Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Tampa's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Tampa?
Your $100,000 in Tampa has the same purchasing power as $92,610 in the average US city. You'd need $7,390 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Tampa's cost index of 108, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Tampa usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: wage income stays untaxed at the state level, year-round warm weather, plus 4 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Wage income in Tampa isn't taxed at the state level. Florida is one of the few US states with no income tax, which is one of the reasons people relocating from high-tax states tend to land here in the first place.
A jacket, not a parka — winters in Tampa average 55°F. Summer ramps up to about 91°F, which is real heat, but the rest of the year is the kind of weather you'd pay good money to visit.
Tampa reports about 2,265 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — a step below the US average of around 3,500. The citywide number averages over neighborhoods that can vary a lot, but the headline number is friendlier than most American cities of comparable size.
Tampa's air quality index averages about 40 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Tampa is about 25 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
43% of adults 25 and over in Tampa hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Tampa's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Almost never. Tampa's winter average of about 55°F is too warm for snow most years. A measurable snowfall is the kind of event that closes schools and gets photographed for the local paper.
Barely. Winter in Tampa averages around 55°F — short, mild, mostly an excuse to break out a light jacket. Some plants don't even drop their leaves.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Tampa averages about 91°F, and peak afternoons run well over a hundred. Outdoor plans move to mornings and evenings; AC is the most-used appliance in the house.
Zone 10, give or take a half-zone. Tampa's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 10 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Tampa sits roughly 16 feet (5 m) above sea level — basically at the waterline. Storm surge, king tides, and long-term sea-level rise are real considerations for any coastal property here.
Atlantic basin storms can form from June 1 to November 30, but the serious ones cluster in August, September, and the first half of October. Residents of Tampa learn the season's rhythm fast: watch the cone, board up when it's the call, and don't shrug off the slow-mover storms — those are usually the ones that flood.
Average for an American city. Tampa's reported crime rate of about 2,265 per 100,000 residents sits roughly in line with the US baseline of ~3,500. Like anywhere else, the citywide number masks real differences between neighborhoods — worth looking at specific areas before deciding.
Roughly average. Tampa's cost-of-living index is 108, putting it in the band where rent, groceries, and utilities track the national norm. Not a bargain, not a premium.
Mostly car-dependent. Tampa's Walk Score of 27/100 means a handful of errands work on foot — depending on the neighborhood — but most residents still need a car for the rest. Transit Score is 34 out of 100.
Roughly $75,586 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Tampa runs about $1,422/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.