest-ranked metros. For example, the per capita gross regional product increased to $53,753, good enough to place last. The median household net worth increased to $252,099 yet dropped from 8th to 12th.
Report highlights include Tampa Bay placing first for merchandise export growth rate, second in the total crime index, fifth in median daily air quality and fifth for cultural and recreational establishments. Simmons is particularly proud of the improvements made in youth categories.
The region placed second for kindergarten readiness and fourth for students meeting third-grade reading requirements. School enrollment among kids age 3 and 4 increased by 6.5%, and Tampa Bay jumped seven spots in the rankings to 10th.
“We saw some really significant, encouraging improvements from our early learning indicators,” Simmons said.
In addition, the area has about 7,700 fewer disconnected youth – people aged 16 to 24 who do not work or attend school – than when the report first tracked the talent indicator in 2018. Simmons credited community organizations, like the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Suncoast and the United Way Suncoast, for creating strategic partnerships with other nonprofits to reach those young people.
“If I had one overall sum to wrap up the data, I would say that Tampa Bay is on the rise,” Simmons said. “We’re on a remarkable upward trajectory, and by staying focused on education and inclusive economic growth and affordability, we can ensure this momentum benefits every resident in our community.”
To view the 2025 Regional Competitiveness Report, visit the website here.
