Hillsborough County, FL

County Profile

1,522,748 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Hillsborough County, FL.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 32% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity888th of 1,463 counties measured50
Schools1,112th of 1,377 counties measured25
GrowthTop 34% of 1,453 counties measured60
Housing affordability1,268th of 1,462 counties measured58
ClimateTop 4% of 1,463 counties measured81
Physical resilience1,103rd of 1,463 counties measured38
AccessTop 4% of 1,463 counties measured99
Economic stabilityTop 38% of 1,463 counties measured68
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.8% and median household income $79,540, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 55% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 19.4 students for every teacher.

8,217 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 13% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
1,522,748
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$79,540
Top 19% nationally
Density
1,489/sq mi
1,022.5 sq mi of land
Median age
37.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Hillsborough County
Florida
Nearest major airport
TPA
11 mi · Tampa Intl
Median home value
$371,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% — higher than in all but 26% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.0% over the past year, to 767,561 employed residents.

38% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$78,12781st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$72,45780th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,2372024 ACS 5-Year$79,540Top 19%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5562024 ACS 5-Year$44,342Top 14%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$64,439Top 26%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year12.1%Top 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year31.0 minBottom 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year38.1%Top 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year66.5%9th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026767,561Top 2%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.9%Bottom 26%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.0%Bottom 42%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026806,01098th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year80.7%Top 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%82nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.7%Bottom 9%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.8%Bottom 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year20.7%96th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.02.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202480k64k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $79,540 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons45,130$33,790
Registered Nurses38,720$85,470
General and Operations Managers35,700$103,670
Customer Service Representatives34,150$42,660
Fast Food and Counter Workers33,910$29,260
Cashiers25,820$30,290

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

55% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 54% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 19.4 students for every full-time teacher across 265 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
289
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
19.4
across 265 of them
Math proficiency
54.8%
Bottom 25% in Florida
Reading proficiency
54.3%
Bottom 38% in Florida
The 12 largest of 289 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Jule F Sumner High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH3,60227.5——
Newsome High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH3,15727.074%77%
Alonso High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH2,86325.655%55%
Plant City High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH2,57224.557%46%
Lennard High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH2,55332.743%41%
Durant High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH2,50423.849%54%
Strawberry Crest High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH2,50124.560%58%
Sickles High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH2,39826.463%71%
Steinbrenner High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH2,39628.573%79%
Plant High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH2,39128.172%79%
Riverview High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH2,38725.456%57%
Armwood High SchoolHILLSBOROUGH2,27828.830%42%

43.6% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Florida’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 102.5, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Tampa, FL Metropolitan Division is up 48% over five years, and up 1.1% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,010 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.81% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,977, some 19% above the $1,667 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,977 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $79,100 a year, about 99% of the median household income here of $79,540.

The typical renter household here spends 34% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,667 a month.

A median home at $371,500 costs 3.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $101,592, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
102.5

Prices here run about 2% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
33.9%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,977
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,667
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$371,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Hillsborough County’s median household income of $79,540, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area’s figure2023102.5Bottom 20%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Tampa, FL Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+1.1%13th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Tampa, FL Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+47.8%64th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Tampa, FL Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+137.4%98th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year3.7Bottom 15%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year61.5%9th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3052024 ACS 5-Year630,69299th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,696Bottom 6%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,527Bottom 7%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,977Bottom 6%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$142024 ACS 5-Year$1,667Bottom 5%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,7642024 ACS 5-Year$371,50089th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$512024 ACS 5-Year$3,01085th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,2362024 ACS 5-Year$101,592Top 12%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.01%2024 ACS 5-Year0.81%51st percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year33.9%Bottom 7%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1,0412024 ACS 5-Year10,33698th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.6%37th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.9%24th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2,0642024 ACS 5-Year47,50099th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

60/ 100
Top 34% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 3 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 8% since 2020, reaching 1,581,426 in 2024.

Permit activity fell in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 1,581,426 residents in 2024, up 1.5% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Hillsborough County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $78,127, above the $72,457 of households that moved out.

At 5.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
8,217
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.4
Top 26% nationally
Year over year
+13%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
49.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

202020212022202320241581k1466k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
52%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$78,127
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$72,457
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Pinellas County, FL 7,423 people · 9.3% of arrivals
  2. Pasco County, FL 6,980 people · 8.7% of arrivals
  3. Polk County, FL 3,588 people · 4.5% of arrivals
  4. Miami-Dade County, FL 2,603 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  5. Manatee County, FL 2,297 people · 2.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Pasco County, FL 15,086 people · 18% of departures
  2. Pinellas County, FL 7,164 people · 8.8% of departures
  3. Polk County, FL 5,992 people · 7.3% of departures
  4. Hernando County, FL 2,449 people · 3.0% of departures
  5. Manatee County, FL 2,128 people · 2.6% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202517k9k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−30%).

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 53°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 49.5 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 50, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station TAMPA INTL AP, 10.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND9.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year642024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals49.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals53°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year502024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals22°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
50
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
64
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

38 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and tornado, with hurricane alone responsible for 36% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Cold waveModerate
HurricaneElevated
HailModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, tornado, inland flooding, heat wave, wildfire, drought, strong wind, earthquake, landslide, winter weather, tsunami, volcanic activity, ice storm, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Hillsborough County records 3.8 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 10.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 16.2 per 100,000 residents in Hillsborough County.

Homicide
3.8
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
16.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
13.5
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Hillsborough County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Tampa Intl at 11 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year93.9%Top 5%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle11 miTop 11%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle6Top 13%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year3.8%Top 5%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Tampa IntlTPA11 mi11,002 ft
St Pete-Clearwater IntlPIE19 mi9,730 ft
Lakeland Linder IntlLAL23 mi8,500 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
54
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.